Guest Post “Writing History for Young Adults”, by Rina Z. Neiman

Hello Friends!

I hope you are having an amazing Friday and I hope you have a good weekend. Today I bring you a guest post as part of a blog tour.

Enjoy what she has to say.

Are you interested in writing history for young adults? If you are, you will absolutely want to visit Jess’ blog today where author Rina Z. Neiman talks about writing history for young adults and what grabs them and what loses them.

I remember the first time I read historical fiction as a young adult. The book was Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels set during the Civil War, a topic that reminded me of a boring high school history class. But a friend couldn’t stop raving about the book and convinced me to give it a try.

Shaara’s story transported me into another world. The gruesome fighting on battlefields with vaguely familiar names were brought into sharp focus by the author’s descriptive prose. The characters were strong, the story lines interesting, and most importantly, the time period felt real. Suddenly, history was compelling and I was learning a lot to boot. I was hooked on historical fiction.

It’s been years since I first read that book, but the feeling of reading a living, breathing history stayed with me. When I decided to write my own historical novel, Born Under Fire, my goal was to bring to life the birth of the State of Israel in the way Shaara’s novel deepened my understanding for the Civil War.

The main character in Born Under Fire, Shula, is based on my mother. Through Shula we experience not only pivotal moments in the historical timeline, but her feelings, emotions and reactions to these events. Based on my experience, I knew I needed to avoid the history-lesson-voice and concentrate on the human dramas in each event.

An example of this is the dramatization the United Nations vote on the partition plan in 1947. Reading the transcript of this historic meeting, it was clear that I had to find a way to make this event, (which includes an extremely long roll call vote), engaging and interesting.

During my research, I learned that most everyone in Tel Aviv listened to the live broadcast on their radios that night. I created a scene where Shula’s extended family gathers in her apartment to listen to the vote. There is a buzz in the air and Shula sees the same scene repeated in every window on her street. Her 10-year-old brother holds a hand-drawn chart and stands ready with the new pen he bought for the tally. While the roll is called, family members interject and interrupt the proceedings, which keeps the action moving and the suspense building.

YA readers of historical fiction are looking for good stories with believable and relatable characters. Avoid rote repetition of facts and figures and instead opt for Interesting scenarios as a way to pass on information to the characters, and in turn, the readers.

Rina Z. Neiman

Synopsis

Born Under Fire is a historical novel that tells the story of a girl coming of age and her drive to excel despite the devastating effects of long-term war.

Born in Jerusalem under British rule in 1928, Shula grows up in a world in turmoil as Hitler rises to power and nations enter into war. Amid a landscape of ancient stone ruins next to modern Bauhaus architecture, and desert scrub ending at newly verdant farmlands, Shula grows into her independence as the State of Israel is born.

Based on historical documents and events, Born Under Fire is also about the context surrounding the founding of the State of Israel, as well as the horrors and dangers of growing up in a conflict zone. Shula battles grief and depression due to the shattering events affecting her, her family, and the entire world.

Despite this struggle, her resilient spirit enables her to reach great heights as a concert pianist..

Print Length: 258 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN-13: 978-1986349147
ISBN-10: 1986349144

Born Under Fire is now available to purchase on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Thrift Books.

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Love,

Jess