Challenging the Pluralism of Our Past: Presentism and the Selective Tradition in Historical Fiction Written for Young People

This study examines the concept of presentism as it relates to historical fiction written for young people. Presentism includes (1) writerly presentism, i.e., the imposition of a writer’s modern values, beliefs, or awarenesses onto a past era; and (2) readerly presentism, i.e., the imposition of a reader’s modern values, beliefs, or awarenesses onto a past era.