Millie(let)

I shared a snippet from one of my favorite Dollhouse fanfic ideas that I never explored in full (other than the crossover with Fifty Shades of Grey).

Here are five works of historical fiction that I loved when I was growing up.

1. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase (1962) by Joan Aiken

When a cruel governess takes control of Bonnie’s home, she, her cousin Sylvia, and their friend Simon team up to thwart her plans.

Many of the stories and make-believe games of my childhood involved the cruel treatment of children in orphanages or boarding schools. I partially blame multiple viewings of the musical Annie on VHS (I didn’t only love it because the title character shared my name!), and Willoughby Chase pushed all the right buttons, while also offering a lot of pleasingly aspirational depictions of wealth and an enthralling story about two girls on an adventure together (along with a perfectly nice boy, but I didn’t care as much about him). Although it’s the first in a series, and the alternate-history elements are more prominent in later installments, this one stands very well on its own.

2. Child of the Owl (1977) by Laurence Yep

When her father’s gambling misadventures land him in the hospital, Casey goes to live with her maternal grandmother in San Francisco’s Chinatown, where she learns more about her Chinese heritage.

I questioned whether to call this book “historical fiction,” because it takes place only a little more than a decade before it was published, but I remember it fondly enough that I decided to go ahead anyway. It definitely does a good job of evoking a particular time and place (I can envision those roast ducks in the window now), and features a strong and enjoyable heroine and a touching story of intergenerational connection.

3. The Dreadful Future of Blossom Culp (1983) by Richard Peck

During plans to turn a local abandoned house into a Halloween attraction, Blossom’s psychic powers propel her from the 1910s to the 1980s, where she befriends the lonely boy currently living in the house.

I talked about the previous book in the Blossom Culp series, Ghosts I Have Been, last October. I think that I liked this one even more; it had a higher concentration of Teen Shenanigans, and Blossom’s fish-out-of-water experience in the 80s was a lot of fun to read about.

4. Back Home (1984) by Michelle Magorian

As the Second World War draws to a close, twelve-year-old Rusty, who spent the previous five years with a loving foster family in America, returns to an England that she barely recognizes and struggles against the social expectations of her family and school.

I probably picked up this book because it had a Terrible Boarding School, too, but it’s just one slice of the world that Magorian so richly brings to life. Rusty is a memorable and sympathetic main character, but when I skimmed the book again recently, I found her mother, Peggy, to be at least as interesting. After working as a driver and mechanic during the war, alongside a capable crew of other women, Peggy finds herself dissatisfied at the prospect of simply being a wife and mother, and as she tries awkwardly to reconnect with her daughter and keep the peace in a family that is experiencing many changes very quickly, she reclaims her own voice and agency.

5. Stepping on the Cracks (1991) by Mary Downing Hahn

Best friends Margaret and Elizabeth both have brothers who are fighting in World War II, and they believe without hesitation that all of the fighting is necessary, until an encounter with a military deserter challenges their convictions.

Hahn wrote a few historical novels in addition to her ghostly tales and contemporary coming-of-age stories, and I had a particular fondness for this one, which explored the impact of a faraway war on a community and the families that lived there. If Molly was your favorite American Girl, you probably would have enjoyed Stepping on the Cracks as well.