Recently, a simple question turned into a superb opportunity for me to think about how my novels model historical thinking.

I was taking questions about my novels before an audience of seventh graders who had read the first two books of The Snipesville Chronicles. A girl raised her hand. “In the second book, did you ever give a reason why the park was saved after [the main characters] time traveled?”

[Multiple Spoiler Alert]

That gave me pause. I couldn’t remember. I wrote A Different Day, A Dif...