"Historical fiction aimed at children, and often relating to National Curriculum History topics, appears to be growing in popularity. There is a challenge to make the children’s novel – often personal and intimate – speak to broader social concerns ..."

History, it is often said, is written by the winners. More and more now, however, history is being written by the survivors—including those whose ancestors fomented that “native unrest” against the empire.

Alex Wheatle’s Cane Warriors (Andersen 2020) is one such novel that in many ways, takes the traditional format of the 19th century boys’ adventure story and uses it to ask questions about the historical past.

Like Henty’s novels, Cane Warriors has Moa meeting the real-life figure of Tacky, and becoming part of his military operation against the British. Moa kills white people in this novel, just as the boy heroes in Henty’s novels often kill Africans, Indians and Native Americans.

But whereas Henty’s characters fight to secure land and resources, Wheatle’s characters are fighting for survival... Moa lives in a violent world created by the British, and he reacts to it with violence.

Catherine Johnson’s Queen of Freedom (Pushkin 2020) tells the story of Nanny of the Maroons, who, in 1976, was declared a national hero in Jamaica. Nanny lead the Windward Maroons in guerilla warfare against the system of slavery that was enforced by British Colonial rule.

Sita Brahmachari’s When Secrets Set Sail indicates the importance of revealing the unseen figures that haunt Britain’s past. Whilst.not historical fiction in the usual sense, When Secrets Set Sail is a contemporary ghost story...

...that invites the reader to consider the how the past shapes our present. Brahmachari weaves together the Windrush scandal with an altogether undiscussed scandal: that of abandoned Indian Ayahs and East Asian Ammas in Britain of the Victorian and Edwardian periods.

Sufiya Ahmed’s Noor-Un-Nissa Inayat Khan (Scholastic 2020) is written in the first person and covers Noor’s childhood in France, her early career as a children’s author (her version of Jatarka tales is still in in print), and her work in France ... during the second World War.

Ahmed’s narrative balances the thriller element of Khan’s story with the horror of the war and her eventual execution at Dachau with great sensitivity.

Beyond Britain, Catherine Johnson’s To Liberty: The Adventures of Thomas Alexandre Dumas provides a fascinating biography of the man who was the most senior Black soldier in any army in Europe as well as the father of Alexandre Dumas the writer.

Johnson’s ability to write compellingly whilst basing her narrative on thorough research has marked her out as one of the finest current writers for children and young adults.

Candy Gourlay’s Ferdinand Magellan (2020), part of the First Names series from David Fickling Books, goes some way to challenging the hero narratives employed to write about European explorers traditionally published in Britain.

From the book’s cover we see that the account offered is multi-perspectival. “I’m the first person to discover these islands!” Magellan announces. “Oi! We’ve lived here for centuries!” responds a smaller drawn figure.

...it is important to note that in the Epilogue it is stated in bold, that ‘the locals were robbed’ and thus “[t]o them the Age of Exploration is the Age of Exploitation.”

Given that as recently as 2019 a children’s book published by Laurence King presented Magellan as ‘steely’ and his actions as uncontroversially heroic, Gourlay’s book destabilises the notion of an uncontested Eurocentric narrative and as such signifies a break from convention.

It comes at an important moment for education and publishing and invites questions as to how to most effectively contextualise historical figures so as to teach a history oriented towards truth rather than glorification.

Full article here: Beyond the Secret Garden, cowritten with @ksandsoconnor for @BooksForKeeps : http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/issue/244/childrens-books/articles/beyond-the-secret-garden/beyond-the-secret-garden-the-other-side-