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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60 Items found Print
Active Filters: Library Binding
Akavak
by James Houston
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Animal, the Vegetable, & John D. Jones
by Betsy Byars, illustrated by Ruth Sanderson
from Delacorte Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Bayou Suzette
Wartime Edition from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Beduins' Gazelle
by Frances Temple
from Orchard Books
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Betsy's Wedding
by Maud Hart Lovelace
from Thomas Crowell
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Big Wave
by Pearl S. Buck
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell, illustrated by John Speirs
from Julian Messner
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell, illustrated by Christian Birmingham
from Candlewick Press
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$24.99
Black Beauty
by Anna Sewell, illustrated by William Steinel
from Golden Books
Realistic Animal Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Busybody Nora
from William Morrow & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Calico Bush
by Rachel Field
Second Printing from Macmillan
Realistic Fiction for 5th-8th grade
1932 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Cowboy Soldier
by Donald Russell, illustrated by Max Ranft
from Benefic Press
for 3rd-4th grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Cybil War
by Betsy Cromer Byars, illustrated by Gail Owens
from Viking Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Daddy-Long-Legs
Everyman's Library Children's Classics
by Jean Webster
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Orphan Stories for 6th-9th grade
$16.95
Dan and the Miranda
by Wilson Gage, illustrated by Glen Rounds
from World Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Days Before Now
by Margaret Wise Brown
Library Binding from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Dobry
by Monica Shannon; illustrated by Atanas Katchamakoff
15th printing 1967 from Viking Press
for 4th-8th grade
1935 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$20.00 (2 in stock)
Golden Coyote
by Eileen Thompson, illustrated by Richard Cuffari
from Simon and Schuster
for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Hans Brinker
by Mary Mapes Dodge, illustrated by Fritz Kredel
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Hans Brinker
by Mary Mapes Dodge, illustrated by Hilda Van Stockum
from Capricorn Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Hans Brinker
Windermere Readers #7
by Mary Mapes Dodge, illustrated by Milo Winter
1954 Edition, 2nd printing from Rand McNally
for 4th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Hans Brinker
Windermere Series 4
by Mary Mapes Dodge, illustrated by Milo Winter
1954 Edition, 2nd printing from Rand McNally
for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Ho Fills the Rice Barrel
by Mary Huston Sherer, illustrated by Marion Greenwood
from Follett Publishing Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
How Tevye Became a Milkman
by Gabriel Lisowski, Sholem Aleichem
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
I Know a Lady
by Charlotte Zolotow & James Stevenson
1st edition from Greenwillow Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Island Far From Home
by John Donahue
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Jane Eyre
Everyman's Library
by Charlotte Bronte
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$22.40
Journal of One Davey Wyatt
by Donald Honig, illustrated by Sam Fink
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Kid Brother
by Jerrold Beim, illustrated by Tracy Sugarman
from Morrow Eagle
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Landslide!
by Veronique Day; illustrated by Margot Tomes, translated by Margaret Morgan
from Hale-Cadmus
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Little Maverick Cow
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Little Town on the Prairie
Little House Series #7
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction/Pioneers for 3rd-8th grade
1942 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Little Women
Dilithium Press Children's Classics
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
from Longmeadow Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Maggie Rose, Her Birthday Christmas
by Ruth Sawyer
First Edition from Harper & Brothers
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Minstrel in the Tower
by Gloria Skurzynski
from Random House
Historical Fiction for 1st-4th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Molly's Pilgrim
by Barbara Cohen
from William Morrow & Company
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Clearance: Picture Books (Location: ZCLE-PIC)
Mystery of the Pilgrim Trading Post
by Anne Molloy
from Hastings House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Night the Monster Came
by Mary Calhoun, illustrated by Leslie Morrill
from Weekly Reader
for 2nd-4th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
No Room for a Dog
by Marion Holland; illustrated by Albert Orbaan
from Random House
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Peter Jumping Horse at the Stampede
by Gordon Langley Hall, illustrated by Jennifer Kent
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Pinballs
from HarperCrest
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Poppy Seed Cakes
by Margery Clark, Illustrated by Maud and Miska Petersham
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
$26.95
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)
Robinson Crusoe (abridged)
Everyman's Library Children's Classics
by Daniel Defoe
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Historical Fiction for 6th-12th grade
$16.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Smallest Boy in the Class
by Jerrold Beim, illustrated by Meg Wohlberg
from William Morrow & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Sounder
by William H. Armstrong
from Harper & Row
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
1970 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
South Town
by Lorenz Graham
from Follett Publishing Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Stepping Heavenward
by Elizabeth Prentiss
from Lamplighter Publishing
Femininity/Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Lamplighter Rare Collector Series (Location: FIC-WH04)
Stories from Shakespeare
by Marchette Chute
from Collier Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Swiss Family Robinson
Windermere Readers #9
by Johann Wyss, frontispiece by Milo Winter
1954 Edition from Rand McNally
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Swiss Family Robinson
Windermere Series 1
by Johann Wyss, translated by W.H.G. Kingston, and illustrated by T.H. Robinson, Milo Winter, and Louis Rhead
from Rand McNally
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Swiss Family Robinson
Windermere Series 2
by Johann Wyss, translated by W.H.G. Kingston, and illustrated by T.H. Robinson, Milo Winter, and Louis Rhead
1921 Printing from Rand McNally
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Swiss Family Robinson
Windermere Series 3
by Johann Wyss, translated by W.H.G. Kingston, and illustrated by T.H. Robinson, Milo Winter, and Louis Rhead
from Rand McNally
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Swiss Family Robinson
Windermere Series 4
by Johann Wyss, translated by W.H.G. Kingston, and illustrated by T.H. Robinson, Milo Winter, and Louis Rhead
from Rand McNally
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Taffy and Melissa Molasses
by Carolyn Haywood
from William Morrow & Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Three Boys and a Lighthouse
by Nan Hayden Agle and Ellen Wilson, Illustrated by Marian Honigman
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Trouble for Tomas
by Fraz Hutterer; illustrated by Irene Schreiber, translated by Joyce Emerson
from Hale-Cadmus
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Wildcat Under Glass
by Alki Zei, translated by Edward Fenton
1969 second printing from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Witch's Daughter
by Nina Bawden
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 6th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)