For today’s Brainstorm I have some reimagined/alternative histories for you. These are stories that take a historical time period and either change what happened in the historical record, or add something in that wasn’t there (like magic, dinosaurs, anachronistic technology, or talking animals). This topic today was largely inspired by me wanting to include Nadine Brandes’ Fawkes with the 5th of November coming up this weekend. Click on the titles to see my full reviews of each book including any content notes/trigger warnings.
Dactyl Hill Squad (Dactyl Hill Squad, #1) by Daniel José Older
The Civil War is raging in the South. Dinosaurs are used as conveyance and messengers. When riots break out in New York City Magdalys and a few of the other orphans from the Colored Orphans Asylum are attending a play. The two actors who were performing get the orphans to a safe spot in Brooklyn after they discover that the home for orphans has been burned and the other orphans scattered. Magdalys and her friends may be safe, but the other orphans out on the streets are in grave danger as there are people who'd try to kidnap them and sell them into slavery. They must find a way to rescue the other orphans with the help of the Vigilance Committee and the kind people they've met in Brooklyn. As they do so, Magdalys explores an ability she discovered she possessed in the midst of their escape from the riots. She can communicate with dinos and get them to obey her with just her thoughts! And whether or not it is safe for others to find out she can do so, is another thing for Magdalys to worry about. And while we're on the topic of Magdalys' worries, she's also found out that her brother was injured in the war.
Older obviously did a lot of research on the US Civil War and incorporates a lot of real history as well as real human rights issues/heroes into this trilogy, just with dinos added.
Target Readers:
Historical Fiction Fans, US Civil War Studiers, Dinosaur Fans, Adventure Fans, Human Rights Issues Story Fans, Middle Grade Readers
Fawkes by Nadine Brandes
Thomas Fawkes is hunting down his father who refused to show up and give him his mask for a special ceremony that would make him a bond to a certain color and be able to perform magic with that color. When he does find his father in London, it is completely by accident. And he quickly finds himself enmeshed in a plot to kill the Igniter King James, end the execution of Keepers, end the plague that is turning people (including Thomas) to stone, and bring a Keeper to the throne so that White Light will be respected but only specific colors used. (Igniters harness the power of White Light which Keepers think is wrong.) As Thomas finds employment in the city as a caddy for Emma, the ward of Baron Monteagle, he hears her side of the plague and White Light debate as an Igniter. And though he won't admit it to anyone, White Light has been talking to Thomas. Thomas has to figure out who is on the right side, the Keepers or the Igniters?
Though this is fantasy, Brandes weaves in quite a bit of historical fact and real historical figures in the plot of November 5. She did replace the Catholic/Protestant conflict with an magical allegorical element, but it works quite well for this reimagined history.
Target Readers:
Guy Fawkes Day Tie-in Fans, Reimagined History Fans, Fantasy Fans, Christian Fiction Fans, Suspense Fans, Young Adult/Adult Readers
How to Tame a Triceratops (Dino Riders, #1) by Will Dare, ill. by Mariano Epelbaum
Josh desperately wants to win the Founders Day Race, but the only racing dino he has is the family’s herder for their iguanadons, Plodder. And Plodder is anything but fast in his old age. When his parents send him to town to get a new herder, Josh decides to get a dino worthy of racing in the Founders Day Race, a triceratops. But Josh was tricked. Charger is the most untrainable triceratops in the West. Will he ever get to become a famous dino racer?
An action-packed reimagining of the Old West with dinosaurs.
Target Readers:
Dinosaur Fans, Western Story Fans, Adventure Fans, Humorous Fiction Fans, Historical Fiction Fans, Science Fiction Fans, Lower Grade Readers
Knight Owl by Christopher Denise
Owl doesn't seem like the best candidate for knighthood, but he's dreamt of it all his life and he's wiling to work hard. When danger arrives on Knight Owl's night watch, can he protect the kingdom from a big, dangerous foe?
What if in the time of castles and knights, animals could be knights, dragons were real, and pizza was developed just a few years earlier? Owl is a cute little underdog hero, who finds a nonviolent, kind solution to the dangers facing the kingdom. And the illustrations are stunning!
Target Readers:
Owl Lovers, Fantasy Fans, Knights & Castles Story Fans, Perseverance Story Fans, Peacemaker Story Fans, Art Lovers, Kindness Story Fans, Pizza Lovers, Award Winner Readers, Picture Book Readers
My Fine Fellow by Jennieke Cohen
Under Queen Charlotte's reign, in England in the 1830s certain occupations have been opened up for women. One of them is becoming a Culinarian, a chef at the pinnacle of the food scene. Helena Higgins and Penelope Pickering are in their final years at Culinarian school. Penelope is doing her final project on food from the Americas since she just returned from traveling there with her parents. Helena is yet to land on a project that is challenging enough for her tastes. But then the two young women taste street peddler Elijah Little's empanadas and are intrigued by the flavors. Helena proclaims she could train him up to be fine enough to own his own shop some day, and doesn't think much more of it. But when he shows up at her house the next day for this training, she realizes this could be the most stunning final year project. And getting him skilled enough for his own shop is too little for Helena, she wants to pass him off as a Culinarian himself before royalty. Penelope is a little worried. She considers Helena a dear friend, especially since her half-British/half-Filipina heritage doesn't seem to phase her, but she knows Helena takes some getting used to and doesn't have the best people skills. Will Elijah survive her tutelage? As for Elijah, he knows this is his best chance for a step up in life but he's worried what would happen if Helena or Penelope learn that he's Jewish.
Princess Charlotte was a real person in line for the British throne, but she didn't live long enough to become queen. So this imagines what might have happened if she did live to be Queen instead of Victoria. And in case you didn't figure it out, this is a My Fair Lady musical rewrite focused on cooking skills more than diction (though Elijah also gets some lessons in passing as a gentleman) that also tactfully tackles topics of racial/ethnic/social class prejudice.
Target Readers:
My Fair Lady Fans, Reimagined History Fans, Cooking/Baking Story Fans, Tactful Social Issues Story Fans, Friendship Story Fans, Light Romance Fans, Young Adult Readers
Night Lunch by Eric Fan, ill. by Dena Seiferling
Visit a food cart that caters to the creatures awake all evening and need their lunch in the middle of the night. One creature is a bit scared of the chef, but are its fears warranted?
There’s a touching ending and whimsical, gorgeous illustrations in this book that imagines what if early 1900s nocturnal animals had their own food trucks carts.
Target Readers:
Animal Lovers, Kindness Story Fans, Food Lovers, Art Lovers, Picture Book Readers
Wolf by Wolf (Wolf by Wolf, #1) by Ryan Graudin
What if the Japanese joined the Nazis in attacking Russia instead of attacking Pearl Harbor? And what if the USA's isolationists won the day and they never entered WWII? Then you end up with Europe and Asia divided between the winning Axis powers, and Hitler still in charge in the 1950s. Each year there is a motorcycle race for teens from Germany to Japan to celebrate the Third Reich's and Imperial Japan's victory. Yael was once a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz and experimental subject of the Angel of Death. The experiments were horrific but spared her life, and gave her abilities that allowed her to escape Auschwitz as a child. Now a teen operative, she is the underground Resistance's best hope of assassinating Hitler. The paranoid ruler never goes in public any more, but last year he danced with Adele Wolfe, the first female winner of the motorcycle race (she entered as her twin brother and only revealed her true identity upon winning). Yael is going to take Adele's spot in this year's race. But she has to pull off pretending to be Adele throughout the race and also beat the 13 other competitors to have a chance at ending Hitler's evil reign. The race is brutal and anything goes when the cameras aren't filming the competitors.
A compellingly written dystopia that combines real WWII history in flashbacks with reimagined bits, and and an alternate 1950s history.
Target Readers:
Dystopia Fans, Suspense Fans, International Adventure Fans, WWII Story Fans, Reimagined History Fans, Competition Story Fans, Science Fiction Fans, Young Adult/Adult Readers
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