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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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48 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 10th grade (Ages 15-16), Mass market paperback
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
from Dover Publications
Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$5.10
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Puffin Classics
by Mark Twain
from Puffin Books
for 6th-10th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$9.34
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain
from Bantam Books
Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$6.99
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Puffin Classics
by Mark Twain
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$7.64 $3.20 (2 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)
$8.50
All Creatures Great and Small
James Herriot Series Book 1
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$17.00
All Things Bright and Beautiful
James Herriot Series Book 2
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-12th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$17.00
All Things Wise and Wonderful
James Herriot Series Book 3
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$15.29
Anna of Byzantium
by Tracy Barrett
from Random House
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79
Call of the Wild
Puffin Classics
by Jack London
2008th edition from Puffin Books
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$9.34 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Call of the Wild
Dover Thrift Editions
by Jack London
from Dover Publications
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$3.00
Catcher in the Rye
by J. D. Salinger
from Little, Brown & Company
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.99
Contender
by Robert Lipsyte
from HarperCollins
for 7th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.64 $3.60 (2 in stock)
Crazy Lady
by Jane Leslie Conly
from HarperTrophy
for 8th-10th grade
1994 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.94 $2.40 (2 in stock)
Every Living Thing
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
for 7th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$17.00
Farewell Summer
by Ray Bradbury
1st edition from William Morrow & Company
for 7th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.49
Great Expectations
Signet Classics
by Charles Dickens
from Signet Classics
Realistic Fiction for 10th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$6.76
Great Expectations (abridged)
Puffin Classics
by Charles Dickens
from Puffin Books
Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$6.79
House of Mirth
by Edith Wharton
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 $2.00 (1 in stock)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou
from Bantam Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.79
In His Steps
by Charles M. Sheldon
from Revell Publishing
for 9th grade-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.79
Jacob Have I Loved
by Katherine Paterson
from HarperCollins
Family Stories for 7th-10th grade
1981 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.94
Jacob Have I Loved
by Katherine Paterson
from HarperTeen
Family Stories for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.94 $3.20 (2 in stock)
Jane Eyre
Puffin Classics
by Charlotte Bronte
from Puffin Books
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.49
Julie of the Wolves
"Julie" Trilogy Book 1
by Jean Craighead George
from HarperCollins
Adventure for 7th-10th grade
1973 Newbery Medal winner
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.79
Jungle, The
by Upton Sinclair
from Bantam Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.99
Jungle, The
by Upton Sinclair
from Dover Publications
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Kilmeny of the Orchard
by Lucy Maud Montgomery
from Bantam Books
for 6th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Lantern in Her Hand
by Bess Streeter Aldrich
from Puffin Books
Realistic fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.64
Lost in the Barrens
by Farley Mowat
from Starfire
for 7th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.79
Lottery Rose
by Irene Hunt
from Berkley Books
Realistic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
M. C. Higgins, the Great
by Virginia Hamilton
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 6th-10th grade
1975 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.79 $3.20 (1 in stock)
Mama's Way
by Thyra Ferre Bjorn
8th edition from Bantam Books
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Martyr of the Catacombs
by Anonymous Christian
from Kregel Publications
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Midwife's Apprentice
by Karen Cushman
from Clarion Books
Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
1996 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Midwife's Apprentice
by Karen Cushman
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
1996 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Miracle Worker
by William Gibson
from Pocket Books
Drama for 7th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Outsiders
by S.E. Hinton
from Speak
for 9th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.04 $5.20 (1 in stock)
Rebecca
by Daphne du Maurier
from Avon Books
Mystery/Suspense for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Seven Daughters and Seven Sons
by Barbara Cohen & Bahija Lovejoy
1st Beech Tree ed from HarperTeen
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$9.34 $4.80 (1 in stock)
Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Historical Fiction for 6th-10th grade
1974 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.94
Stepping Heavenward
by Elizabeth Prentiss
from Barbour Publishing
Femininity/Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.20 (2 in stock)
Stepping Heavenward
by Elizabeth Prentiss
from Barbour Publishing
Femininity/Realistic Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Summer
by Edith Wharton
from Bantam Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Walk Two Moons
by Sharon Creech
from HarperCollins
for 7th-10th grade
1995 Newbery Medal winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.79
White Fang
Puffin Classics
by Jack London
from Puffin Books
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$9.34
White Fang
Dover Thrift Editions
by Jack London
from Dover Publications
Action/Adventure for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00
Yearling
by Marjorie Rawlings
from Simon Pulse
Realistic Animal Stories for 6th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.99
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