History That Never Was

My adult novel Farthing (Tor, 2006; December, p. 173) was reviewed recently in SLJ, and I was very pleased to see it recommended. However, the reviewer said, “The accurately portrayed civilian setting will make the novel useful for world history classes,” and I feel I should mention that Farthing is set in 1949 in an alternate history in which Britain made peace with Germany in 1941 and the U.S. never entered World War II. I’m sorry that this was unclear to your reviewer.

While I think that works of counterfactual alternate history, like my own novel or Philip Roth’s The Plot Against America or Harry Turtledove’s In the Presence of Mine Enemies, can be useful teaching tools, I wouldn’t want to see Farthing taught as an accurate work of historical fiction, which appears to be what your review is suggesting. I’m sure none of us want teenagers to be confused.

As a social studies teacher and a librarian, I appreciate the author’s concern for accuracy, but I do believe that this well-constructed and appealing book could advance world history instruction.

I did feel that the civilian World War II setting was accurately portrayed and that the novel’s theme of prejudice was its most powerful element. Teens will read Farthing for that reason as well as for the murder mystery, which I also emphasized.

That Ms. Walton alters factual political history for the purpose of providing a well-told story provides excellent classroom discussion possibilities, as well as encouraging critical thinking on the part of teen readers. Sometimes both authors and publishers misunderstand the classroom use of books to be didactic, rather than offering students the opportunity to find problems with the presented text. An alternative novel such as Farthing indeed offers students who read it in a history classroom setting a book to discuss and reflect on, rather than passively absorb.

The recently published book Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC (Harcourt, 2006; June, p. 127) just crossed my desk and, as your reviewer indicated, the story and rhyming text is certain to capture storytime audiences. Woe, however, to the individual borrower who takes out this story. The incorrect use of the apostrophe on two separate pages was not pointed out in your review. An alphabet book should use proper grammar and the mistakes in the text should have been drawn to the attention of the reader.

Note: Our review of Liz Ruckdeschel and Sara James’s What if...All the Boys Wanted You? (Delacorte, 2006; January 2007, p. 136) included a reference to the quote, “Flirting with someone from another culture is one thing. But actually dating a foreigner?”

According to the publisher, that line does not appear in the completed book.