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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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164 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 10th grade (Ages 15-16), 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)
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-FIC)
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-FIC)
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-FIC)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
by Mark Twain, illustrated by Donald McKay
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
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)
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, 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-FIC)
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)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by True Williams
from Random House Value
for 6th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain, illustrated by John Falter
from Macmillan
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)
All Creatures Great and Small / All Things Bright and Beautiful
James Herriot Series Book 1
by James Herriot
from MJF Books
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Anne of Green Gables Treasury
by Carolyn Strom Collins, Christina Wyss Eriksson
First Edition
for 4th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Ark, The
by Margot Benary-Isbert
2021 Revision from Purple House Press
for 3rd-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Bat-Poet
by Randall Jarrell, illustrated by Maurice Sendak
from Macmillan
for 5th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Beloved Bondage
by Elizabeth Yates
from People's Book Club
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Berliners
by Vesper Stamper
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$18.69
Best of James Herriot
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
for 10th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Best of James Herriot
by James Herriot
from St. Martin's Press
for 10th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Born Free
by Joy Adamson
Anniversary from Pantheon Books
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
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)
Buffalo Coat
by Carol Ryrie Brink
for 9th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
C. W. Anderson's Favorite Horse Stories
by C. W. Anderson
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 4th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Call of the Wild
Portland House Illustrated Classics
by Jack London, illustrated by Paul Bransom
from Portland House
for 6th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Call of the Wild
by Jack London, illustrated by Wendell Minor
1st edition from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 6th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
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)
Call of the Wild
Children's Classics
by Jack London, illustrated by Paul Bransom
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Call of the Wild
Macmillan Classics
by Jack London, illustrated by Karel Kezer
from Macmillan
Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Call of the Wild & White Fang
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Jack London
Unknown from Reader's Digest
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Call of the Wild & White Fang
Sterling Classics
by Jack London, illustrated by Scott McKowen
Unabridged from Sterling Publishing Co.
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Call of the Wild and Other Stories
Illustrated Junior Library Series 4
by Jack London, illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Call of the Wild and Other Stories
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Jack London, illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Call of the Wild and Other Stories
Illustrated Junior Library Series 1
by Jack London, illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Call of the Wild and Other Stories
Illustrated Junior Library Series 3
by Jack London, illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami
1981 Printing from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (Location: VIN-FIC)
Call of the Wild and Other Stories
Illustrated Junior Library Series 2
by Jack London, illustrated by Kyuzo Tsugami
from Grosset & Dunlap
Realistic Animal Stories for 7th-10th grade
in Illustrated Junior Library (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)
Children of the River
by Linda Crew
from Delacorte Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.80 (2 in stock)
Complete Novels of Jane Austen
by Jane Austen
from Canterbury Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$25.00
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)
Dear Papa
by Thyra Ferré Bjorn
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Death Walk
by Walt Morey
1st edition from Blue Heron Publishing
for 10th-12th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Echo
by Pam Muñoz Ryan
First Ed from Scholastic Press
for 7th-10th grade
2016 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.99
ECL: Call of the Wild
Educator Classic Library #11
by Jack London, illustrated by Ron King
Complete and Unabridged Edition from Classic Press
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Educator Classic Library (Location: VIN-ECL)
Eugenie Grandet
by Honore de Balzac, translated by Ellen Marriage, introduction by Richard Aldington, illustrations by Rene ben Sussan
from Heritage Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Fair Barbarian
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
from International Association of Newspapers and Author
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Girl of the Limberlost
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Good-bye, Mr. Chips
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by James Hilton
1st edition from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Good-bye, Mr. Chips
by James Hilton
Reprint from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
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)
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Scott McKowen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 8th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Great Expectations
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Charles Dickens
from Reader's Digest
Realistic Fiction for 10th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Greyfriars Bobby
by Eleanor Atkinson
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Half-Crown House
by Helen Ashton
Book Club Edition from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Harvester
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Head of the House of Coombe
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
from Frederick A. Stokes Company
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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)
How the Heather Looks
by Joan Bodger
Reprint from Living Book Press
for 7th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$21.24
Hunger
by Knut Hamsun
Fifth Printing, 1967 from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$48.00 (1 in stock)
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)
In Connection with the DeWilloughby Claim
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
In His Steps
by Charles M. Sheldon
from Hendrickson Publishers
for 9th grade-Adult
in Hendrickson Christian Classics (Location: XCL-DEV)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
In His Steps
by Charles M. Sheldon
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 9th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
Jacob Have I Loved
by Katherine Paterson
from Thomas Crowell
Family Stories for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.60 (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)
Jungle Books
Macmillan Classics
by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by Robert Shore
from Macmillan
Animal Stories for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Jupiter Rising
Sequel to Orbiting Jupiter
by Gary D. Schmidt
from Clarion Books
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
King's Jackal
by Richard Harding Davis
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Lawrenceville Stories
by Owen Johnson
from Simon and Schuster
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Life With Father
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Clarence Day
from Reader's Digest
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
by Lousia May Alcott, illustrated by Harve Stein
from Garden City Books
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
Centennial Edition from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Hilda Van Stockum
Centennial Edition from World Publishing Company
for 5th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Little Women
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Hodges Soileau and Louis Jambor
from Reader's Digest
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 6th-10th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Living Free
by Joy Adamson
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Love and Other Great Expectations
by Becky Dean
from Delacorte Press
for 8th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$15.29
M. C. Higgins, the Great
by Virginia Hamilton
from Simon and Schuster
for 6th-10th grade
1975 Newbery Medal Winner
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Mama's Way
by Thyra Ferre Bjorn
from Rinehart & Company, Inc.
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Man Who Caught the Weather
by Bess Streeter Aldrich
from D. Appleton & Company
for 7th-10th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Man Who Saved Robinson Crusoe
by James Poling
from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Moment Comes
by Jennifer Bradbury
from Atheneum
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$15.29
Mrs. Appleyard and I
by Louise Andrews Kent
from Houghton Mifflin
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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