Great Expectations was a book written by Charles Dickens a long time ago. It is a fantasy book about a poor boy who helps a convict escape. When the convict finally becomes rich he gives all of the money he has to the boy secretly. The boy becomes an educated gentleman and finally realizes the convict was his benefactor. The boy develops a loving relationship with the convict and helps him attempt to escape. However, the attempt fails and the convict dies. The boy, now grown, mourns the loss of his friend as he realizes he lost the woman he loves. However, upon arrival at the woman, Estella's, house Pip, the boy, realizes that Estella loves him and they live happily ever after. This book was adapted into a children's version which takes the most important parts from the original and puts them into language for elementary students.

Genre: Historical Fiction
Age Appropriateness: Intermediate
Review: This chapter book is a good example of a historical fiction book. It is an abridged classic so that children can get the basic story line and it is still easy enough for them to understand. The characters aren't real, but it is set in an accurate time period and includes historical things children may not know about, such as convict ships and allowances as an adult. The setting is detailed and includes both place and time. It is described well and allows the reader to envision the events of the story.

Media: none

This book is a pretty good example of historical fiction. It is set in a historical time, but there are not a lot of figures like there are in some other books. The characters are not real people, but their experiences in the book seem to be accurate with the time setting.
Pip is a round, dynamic character. The story is about him growing up and going from a blacksmith's apprentice to a gentleman, so he definitely changes throughout the story. Also, the things that are important to him change throughout the story. In the beginning he loves his family, and then he's ashamed of them while he's becoming a gentleman, and then he realizes that his family is still important. We learn a lot about him, especially through his own thoughts, because he is the narrator of this story. We also learn about him through his actions and how he treats the people around him.
Age Appropriateness: Intermediate
Media: N/A

This retelling of the famous book, Great Expectations, is perfect for younger kids. It tells of the life of a boy named Pip and his dealings with a convict who sends him money to become a gentleman. The story tells of Pip's love for a young woman who at first does not love him back, but after ending a horrible marriage, the girl realizes that she does love him.
This is a good book for a teacher to introduce the full length version of Great Expectations. A class could study classic books and use this as a shorter version.
This story is not a true story, but it is a realistic fiction because nothing in this book is unrealistic or unable to happen.
The characters in this book do not build throughout the book. Their characters do little with the plot and are not very engaging.
Media: N/A ( )

Genre ~ Realistic Fiction ~ Althought the happenings in this story may be true, the characters are not based off anyone specifically. The story line is so authentic that readers are able to get a sense of what is happening and who the characters are.

Setting ~ Again, the setting is very authentic and very well described. Readers can use their imagination and the descriptions given picture what young Pip's world looks like even though it is set in Victorian England.

Media ~ NA ( )