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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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53 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 12th grade (Ages 17-18), Used Books & Materials
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)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Beany Malone
by Lenora Mattingly Weber
from Image Cascade Publishing
for 8th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Belle Prater's Boy
by Ruth White
from Yearling
for 9th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.99 $2.50 (3 in stock)
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)
Born Free
by Joy Adamson
Anniversary from Pantheon Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.00 $7.20 (1 in stock)
Born Free
by Joy Adamson
Anniversary from Pantheon Books
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Brethren
by H. Rider Haggard
from Christian Liberty Press
Historical Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$14.24 $7.20 (1 in stock)
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)
Common Life
Mitford Series Book 6
by Jan Karon
from Penguin Classics
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Contender
by Robert Lipsyte
from HarperCollins
for 7th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.64 $3.60 (2 in stock)
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)
Gentlewoman's Choice
by George MacDonald, edited by Michael R. Phillips
2nd edition from Bethany House
for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
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)
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)
House on Mango Street
by Sandra Cisneros
from Vintage Classics
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$11.95 $4.00 (1 in stock)
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)
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)
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte
from Wordsworth Classics
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$3.20 (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)
Landlady's Master
by George MacDonald
from Bethany House
for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Man Called Peter
by Catherine Marshall
from Evergreen Farm
for 9th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Marquis' Secret
by George MacDonald
from Bethany House
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Musician's Quest
by George MacDonald, edited by Michael R. Phillips
from Bethany House
for 8th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
My Cousin Rachel
by Daphne du Maurier
from Doubleday & Company
Mystery/Suspense for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
My Heart Lies South
by Elizabeth Borton de Treviño
Young People's Edition from Bethlehem Books
Biography for 8th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$12.71 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Out to Canaan
Mitford Series Book 4
by Jan Karon
from Penguin Putnam
Adult Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Outlaws of Halfaday Creek
by James B. Hendryx
from A. L. Burt Company
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Outsiders
by S.E. Hinton
from Speak
for 9th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.04 $5.20 (1 in stock)
Place Apart
by Paula Fox
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 7th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Rainbow's Gold
by Vera Martin Lynch
from William W. Lynch
for 6th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.40 (1 in stock)
Ramona
by Helen Jackson
from Little, Brown & Company
for 9th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Room Made of Windows
by Eleanor Cameron, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman
from Little, Brown & Company
for 7th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Roots
by Alex Haley
Book Club Edition from Doubleday & Company
for 11th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
School at Thrush Green
by Miss Read (Mrs. Dora Saint), illustrated by John S. Goodall
First American Edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Seabiscuit
by Laura Hillenbrand
from Ballantine Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Separate Peace
by John Knowles
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.00 $8.50 (3 in stock)
Shepherd of the Hills
by Harold Bell Wright
from Bethany House
for 9th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Shepherd of the Hills
by Harold Bell Wright
from Shepherd of the Hills Historical Society
for 9th-12th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Shepherd of the Hills
by Harold Bell Wright; illustrated by F. Graham Cootes
from A. L. Burt Company
for 9th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
Snow Goose
by Paul Gallico
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$16.96 $11.20 (3 in stock)
Son of a Hundred Kings
by Thomas B. Costain
from Doubleday & Company
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Story of Elsa
by Joy Adamson
First American Edition from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Summer
by Edith Wharton
from Bantam Books
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens
from Parents Magazine Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Tales of Real Survival
Usborne Reader's Library
by Paul Dowswell
from Usborne
for 6th-12th grade
in Modern History (Location: HISW-MOD)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston
from Harper Perennial
for 11th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$17.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
These High, Green Hills
Mitford Series Book 3
by Jan Karon
from Penguin Putnam
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$4.00 (2 in stock)
Tutor's First Love
by George MacDonald, edited by Michael R. Phillips
from Bethany House
for 8th-12th grade
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Waiting for Her Isaac
by Mr. & Mrs. Stephen B. Castleberry
from Castleberry Farms
for 9th-12th grade
in Preparing for Marriage (Location: XFA-PREP)
$4.00 (4 in stock)
Yankee Lawyer
by Arthur Cheney Train
from Consolidated Book Publishers
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Yearling
by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings & N. C. Wyeth
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Yearling
by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, foreword by Patricia Reilly Giff
from Aladdin Books
for 9th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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