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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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124 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 9th grade (Ages 14-15), Trade Paperback, New Books & Materials
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
Almost Paradise
by Corabel Shofner
from Square Fish Publishing
for 6th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$19.99
Anna and the King of Siam
by Margaret Landon
from HarperCollins
Historical fiction for 9th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$14.95
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)
$9.99
Anne of the Island
Anne #3
by L.M. Montgomery
from Tundra Books (NY)
Orphan Stories for
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99
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)
$6.99
Bamboo People
by Mitali Perkins
from Charlesbridge
for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Beautiful Thread
Hawk and the Dove Series #8
by Penelope Wilcock
from Lion Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.99
Belle Prater's Boy
by Ruth White
from Yearling
for 9th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99 $2.50 (4 in stock)
Belle Prater's Boy
by Ruth White
from Square Fish Publishing
for 9th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Belles On Their Toes
by Frank Gilbreth & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
from HarperCollins
Family Stories for 4th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.99
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
Beyond the Bright Sea
by Lauren Wolk
from Puffin Books
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 8th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.99
Breath of Peace
Hawk and the Dove Series #7
by Penelope Wilcock
from Lion Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.99
Brethren
by H. Rider Haggard
from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.75 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Calico Captive
by Elizabeth George Speare
from Houghton Mifflin
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Calvin
by Martine Leavitt
from Square Fish Publishing
for 8th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Catherine, Called Birdy
by Karen Cushman
Reprint from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
1995 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.50 (3 in stock)
Catherine, Called Birdy
by Karen Cushman
Reprint from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
1995 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Cheaper By the Dozen
by Frank Gilbreth & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
from HarperCollins
Family Stories for 4th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
Children of the River
by Linda Crew
from Laurel-Leaf Books
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Crown of Honour
by L. Erkelens
from Inheritance Publications
Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$14.95 $7.50 (1 in stock)
Daisy Chain
by Charlotte Yonge
from Beautiful Feet Books
Realistic Fiction for 9th-12th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$16.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Dicey's Song
by Cynthia Voigt
from Atheneum
for 6th-10th grade
1983 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.99
Doll Bones
by Holly Black
Reprint from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 5th-9th grade
2014 Newbery Honor Book
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.99
Downright Dency
by Caroline Dale Snedeker
from Bethlehem Books
Realistic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1928 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.95
Drovers Road
Adventures in New Zealand 01
by Joyce West
from Bethlehem Books
Realistic Fiction for 7th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$14.95
Dry Divide
Little Britches Series #7
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.95
Ella of All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #5
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Gail Owens
from Lizzie Skurnick Books
Family Stories for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Emily of Deep Valley
by Maud Hart Lovelace, illustrated by Vera Neville, foreword by Mitali Perkins
Reprint from Harper Perennial
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.99
False Coin, True Coin
by Lois Hoadley Dick
from Bob Jones University Press
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.99
Fever 1793
by Laurie Halse Anderson
from Simon and Schuster
for 4th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99
Fiddler's Gun
by A. S. Peterson
1st edition from Rabbit Room Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.99
Fields of Home
Little Britches Series #5
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.95
Fine White Dust
by Cynthia Rylant
2nd Aladdin Paperbacks from Atheneum
for 5th-9th grade
1987 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Flight into Spring
by Bianca Bradbury
from Bethlehem Books
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.50
Freckles
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Dover Publications
Romance for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Ghost
Track book #1
by Jason Reynolds
from Atheneum
for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Girl of the Limberlost
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Dover Publications
Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
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)
Golden Age
by Kenneth Grahame
from Dover Publications
for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.95
Golden Road
by L.M. Montgomery
from Tundra Books (NY)
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
from HarperCollins
for 6th-9th grade
2009 Newbery Medal winner, 2010 Carnegie Medal
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.99
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
Hardest Thing to Do
Hawk and the Dove Series #4
by Penelope Wilcock
3rd Revised edition from Lion Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.99
Harvester
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Indiana University Press
Romance for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$17.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
Hawk and the Dove
Hawk and the Dove Series #1
by Penelope Wilcock
3rd Revised edition from Lion Publishing
for 6th-9th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.99
Home Ranch
Little Britches Series #3
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Horse of a Different Color
Little Britches Series #8
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.95
Hour Before Dawn
Hawk and the Dove Series #5
by Penelope Wilcock
from Lion Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.99
Hue and Cry
by Elizabeth Yates
from Bob Jones University Press
Realistic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
by Dusti Bowling
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Jamberoo Road
by Eleanor Spence
from Bethlehem Books
Orphan Stories for 6th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.95
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Brontë
from Penguin Classics
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$7.20
Jar of Dreams
by Yoshiko Uchida
2nd edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.99
Joey Pigza Loses Control
by Jack Gantos
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
for 7th-10th grade
2001 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Journeyman
by Elizabeth Yates
from Bob Jones University Press
Realistic Fiction for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99
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)
Kira-Kira
by Cynthia Kadohata
from Atheneum
for 6th-9th grade
2005 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Laddie
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Indiana University Press
Romance for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.95
Lark in the Morn
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Elfrida Vipont
from Bethlehem Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.95
Lark on the Wing
Bethlehem Books Young Adult Bookshelf
by Elfrida Vipont
from Bethlehem Books
Realistic Fiction for 5th-9th grade
1950 Caarnegie Medal
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.95
Little Britches
Little Britches Series #1
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.95
Little White Farm House in Iowa
Precious Memories Book 1: The First 10 Years
by Carol Brands
from Inheritance Publications
for 4th-9th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$9.00
Little Yellow Farm House in Iowa
Precious Memories Book 2: Years 11-17
by Carol Brands
from Inheritance Publications
for 4th-9th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$9.00
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
by Gary D. Schmidt
from Clarion Books
for 7th-9th grade
2005 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$7.99
Long Fall
Hawk and the Dove Series #3
by Penelope Wilcock
3rd Revised edition from Lion Publishing
for 6th-9th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.99
Long Way Down
by Jason Reynolds
Reprint from Atheneum
for 8th-11th grade
2018 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.99
Long Way from Chicago
by Richard Peck
from Puffin Books
Humorous Family Stories for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Mama's Bank Account
by Kathryn Forbes
from Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$15.99 $7.00 (1 in stock)
Man of the Family
Little Britches Series #2
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.95 $10.00 (1 in stock)
Marcelo in the Real World
by Francisco X. Stork
from Scholastic Press
for 9th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Mary Emma and Company
Little Britches Series #4
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
Master Puppeteer
by Katherine Paterson
from HarperCollins
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Monster Calls
by Patrick Ness, illustrated by Jim Kay
Reprint from Candlewick Press
for 5th-Adult
2012 Carnegie Medal
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$12.00
Moves Make the Man
by Bruce Brooks
from HarperCollins
for 7th-9th grade
1985 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
My Heart Lies South
by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño
from Bethlehem Books
Biography for 8th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.95
My Own Lightning
by Lauren Wolk
from Dutton Children's Books
for 6th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Nobody's Boy
by Hector Malot, translated by Florence Crewe Jones, illustrated by Thelma Gooch and Johnny Gruelle
from Inheritance Publications
for 6th-9th grade
in Inheritance Fiction (Location: FIC-WH03)
$14.95
Ocean-Born Mary
by Lois Lenski
1st Edition Thus from Purple House Press
for 3rd-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$17.99
Okay for Now
by Gary D. Schmidt
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Olive's Ocean
by Kevin Henkes
Reprint from Greenwillow Books
for 7th-9th grade
2004 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Peter Duck
Swallows and Amazons #3
by Arthur Ransome
from David R. Godine
for 5th-9th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$15.95
Peterkin Papers
by Lucretia P. Hale
from Dover Publications
Humorous Fiction for 7th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Philomena
Bethlehem Books Living History Library
by Kate Seredy
from Bethlehem Books
for 3rd-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.95
Piecing Me Together
by Renée Watson
Paperback Edition from Bloomsbury Publishing
for 7th-10th grade
2018 Newbery Honor Book, 2018 Coretta Scott King Award
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.99
Pushcart War
by Jean Merrill
50th Anniversary Edition from New York Review of Books
Satire for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.99
Refugees
Huguenot Inheritance Series #6
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
from Inheritance Publications
Historical fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Huguenot Inheritance Series (Location: FIC-WH02)
$19.95
Remember Me
Hawk and the Dove Series #6
by Penelope Wilcock
3rd Revised edition from Lion Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.99
Rilla of Ingleside
Anne #8
by L. M. Montgomery
from Tundra Books (NY)
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99
Rose Under Fire
by Elizabeth Wein
from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.99
Rules of the Road
by Joan Bauer
from Speak
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $5.50 (1 in stock)
Scent of Water
by Elizabeth Goudge
from Hendrickson Publishers
for 9th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$19.95
Scorpions
by Walter Dean Myers
Revised Paperback, 2013 from Amistad Press
for 7th-10th grade
1989 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.99
Season of Gifts
by Richard Peck
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Season of Styx Malone
by Kekia Magoon
from Yearling
for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind
by Suzanne F. Staples
Reprint from Ember
for 8th-12th grade
1990 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Shaking the Nickel Bush
Little Britches Series #6
by Ralph Moody
from University of Nebraska
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.95
Solitary Blue
Tillerman Cycle #3
by Cynthia Voight
Reprint from Atheneum
for 6th-10th grade
1984 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.99
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