Different choice for historical fiction

Since I didn't enjoy reading Adam of the Road, I decided to choose a different book to read and review for the wiki. I chose Soft Rain, which is a story about a young Cherokee girl and her journey out west on the trail of tears. It was a very moving and sad story. I was really unaware of all the hardships that the Native Americans had to endure. I wish I had learned about history through literature like this. I think it would've stuck in my head a little better (esp. if I had an emotion to attach it to and a personal experience). I learned from textbooks, and I never enjoyed history, geography, social studies, or anything of that nature. It's boring reading from a textbook b/c there are no personal experiences to tie the events to. I really enjoy reading biographies, memoirs, and, I've found after reading this book, even historical fiction (if it is well written). I'm sure children would much prefer learning through stories than reading facts from a textbook.