Realistic Fiction

Realistic fiction is kind of a newcomer to the long list of literary genres. Primarily aimed at children and adolescents (the corresponding genre in adult literature is usually just called "literary fiction"), realistic fiction is recognizable by its relatable characters and situations. What sets it apart from historical fiction is that the stories do not center around an actual historical event or person, though they may be set in a very real time period.

Characters deal with the things everyone else deals with—death, friendship, loneliness, embarrassment, first love—and they don't get transported to a make-believe island as a solution to their problems. They have to work it out, which is one of the main appeals of this genre; kids like to read about other kids (real or imaginary) going through the typical young person's trials and how they deal with it.

Not that all realistic fiction is sad and gloomy. It's just what it sounds like—stories about real-life from a fresh perspective. Also, we aren't suggesting there are no realistic elements to a fantasy like The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: there are, which is precisely what makes reading that book so rewarding. It's just that real kids don't fight literal dragons, they fight bullies, or their own insecurities, or ferocious acne.

A lot of the best and most-loved stories fall squarely within the limits of realistic fiction. Huckleberry Finn wasn't a real pirate, but he really rafted the Mississippi; Anne Shirley wasn't a Medieval princess, but she really became Matthew and Marilla's daughter; Anna and Caleb Witting aren't big on imagination, but they are big on really accepting Sarah into their family (at least, eventually).

The full range of human experience is explored in these stories, its darkness, its light, its sorrow, its joy. This is the purpose of literature, after all: to show us true life, and in showing us, to better prepare us for it. These books are some of the best at doing just that.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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133 Items found Print
Active Filters: 20th Century America
Adèle & Simon in America
by Barbara McClintock
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
After the Dancing Days
by Margaret I. Rostkowski
from HarperTrophy
for 7th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Al Capone Does My Shirts
by Gennifer Choldenko
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 7th-10th grade
2005 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
All He Knew
by Helen Frost
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 7th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$17.99
Behave Yourself, Bethany Brant
by Patricia Beatty
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Best Bad Thing
by Yoshiko Uchida
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Betsy and Joe
by Maud Hart Lovelace, illustrated by Vera Neville
15th Printing from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$45.00 (1 in stock)
Betsy and the Great World
by Maud Hart Lovelace
from HarperTrophy
for 3rd-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Betty Before X
by Ilyasah Shabazz with Renee Watson
from Square Fish Publishing
for 8th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Blue Willow
Puffin Newbery Library
by Doris Gates
from Puffin Books
for 4th-7th grade
1941 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 8th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.99
Bracelet, The
by Yoshika Uchida
from PaperStar Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
from Yearling
Realistic Fiction for 4th-6th grade
2000 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $5.00 (3 in stock)
Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
from Delacorte Press
Realistic Fiction for 4th-6th grade
2000 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
from Laurel-Leaf Books
Realistic Fiction for 4th-6th grade
2000 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.50 (2 in stock)
Carrie's War
by Nina Bawden
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Chestry Oak
by Kate Seredy
from Purple House Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$15.99
Echo Mountain
by Lauren Wolk
from Dutton Children's Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Elephant in the Garden
by Michael Morpurgo
from Feiwel & Friends
for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Elephant in the Garden
by Michael Morpurgo
from Feiwel & Friends
for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Endless Steppe
by Esther Hautzig
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Escape From Warsaw
by Ian Serraillier, illustrated by Irwin Hoffman
from Scholastic Inc.
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Esperanza Rising
by Pam Munoz Ryan
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Everything Sad Is Untrue
by Daniel Nayeri
from Levine Querido
for 11th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$18.99
Factory Girl
by Barbara Greenwood
from Kids Can Press
for 5th-7th grade
in Industrialization & Organized Labor (Location: HISA-19IND)
Faraway Island
by Annika Thor
from Delacorte Press
for 5th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Feathers
by Jacqueline Woodson
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 4th-7th grade
2008 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
First Farm in the Valley
by Anne Pellowski
from Bethlehem Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.50
Fortunate Grandchild
by Miss Read
1st US Edition
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Glory Be
by Augusta Scattergood
Reprint from Scholastic Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.99
Going Solo
by Roald Dahl
from Puffin Books
for 7th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Gold Cadillac
by Mildred D. Taylor
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Gone Crazy in Alabama
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Reprint from Amistad Press
for 4th-7th grade
Coretta Scott King Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Good Night, Mr. Tom
by Michelle Magorian
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Good Night, Mr. Tom
by Michelle Magorian
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Goodbye, Vietnam
by Gloria Whelan
Bullseye Books ed from Yearling
for 5th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Grapes of Wrath
by John Steinbeck
from Penguin Classics
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Grapes of Wrath
by John Steinbeck, illustrated by James Hays
from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Grapes of Wrath
by John Steinbeck
3rd printing from Viking Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Great Wheel
by Robert Lawson
from Walker and Company
Realistic fiction for 4th-8th grade
1958 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99 $6.00 (2 in stock)
Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer
from Sun Dial Press
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00
Guns of Navarone
by Alastair MacLean
Reprint from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 10th-Adult
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Hero on a Bicycle
by Shirley Hughes
from Candlewick Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Hitch
by Jeanette Ingold
from Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 10th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Hitler's Daughter
by Jackie French
from HarperCollins
for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Home in the Woods
by Eliza Wheeler
from Nancy Paulsen Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
House on Walenska Street
by Charlotte Herman
from Avyx, Inc.
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
How I Became an American
by Karin Gundisch
from Cricket Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
I Am David
by Anne Holm
from Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
by Bette Bao Lord
from HarperCollins
Immigration for 2nd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.00 (7 in stock)
Jar of Dreams
by Yoshiko Uchida
2nd edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.99
Journey Home
by Yoshiko Uchida
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Journey to America
Journey to America Saga #1
by Sonia Levitin
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Journey to Topaz
by Yoshiko Uchida
from Heyday Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Journey to Topaz
by Yoshiko Uchida
from Heyday Books
Historical Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.00
Keeper of the Bees
by Gene Stratton-Porter, illustrated by Gordon Grant, decorations by Lee Thayer
from Purple House Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Keeping Score
by Linda Sue Park
from Sandpiper Books
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Kirsten's Cook Book
American Girl
by Jodi Evert
from Scholastic Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Cooking for Kids (Location: COOK-KID)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Let the Circle Be Unbroken
by Mildred R. Taylor
Reissue from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Letters from Rifka
by Karen Hesse
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Letters from Rifka
by Karen Hesse
from Square Fish Publishing
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Lily's Crossing
by Patricia Reilly Giff
from Yearling
for 4th-6th grade
1997 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Lions of Little Rock
by Kristin Levine
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Fishes
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Long Ago in Oregon
by Claudia Lewis, illustrated by Joel Fontaine
from Harper & Row
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Lotus Seed
by Sherry Garland
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99
Lotus Seed
by Sherry Garland
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Macaroni Boy
by Katherine Ayres
Reprint from Yearling
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Machine Gunners
by Robert Westall
from Macmillan
for 7th-10th grade
1975 Carnegie Medal
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Meet Rebecca
American Girl
by Jacqueline Dembar Greene
from American Girl
for 2nd-5th grade
in American Girl (Location: SER-AMGIRL)
Molly's Pilgrim
A Bantam First Skylark
by Barbara Cohen, illustrated by Daniel Mark Duffy
from HarperTrophy
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$2.00 (5 in stock)
Moon Over Manifest
by Clare Vanderpool
from Yearling
for 6th-10th grade
2011 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
My Own Lightning
by Lauren Wolk
from Dutton Children's Books
for 6th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
New Land
by Sarah Lindsay Schmidt
from Robert M. McBride & Co.
for 7th-10th grade
1934 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
No Promises in the Wind
by Irene Hunt
from Berkley Books
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.50 (2 in stock)
Number the Stars
by Lois Lowry
Reissue from Sandpiper Books
for 5th-8th grade
1990 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
On the Edge of the Fjord
by Alta Halverson Seymour
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.99
On the Wings of Heroes
by Richard Peck
from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
One Crazy Summer
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Reprint from Amistad Press
for 4th-7th grade
2011 Newbery Honor Book, National Book Award, Coretta Scott King Award, Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
One Crazy Summer Trilogy
by Rita Williams-Garcia
from Amistad Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$23.77
Orphan for Nebraska
A Guild Book
by Charlene Joy Talbot
from Atheneum
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Other Words for Home
by Jasmine Warga
First Ed from Balzer & Bray
for 4th-8th grade
2020 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.99
Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
1998 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Out of the Dust
by Karen Hesse
1st edition from Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-8th grade
1998 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
P.S. Be Eleven
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Reprint from Amistad Press
for 4th-7th grade
Coretta Scott King Award
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Papa's Wife
by Thyra Ferre Bjorn
from Rinehart & Company, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Penny for a Hundred
by Ethel Pochocki
from Bethlehem Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.95
Penny from Heaven
by Jennifer L. Holm
from Yearling
for 4th-6th grade
2007 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Petros' War
by Alki Zei, translated by Edward Fenton
First Ediition from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Place to Hang the Moon
by Kate Albus
from Margaret Ferguson Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99
Primrose Day
by Carolyn Haywood
from Harcourt
for 3rd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
R My Name is Rachel
by Patricia Reilly Giff
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ride the Crooked Wind
by Dale Fife, illustrated by Richard Cuffari
from Coward McCann
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Rising Tide
by Jeff Shaara
from Ballantine Books
Historical Non-fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Road to Memphis
by Mildred Taylor
from Bantam Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Road to Memphis
by Mildred Taylor
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1991 Coretta Scott King Award
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
by Mildred Taylor
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1977 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Puffin Modern Classics
by Mildred Taylor
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1977 Newbery Medal winner
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.99
Roots
Book Club Edition from Doubleday & Company
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
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