Help! My maid melted my sugar basin.

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes was required reading for my seventh grade English class. I loved this book even though I had nothing in common with the main character and had no idea what a silversmith did. However I liked the stories of history and the perspective of a fourteen year boy watching the Revolutionary War begin. I didn't know that Johnny Tremain was the 1944 Newbery Award winner when I first read this book. Newbery award winners were not on my radar at the time. I am often asked to find a Newbery book for a class assignment but children usually don't seek out Newbery books on their own.  Johnny Tremain is one of my top picks for historical fiction for children ages 11-14.  The historical figures including Sam Adams, James Otis, and Paul Revere are interesting but the fictional characters such as spoiled Izzy, patient Cilla, and courageous Rab are the ones that really stood out in my mind.  What makes historical fiction a good read? Is it the appeal of the fictional characters who interact with the well-known names from the sometimes dull history textbooks? The setting of historical novels becomes another character in the story. I've never been to Boston but I can imagine the Boston of Johnny Tremain's time.  How many Newbery winners could be labeled historical fiction? Do children select the older Newbery winners when they have a choice?