The Brainstorm Plus: Brainstorm 249: Biographical Fiction

This week’s Brainstorm explores biographical fiction. These books are historical fiction that are heavily based on true stories. Often the authors base the stories on family member’s lives, or people they have researched and/or interviewed extensively. Generally, what keeps the books in the fiction category instead of nonfiction are that the authors imagine dialogue, emotions, and sometimes condense a number of historical figures or events into a single fictional character/event to make the telling more concise and easier to follow. These are all stories you definitely want to hang around and read the author’s notes in the back for to find out what was true and what the author made up. They are all that much more fascinating for being based on real people and events. I have to confess that I thought a couple of these stories were a little far-fetched while reading them, only to find out when reading the back that those were the factual parts! Sometimes the truth really is stranger and more wild than things we can dream up. As always, click on the titles to see my full reviews including any content notes/trigger warnings.

Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol

Based loosely on real events, this graphic novel follows around a young Vera as she goes to Russian Orthodox summer camp for the first time and must try to survive without running water, endure games of capture the flag the girls can’t seem to win, and most challenging of all, making new friends.

Target Readers:
Graphic Novel Fans, 1970s/1980s Historical Fiction Fans, Summer Camp Story Fans, Russian American Character Fans, Middle Grade Readers

Brother's Keeper by Julie Lee

Sora and her family are tired of the restrictions of the Communists in their North Korean village. As the beginnings of the Korean War rumble, her father decides it is time to escape the religious and ideological persecution and get to South Korea. Her mother has a brother in Busan, and the family decides to head there. But as the sneak out at night with what they can carry, Sora and her 8 year old brother are separated from their parents and baby brother. Can Sora get the two of them to Busan in winter across a war zone safely? The author says in the back of the book that this story is largely inspired by her own mother's escape from North Korea to Busan during the start of the Korean War with one brother.

Target Readers:
Survival Story Fans, Korean War Setting Fans, Korea Setting Fans, Bittersweet Story Fans, Middle Grade/Young Adult Readers

Home in the Woods by Eliza Wheeler

Marvel is just 6 when she, her 4 older siblings, 3 younger siblings, and her Mum must move into a rundown tarpaper cover shack in the Wisconsin woods after Father dies. When they move in they are all a little glum and the place doesn't seem like much. But as the seasons change they find little joys in the woods around their home and their time together, bringing warmth and joy back into their lives. The author's note in the back of the book says that this story is based on the author's grandmother's life during the Great Depression.

Target Readers:
Big Family Story Fans, Great Depression Era Fans, Rural Setting Fans, Finding Joy in Little Things Story Fans, Art Lovers, Picture Book Readers

The House on Silat Road by S.S. Si-Hoe & Sim Ee Waun, ill. by Lim An-Ling

Sing, her 9 siblings, her parents, and their live-in helper have moved to a big house on Silat Road, high on a hill. Sing loves the big new house and all it holds. Soon, she and her siblings find out their father moved them there for a reason and built the house with special secrets. He had heard the Japanese were coming and wanted them to be ready. So as WWII crashes onto the shores of Singapore, Sing shares her family's experiences at their new house and how it helps them make it through the war. The author based the story on her own experiences as a child in Singapore at the time. This is a little gem of a biographical fiction that will make historical Singapore come alive.

Target Readers:
Big Family Story Fans, Singapore Setting Fans, WWII Era Fans, Upper Lower Grade/Middle Grade Readers

I Can Make This Promised by Christine Day

Edie knows that she and her mom are Native American. She knows her mom was adopted as a baby by a great couple who loved her and who died before Edie could get to know them, but she doesn't know much more about her heritage than that. While looking for the equipment to make popsicles, Edie and her two friends stumble upon a box in the attic with letters and pictures about a woman named Edith who looks a lot like Edie and went to Hollywood in the 70s. Edie's mom never has talked about knowing her biological mom and when Edie asks her parents what inspired her name, they give her vague answers. Edie is upset that they don't seem to want to tell her the truth, and she's not sure what to do about it. She's also upset that she and her two best friends can't seem to agree on what to make their summer film about. And though Serenity is faithful as always, Amelia seems distant and not fully there any more. And to top it all off, Edie is getting braces. The ending of this book is so powerful, doubly so because it is based on real stories.

Target Readers:
Family Mystery Fans, Native American Character Fans, Contemporary Fiction Fans, Friendship Story Fans, Little Known History Fans, Award Winner Readers, Middle Grade Readers

The Last Cherry Blossom by Kathleen Burkinshaw

Yuriko is a well-off girl in Hiroshima during WWII. Her father runs the newspaper. She lives with him and her aunt and younger cousin, both of whom she can only tolerate. Her best friend lives just down the street, and they like to listen to jazz secretly together. As 1945 draws closer, a lot of changes are on the way for Yuriko as her father remarries, a deep family secret comes out, and 1945 itself will change all of their lives forever when the bombs fall. This is heavily based on the author's mother's childhood. The book does a fabulous job of bringing to life what life was like for an average, upper-middle class Japanese girl during WWII.

Target Readers:
Slice of Life Story Fans, Japan Setting Fans, WWII Era Fans, Middle Grade Readers

Lifeboat 12 by Susan Hood

Rooted solidly in historic fact, Hood imagines the conversations and emotions of what it was like for 13-year-old Ken Sparks and the 63 other City of Benares survivors in Lifeboat 12 after a U-boat sank the ship that was taking numerous British children to safety in Canada. Hood based a lot of this on survivor's memories.

Target Readers:
Survival Story Fans, WWII Era Fans, Novels in Verse Fans, Quick Reads Fans, Little Known History Fans, Middle Grade Readers

The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron

As WWII comes to their small town in Poland, Stefania (Fusia) Podgórska finds herself caught in the middle of the turmoil. The family she was sent to live and work for as a child is Jewish. They have treated her very well over the years, and she regards them as family. As restrictions on Jews tighten more and more, Fusia, now a teen must figure out how to survive when the family she has known and loved, including the boy she's promised to marry is sent to the ghetto, the shop they ran is closed, and it becomes increasingly clear their lives are in danger. Fusia also has her much younger sister, Helena, to care for now that her mother and some siblings have been sent to a work camp in a different country. And then some of the family asks her a question. Is she willing to hide Jews even if it means that she and Helena would be killed along with them if they are found? This book is not a biography just because the author had to imagine the dialogue and combine some side characters together. Stefania Podgórska and Helena were real people (they are the ladies on the cover of this edition of the book). All the major events really happened.

Target Readers:
Thriller Fans, WWII Era Fans, Inspirational Story Fans, Young Adult Readers

Nazi Prison Camp Escape (Great Escapes, #1) by Michael Burgan, ill. by James Bernardin

A slightly fictionalized story of real WWII pilot Bill Ash and his numerous escape attempts from Nazi POW camps. This is only categorized as fiction because the author had to imagine the dialogue and emotions of Bill in some circumstances.

Target Readers:
Thriller Fans, WWII Era Fans, Reluctant Readers, Quick Reads Fans, Middle Grade Readers

Shadow on the Mountain by Margi Preus

The story of a teenager in Norway who starts working for the resistance in small ways and then takes on more serious jobs as the occupation goes on more years. This is based on the life of a real person, Erling Storrusten, and his experiences as a teenager in WWII Norway. Preus just reimagined some of the dialogue and people and places' names. There's several pages of notes in the back of the book about what is true and what is fictional which are fascinating to read. Definitely don't stop reading when the story ends, check out the real history section too!

Target Readers:
WWII Era Fans, Norway Setting Fans, Lesser Known History Fans, Middle Grade/Young Adult Readers

The Story Collector (The Story Collector, #1) by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb

Viviani lives in the New York Public library where her father maintains the building. She's a bit obsessed with stories, maybe a little too much, and when a new girl at school starts calling her a liar for the stories she tells, Viviani sets out to prove the value of stories to this new girl a little too obsessed with the facts. Viviani cooks up an overnight that will "prove" that the library has a ghost. But none of the girls has any clue that a real mystery is unfolding that same night, and they find themselves smack in the middle of it. The book is based on a real girl who actually did live in the New York Public library with her family in the first half of the 20th century, and a real crime that happened there during that time period. The author clarifies what is true and what she made up in the back.

Target Readers:
Mystery Fans, Friendship Story Fans, New York City Setting Fans, Middle Grade Readers

Which Way Is Home? by Maria Kiely

WWII is over. Anna's family was so happy to see the Russians enter Czechoslovakia and be free of the Germans, but now they are learning that the Russians and their Communism may be even worse. Anna's family is too close to the old government. Her grandfather was a former prime minister, and her father was a Czech foreign diplomat turned spy for the Allies during the war. He hasn't been able to come home for years for fear the Germans would catch him, and now the Communists would love to get their hands on him. Anna loves life on her family's farm, playing make believe with her cousin, and the smell of fresh strawberries. But one night her aunt shows up and says Anna is to join her mother and sister in Prague for her sister's piano concert. Only that's not where they are really headed. Once she meets up with her mother and sister, Anna learns that they are escaping into Germany. It's a dangerous journey. Can they make it? Definitely read the author's note in this one. This is all based on the author's mother's experiences (who is still alive and gave feedback as the book was being written).