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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196 Items found Print
Active Filters: 9th grade (Ages 14-15), Hardcover
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Mark Twain
from Reader's Digest
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Sterling Classics
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$14.95
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Books of Wonder
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Steven Kellogg
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Troy Howell
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Sterling Classics
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain
from International Collectors Library
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Norman Rockwell
from Heritage Press
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-IJL)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Books of Wonder
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Barry Moser
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Ted Lewin
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Kamil Lohták
from Simon and Schuster
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Worth Brehm
from Harper & Brothers
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer / Tom Sawyer Abroad / Tom Sawyer, Detective
by Mark Twain
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of Avonlea
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by L. M. Montgomery, illustrated by Clare Sieffert
from Grosset & Dunlap
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of Avonlea
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by L. M. Montgomery, illustrated by Clare Sieffert
from Grosset & Dunlap
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of Green Gables
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by L. M. Montgomery, illustrated by Jody Lee
from Grosset & Dunlap
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of Green Gables
by Lucy Maud Montgomery
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of Green Gables
by L. M. Montgomery, illustrated by Elizabeth R. Withington
1934 Printing from L. C. Page & Company
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Anne of Green Gables
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by L. M. Montgomery, illustrated by Mick Ellison
from Reader's Digest
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of Green Gables
Sterling Classics
by L. M. Montgomery, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of Green Gables
by L. M. Montgomery, illustrated by Troy Howell
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of Green Gables
Anne #1
by L. M. Montgomery
from Grosset & Dunlap
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Anne of Green Gables
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by L. M. Montgomery, illustrated by Jody Lee
from Grosset & Dunlap
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of Green Gables
by L. M. Montgomery, illustrated by Troy Howell
from Longmeadow Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of Green Gables
Anne #1
by L. M. Montgomery
from Tundra Books (NY)
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$19.99
Anne of Green Gables
by L. M. Montgomery, illustrated by Sybil Tawse
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
$20.00
Anne of Green Gables
Anne #1
by L. M. Montgomery, illustrated by Eric Kincaid
from Wordsworth Editions
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of Green Gables
by L. M. Montgomery, illustrated by M. A. and W. A. J. Claus
from L. C. Page & Company
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Anne of Green Gables Treasury
by Carolyn Strom Collins, Christina Wyss Eriksson
First Edition
for 4th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of Ingleside
Anne #6
by L. M. Montgomery
from Tundra Books (NY)
for 7th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of the Island
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by L.M. Montgomery, illustrated by Mark Graham
from Grosset & Dunlap
Orphan Stories for
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of the Island
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by L.M. Montgomery, illustrated by Mark Graham
from Grosset & Dunlap
Orphan Stories for
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Anne of the Island
Anne #3
by L.M. Montgomery
from Tundra Books (NY)
Orphan Stories for
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$19.99
Anne of the Island
by L.M. Montgomery
from Grosset & Dunlap
Orphan Stories for
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Anne's House of Dreams
Anne #5
by L. M. Montgomery
from Tundra Books (NY)
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$19.99
Annotated Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett, edited by Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina
Annotated from W. W. Norton and Co.
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$35.00
Ark, The
by Margot Benary-Isbert
2021 Revision from Purple House Press
for 3rd-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$23.00
Beloved Bondage
by Elizabeth Yates
from People's Book Club
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Berliners
by Vesper Stamper
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$21.99
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)
Bob, Son of Battle
G&D Famous Dog Stories
by Alfred Ollivant
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-9th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Boy with a Pack
by Stephen W. Meader, illustrated by Edward Shenton
from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Bridge to Terabithia
by Katherine Paterson
First Ed from HarperCollins
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
1978 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Buffalo Coat
by Carol Ryrie Brink
for 9th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Calico Captive
by Elizabeth Speare
from Houghton Mifflin
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Call of the Wild
G&D Famous Dog Stories
by Jack London
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Captains Courageous
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Lawrence Beall Smith
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 5th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Cheaper By the Dozen
by Frank Gilbreth & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
1st edition 1st printing from HarperCollins
Family Stories for 4th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Cheaper By the Dozen
by Frank Gilbreth & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, notes by Frederick Houk Law
2nd School Edition from Globe Book Company
Family Stories for 4th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Children of the River
by Linda Crew
from Delacorte Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Classic Library: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
from Smithmark Publishers
for 6th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Criss Cross
by Lynne Rae Perkins
1st edition from Greenwillow Books
for 6th-9th grade
2006 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Daddy-Long-Legs
Thrushwood Book
by Jean Webster
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Daddy-Long-Legs
by Jean Webster
from Grosset & Dunlap
Orphan Stories for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Daddy-Long-Legs
by Jean Webster
1st edition from Century Co.
Orphan Stories for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$40.00 (1 in stock)
David Copperfield
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Charles Dickens
from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Dear Mr. Henshaw
by Beverly Cleary
from William Morrow & Company
Realistic Fiction for 5th-9th grade
1984 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Dear Papa
by Thyra Ferré Bjorn
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Design for Ann
by Darlene Geis
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Downright Dencey
by Caroline Dale Snedeker, illustrated by Maginel Wright Barney
from Doubleday & Company
Realistic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1928 Newbery Honor Book
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$22.00 (1 in stock)
Echo
by Pam Muñoz Ryan
First Ed from Scholastic Press
for 7th-10th grade
2016 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Golden Age
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from Ten Speed Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Golden Road
by L.M. Montgomery
1955 reprint from Ryerson Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
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)
Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
from HarperCollins
for 6th-9th grade
2009 Newbery Medal winner
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 8th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Half-Crown House
by Helen Ashton
Book Club Edition from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (2 in stock)
Hans Brinker
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Mary Mapes Dodge, illustrated by Paul Galdone
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Hans Brinker
Scribner Illustrated Classics
by Mary Mapes Dodge, illustrated by George Wharton Edwards
from Charles Scribner's Sons
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Hans Brinker or, The Silver Skates
by Mary Mapes Dodge
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Harvester
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Harvester
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Hitty: Her First Hundred Years
by Rachel Field, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop
1969 printing from Macmillan
for 5th-9th grade
1930 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Home Has a Heart
by Thyra Ferre Bjorn
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 7th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Horsecatcher, The
by Mari Sandoz
from Westminster Press
for 6th-10th grade
1958 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Hound-dog Man
by Fred Gipson
First Edition L-X from Harper & Brothers
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
How the Heather Looks
by Joan Bodger
Reprint from Living Book Press
for 7th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$24.99
I Heard the Owl Call My Name
by Margaret Craven
Book Club from Doubleday & Company
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ida B
by Katherine Hannigan
1st edition from Greenwillow Books
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
In His Steps
by Charles M. Sheldon
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 9th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Jack and Jill
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Ruth Ives
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Jack and Jill
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Beatrice Stevens
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Jacob Have I Loved
by Katherine Paterson
from Thomas Crowell
Family Stories for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.00 (2 in stock)
James Herriot's Favorite Dog Stories
by James Herriot
First Printing from St. Martin's Press
for 8th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Jane Eyre
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Charlotte Bronte
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Jane Eyre
Portland House Illustrated Classics
by Charlotte Bronte, illustrated by Monroe S. Orr
from Portland House
Gothic Romance for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte, illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg
from Random House
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Random House
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Jane Eyre
Rainbow Classics
by Charlotte Bronte, illustrated by Nell Booker
from World Publishing Company
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Jane Eyre & Wuthering Heights - 2 Volume Set
by Charlotte Bronte and Emily Bronte, illustrated by Fritz Eichenberg
from Random House
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Jane's Island
by Marjorie Hill Allee, illustrated by Maitland de Gogorza
from Riverside Press
Realistic fiction for 6th-10th grade
1932 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Jo's Boys
Junior Deluxe Editions
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Ruth Ives
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Labors of Hercules Beal
by Gary D. Schmidt
from Clarion Books
for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$19.99
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