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Historical Fiction

Historical fiction is a term used to describe stories that are set in the past. While “the past” may be vague, one definition is that the book is set one generation—or a minimum of 20 years—prior to when the book was actually written. Unless the time period is an important aspect of the story, often the subject headings do not reflect the time but only the more general subjects of the book. When looking for historical fiction, do subject searches for historical events or countries, with the subheading “Fiction.” Non-fiction books about the event or country will have Dewey Decimal numbers for call numbers. Historical fiction can be found in both picture storybooks (E) and in chapter books/novels (F).

The call number must begin with an E or an F. Click on Display full record to see the summary which describes the story and can help you to determine if the book is historical fiction or a different genre.

Search the Curriculum Lab Catalog:

SEARCH TYPE  : subject heading - enter one of the following words or phrases

*Note: Look for the subheading "fiction" after the subject headings.