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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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Active Filters: 9th grade (Ages 14-15), In-Stock Books & Materials
Across Five Aprils
by Irene Hunt
from Berkley Books
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1965 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$8.99 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Across Five Aprils
by Irene Hunt
from Berkley Books
Historical Fiction for 6th-9th grade
1965 Newbery Honor Book
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$9.99
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
from Dover Publications
Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$6.00
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Puffin Classics
by Mark Twain
from Puffin Books
for 6th-10th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.99
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
Mark Twain Library
by Mark Twain, illustrated by E.W. Kemble and John Harley, edited by Victor Fischer, Lin Salamo with Harriet Elinor Smith and Walter Blair
from University of California Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$13.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Puffin Classics
by Mark Twain
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.99
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
Puffin Classics
by Mark Twain
from Penguin Classics
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$10.00
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)
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
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
Anna of Byzantium
by Tracy Barrett
from Random House
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.99
Anne of Green Gables
Anne #1
by L. M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Anne of Green Gables
Anne #1
by L. M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Anne of Green Gables
Anne #1
by L. M. Montgomery
Reprint from Puffin Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.99
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
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 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 - Boxed Set
by L. M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Boxed Sets & Literature Packages (Location: FIC-BOX)
$63.92
Anne of Ingleside
Anne #6
by L. M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
for 7th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.99 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Anne of the Island
Anne #3
by L.M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
Orphan Stories for
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.00 (4 in stock)
Anne of the Island
Puffin Classics
by L.M. Montgomery
Reissue from Puffin Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$5.99
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
Anne #3
by L.M. Montgomery
from Tundra Books (NY)
Orphan Stories for
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99
Anne of Windy Poplars
Anne #4
by L.M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Anne's House of Dreams
Anne #5
by L. M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.00 (1 in stock)
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
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
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
Bamboo People
by Mitali Perkins
from Charlesbridge
for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Baron's Apprenticeship
Thomas Wingfold #3 of 3
by George MacDonald
from Bethany House
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Baronet's Song
by George MacDonald, edited by Michael R. Phillips
1st THUS from Bethany House
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Beany Malone
by Lenora Mattingly Weber
from Image Cascade Publishing
for 8th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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
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)
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)
Bridge to Terabithia
by Katherine Paterson
from HarperCollins
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
1978 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Bridge to Terabithia
by Katherine Paterson
from HarperCollins
Fantasy for 5th-9th grade
1978 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
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)
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
Captains Courageous
Signet Classics
by Rudyard Kipling
from Living Book Press
Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Caroline the Second
by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer
from Girls Gone By Publishers
for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$50.00 (1 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 $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
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)
Chronicles of Avonlea
by L. M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.99
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)
Contender
by Robert Lipsyte
from HarperCollins
for 7th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Crazy Lady
by Jane Leslie Conly
from HarperTrophy
for 8th-10th grade
1994 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99 $3.00 (2 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)
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)
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
Daddy-Long-Legs
Puffin Classics
by Jean Webster
from Puffin Books
Orphan Stories for 6th-9th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$7.99
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)
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)
Daughter's Devotion
by George MacDonald, edited by Michael R. Phillips
from Bethany House
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.00 (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)
Day and a Life
Hawk and the Dove Series #9
by Penelope Wilcock
from Lion Hudson
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.99
Day No Pigs Would Die
by Robert Newton Peck
from Random House
Realistic Stories for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Day No Pigs Would Die
by Robert Newton Peck
1994 Printing from Random House
Realistic Stories for 6th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Dear Mr. Henshaw
by Beverly Cleary
from HarperCollins
Realistic Fiction for 5th-9th grade
1984 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.39
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)
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)
Dicey's Song
by Cynthia Voigt
from Atheneum
for 6th-10th grade
1983 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.99
Dinny Gordon Collection
by Anne Emery
from Image Cascade Publishing
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
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 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)
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 Climbs
by L. M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.50 (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
Emily of New Moon
by L. M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Emily's Quest
by L. M. Montgomery
from Bantam Books
Orphan Stories for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Emma
by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$12.99
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
Farewell Summer
by Ray Bradbury
1st edition from William Morrow & Company
for 7th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.99
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
Fields of Home
by Ralph Moody
Book Club from People's Book Club
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
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
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