ABSTRACT
Reading historical fiction can give students a lens through which to examine contemporary issues within the context of past events. Historical novels situate the past in a story, revealing the intimate and complex decisions that shape the world. Too often teachers convey history without helping students see the big picture, such as how the Great Depression fits into the larger landscape of US history. Freire argues that schools and teachers with minority children have a responsibility to help their students develop a “critical consciousness” to the realities of oppression and how power is used and abused. Food and farming are important in Esperanza Rising. Stearns writes that History also provides a terrain for moral contemplation. Helping students cultivate their moral identities is at the core of teaching for social responsibility.
