Fourth Grade
Worksheets
Elizabeth George Speare
History can often seem boring. It can be hard to see how learning about the past can help us make better choices for the future. Sometimes it is hard to relate to the people and events of the past. It can feel like we have nothing in common with those people or what happened in their lives. Historical novels can help make history more interesting. They take real places, events, and people and add a fictional story. Historical novels can give you an idea about what life was like in the past. Often, they help you see that the people of the past are a lot like we are. Their problems weren't much different than ours are today. A good writer can take the reader into the world of the past and make them feel as if they are a part of the story.
Elizabeth George Speare was the author of some of the best children's historical novels. She was born in Massachusetts in 1908. She said that she had always imagined herself as a writer, even as a young girl. Still, it took her more than forty years to begin her career as a writer. She just couldn't seem to find the time to write until her two children were in junior high school. When she first started writing, she wrote magazine articles about family life. She also wrote a few plays. Then one day, she came across .....
