For my 2nd grader's social science curriculum this year, we have opted to use the series of juvenile historical fiction, the
American Girl books. At first I went into this rather blindly, knowing only that my daughter had an interest in reading the books, and confirming with the children's librarian that the books were historically accurate. But beyond that, I've been pleased beyond all expectation. The books are not only accurate, but are told enchantingly from the perspective of a nine-year-old girl in each series. We chose to begin chronologically, with Kaya, the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) girl, moving on to Felicity of the colonial era, and so on.
What I really like is the history is handled in a very well-rounded way without being eye-rollingly politically correct. The books cover some of the shameful parts of American history, and also the stuff we're proud of - but it also shows how much of it is really a mixed bag. All the books (at least the ones we've read so far) have an ongoing theme of change - what is changing in the big picture - America - as well as what is changing in a girl's life at 9-10 yrs old in terms of relationships, desires, growth, etc. Some have other themes as well, such as liberty in the first Felicity book, in the background we start to hear about the start of the American Revolution, but more central in Felicity's life is her efforts to liberate a horse from an abusive neighbor, even though she has to break some rules to do so. The character in the next book becomes best friends with a girl who is from a Loyalist family, while her own is high profile Patriot family, and to some extent we see both sides of even THAT story, that is generally treated fairly one-sided in American schools. The books neither beat-up on America nor paint it as an infallible entity.
All the parents in the books that I've seen so far have opinions and explain their views to their daughter, but ultimately respect their daughter making her own choices. And the girls all so far respect their parents, even if they at times break rules or push boundaries.
I've also loved the way the books treat female roles. In every book so far we've seen a very accurate historical account of what a female role would be historically. Two things come out of that - the girl or other female characters either by choice or circumstance break out of that role (in a believable way), while at the same time the "traditional" women in the book are depicted as equally strong and capable women who contribute a great deal to their communities and families, and worthy of respect.
The girls themselves are strong, spiritual, kind, and competent. They have the appropriate failures of a child and of a human being, but the reader really gets a strong sense of how much burden and responsibility that girls were once expected to have. They developed real skills. In some ways, we are shown how people in history respected children more than they do now. Even in a society where women did not have equal rights and children were "seen and not heard", these girls were expected to be competent, capable, articulate, and to contribute to their communities in vital ways.
