Writing Prompt: Historical Fiction

You know the Dear America books where the characters are fictional but the book has them living through actual events that really happened in history? Well, today's Writing Prompt comes from Moderator Katie on the Dear America Message Board. Katie writes:

Pretend Scholastic just called YOU and wants YOU to write the next biggest and best Dear America novel. Fill out the form and tell us about it!!! (use your IM-A-GIN-A-TION! Anything appropriate is OK!)

Title of Your Book:
Year it Takes Place:
Major Event During This Time:
Main Character Name and Age:
Plot:
Plot Twist:
Ending:

There are so many amazing responses to this post, you should all to go to the Message Board and read them.

For my Dear America book if I were to write one, it would be . . .

Title of Your Book: Not Everything Is Black and White
Year it Takes Place: 1980
Major Event During This Time: Aparteid in South Africa
Main Character Name and Age: James, age 12
Plot: James is a white boy growing up in South Africa where the apartheid laws say that Black people don't have equal rights. He thinks that racism is normal and ok because that's how it was in South Africa then.
Plot Twist: His father gets transferred to New York City and James meets all kinds of people in the United States, Black, Asian, Hispanic, everything. At first people don't like him because he is prejudiced, but then he starts to change.
Ending: He becomes best friends with an African-American boy and sees that people are people no matter what their race, and racism is wrong.

Tell us YOUR story ideas in the Comments!

— Sonja, STACKS Staffer

Comments

[Comment #1]

Title of Your Book: We Are People
Year it Takes Place: 1919-1920
Major Event During This Time:
Main Character Name and Age: Sallie, age 11
Plot: Sallie is a girl growing up in the age of Suffragettes, and her favorite aunt is one, so she believes women should have equal rights.
Plot Twist: Women get the vote and Sallie learns more about the vote and sees that equality still has to be earned.
Ending: Sallie's big sister Julia votes for the first time and Sallie looks forward to the day when she'll be the one casting that ballot.

[Comment #2]

Title of Your Book: Letters of Friendship
Year it Takes Place: 1780
Major Event During This Time: American Revolutionary War
Main Character Name and Age: Isabel, age 16
Plot: Isabel is a teenager living with her family during the American Revolutionary War. Her best friend, Brianna, lives just down the street from her and has an older brother who is old enough to fight in the war.
Plot Twist: One day, Isabel finds out that Brianna's brother has been drafted into the war-which means that Brianna's family will have to move in order to be closer to her brother-and she thinks their friendship is at stake.
Ending: Before Brianna moves, Isabel and Brianna promise to write letters to each other every week. They both keep their promises and they realize that nothing-not even a war-can end their friendship.

Most of the book revolves around Isabel's and Brianna's letters to each other.

This was really fun to do! Usually I don't like doing or reading stuff that involves History because it's booooorrrring.

[Comment #3]

Title:Out of Sight but Not Out of Mind
Year:1942
Main charecter:Sophie,age 12
Plot:Sophie is being sent to the countryside to live with her aunt who is supposedly nice. Her father is in the war.
Plot Twist: Sophie's aunt is really mean. She gets a letter saying her father died and her house was destroyed so her mother moved.
Ending:Sophie's aunt feels sorry for her and decides to take better care of her.

[Comment #4]

Title of Your Book: The fire that killed my hope.
Year It Takes Place: 1911
Major Event During This Time: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
Main Character Name and Age: Fanny, age 14
Plot: Fanny works with her Russian family in a coat factory and experiences the hardships and discrimination immigrants like her have to face.
Plot twist: Fanny's best friend dies in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire along with 146 other women and girls.
Ending: Fanny and her brother start to speak up about the poor working conditions in factories and discrimination immigrants have to face.

[Comment #5]

Title of My Book: Hide-Away

Year it Takes Place: 1936

Major Event At This Time: The Holocaust

Main Character Name and Age: Abigail, age 10

Plot: Abigail and her little brother Aaron have to live in a strangers house. Abigail and her brother really hated hiding in closets, and they feared they would be found by the Germans.

Plot Twist: Aaron suddenly dies a year later. Abigail is all alone, missing her parents. One day, when a German soilder knocks on the door, Abigail's cover is blown. When they take her away, she manages to escape. The Germans chase her, but Abigail runs away all the way back to the house she was staying at.

Ending: Years later, in 1940, Abigail gets word that her parents were killed. Abigail runs away and hides out in someone's wood shed. A year later, she died of hunger and other dieases at age 15.

[Comment #6]

Title of Your Book: This is Our Song
Year it Takes Place: 2010
Major Event During this Time: Robert Pattison and Kristen Stewart sing Taylor Swift's Our Song.
Main Character's Name and Age: Mary,Age 14
Plot: It tells a life of Romance
Plot Twist: Some people Die in the story
Ending: Its just happiness

[Comment #7]

Title: One word can set it all off
Year: 1962
Major Event: The Cuban Missle Crisis
Main Character: Alexis, age 15
Plot: Alexis is worried about all the things going on with the Cuban Missle Crisis, and, with all the worries of a regular teen-age girl.
Plot Twist: Her best friend dies (I haven't figured out how yet).
Ending: After her friend's death, Alexis begins to understand just how serious this all is. Then, some big, exciting thing happens (again, i haven't figured out how yet).

[Comment #8]

how do u make A POST

[Comment #9]

That's sad how Aaron dies.

[Comment #10]

I'm actually writing a book!
Title: (I don't know yet)
Year it takes place:2009-2010
Main character and age: Amanda, a doll, about 12 or 13 years old
Plot: Amanda writes a diary about being a doll and sneaking out to get food for herself and her doll friends

[Comment #11]

to shakira which story is it i want to read it,......

[Comment #12]

Title: Into the Land of Sadness
Year: 1831
Major Event: Trail of Tears
Main Character: Cheyenne, age 13
Plot: Cheyenne, a Choctaw Native American, has to move with her mother and little brother to "Indian Territory" (present day Oklahoma)
Plot Twist: Makes friends with one of the soldier's daughters.
Ending: When Cheyenne's little brother gets sick with fever, Abigail (her new friend) sneaks Cheyenne and her brother into the infirmary, and in doing so, saves his life. By seeing how bad this is for her new friend, Abigail goes back to her hometown and tries to convince her superiors to stop the move.

[Comment #13]

Title: We must be strong
Time:1967
Main charactor:Maxine age 12.
Main event:Veitnom war
Plot: Maxine's mom is a diplomat and is sent to Saigon. She knows she wants to be true to America ,but, she has a bunch of Vietnameze friends and a crush.Plot twist: Maxine's parents have a huge fight with Maxine best friends parents about the war.
End: Maxine discovers how to make things right beetween her parents and friends

[Comment #14]

Title: Journey
year:2001
Major event: 9/11
Main character:Molly Age 10
Plot: Molly has just lost her father in 9/11.So she has to move with her mother to England where her grand parents live,well they are not taking a plane because her mother is in shock and hates the sight of air planes.
Plot twist: When they are on the boat, Molly sees her father but every time she tries to get him he disappears.The captain of the ship only knows what is going on.
End: She realizes that, that she can get through her fathers death. That this is the start of a new journey, but doesn't have to give up her father all together

[Comment #15]

My story is called Problems in the Tribe. It is about a Comanche girl named Bella. Bella has a hard time killing buffalo with her brothers. Then,the dogs who help her hunt run away. Her father brings home a horse, who she calls Hero. Bella rides Hero and connects with her. One month later, a European tries to steal her deerskins. Hero rescues Bella, and the two become best friends.

[Comment #16]

Title: Bewitched?
year:1692
event: selam witch trials
Character: Sarah age: 13
Plot: is accused of being a witch
twist: sentanced to death
ending: after muc work her father convinces the governer to spare her and stop the trials

[Comment #17]

Title: There's No Crying in Hockey
Event: 9/11
Main character: Madeline
Plot: Madeline's parents die in 9/11, and she and her two younger brothers are seperated into seperate orphanages. She and her new friends from school visit the local ice rink. She sees some boys play hockey, and gets interested. The next day she visits the ice rink again and learns to skate. The next day she learns how to play hockey. Soon she is signed up for the town's local hockey team. Madeline is the star player and her team makes it to the Championships.
Twist: Madeline's team, the NYC Slappers, and the opposing team, the Austin Owners, are tied by the end of the game. This is the last shot of the tiebreaker, and both teams are tied. The Slappers send out Madeline to make the final shot. The goalie glares at her and says, "Hey, miss your old folks, hon?" to keep her off track. Madeline stops and thinks about her parents for a while, and begins to cry. Everyone on her team screams and scolds her about how there's no crying in hockey, but she pays no attention and is sent back to the orphange, making The Slappers lose the title as Champion.
End: She gets a surprise visit from her brothers the next day, and ends with saying, "There might be no crying in hockey, but there's no such thing as no more love in seperation."

[Comment #18]

alsome i write prompt

[Comment #19]

Title: No Crying in Hockey
Event: 1909/1911
Main character: Taylor
Plot: Taylor's parents die between the years of 1909/1911, and she and her 3 younger brothers and 4 younger sisters are seperated into seperate orphanages. She and her new friends from school visit the local ice rink. She sees some boys play hockey, and gets interested. The next day she visits the ice rink again and learns to skate. The next day she learns how to play hockey. Soon she is signed up for the town's local hockey team. Taylor is the star player and her team makes it to the Championships.
Twist: Taylor's team, the NYC Slappers, and the opposing team, the Austin Owners, are tied by the end of the game. This is the last shot of the tiebreaker, and both teams are tied. The Slappers send out Taylor to make the final shot. The goalie glares at her and says, "Hey, miss your old folks, hon?" to keep her off track. Taylor stops and thinks about her parents for a while, and begins to cry. Everyone on her team screams and scolds her about how there's no crying in hockey, but she pays no attention and is sent back to the orphange, making The Slappers lose the title as Champion. But the strange thing is that the boys who were playing hockey were actually her younger brothers.
End: She gets a surprise visit from her brothers the next day, and ends with saying, "There might be no crying in hockey, but there's no such thing as no more love in seperation." Then the brothers take her home and she sees her sisters. They live happily ever after.

Me and my cousin are actually trying to make a movie from the series of this book.

[Comment #20]

these story things are soawesome.

[Comment #21]

Title:Blinded
Event:World War II
Main character:Jane
Plot: Jane's father is fighting in the war, but meanwhile her mother is on one of the All American League's baseball team. Jane doesn't know what to do because her and her mother have nowhere to go if the league fails, and if her father dies, she won't know what to do.

[Comment #22]

title:changes for samantha
event:valentine's day
samantha moved to new york with her aunt and uncle ,but she left her bff. then she heres that her bff's parents died and her bff was moving to new york to live with her uncle but her bff doen't visit samantha so she finds her at a orfanage and they ascape and hide her and they become sisters!!!

[Comment #23]

I dont know wat mine would be

[Comment #24]

hello si anybody out here !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not hibernating. Can I go inside.I am going to cry.Find my santa. I ma going to go inside.

[Comment #25]

Title: My Romeo
Year: Late 30s or early 40s
Major Event: Holocoust
Main Character name and age: Rebeckah, 18
Plot: She wants to marry Paul
Plot Twist: Paul is not Jewish and Rebecka is. The rest of Paul's family is Nazis. Later both of Rebeckah's parents die in the war.
Ending: Hitler dies and it inds the holocoust.