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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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42 Items found Print
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Active Filters: 7th grade (Ages 12-13), Print-on-demand paperback
Ark, The
by Margot Benary-Isbert
2021 Revision from Purple House Press
for 3rd-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$13.59
Bastable Adventures Set
by E. Nesbit, illustrated by Cecil Leslie
from Living Book Press
Family Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$39.56
Call of the Wild
by Jack London, illustrated by Philip R. Goodwin & Charles Livingston Bull
from SeaWolf Press
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Captains Courageous
by Rudyard Kipling
from Living Book Press
Nautical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.64
Egyptian Adventures
by Olivia Coolidge, illustrated by Joseph Low
from Hillside Education
Realistic fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Eight Cousins
by Louisa May Alcott
150th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Freckles
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Living Book Press
Romance for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Golden Age
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from SeaWolf Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$6.76
Greyfriars Bobby
by Eleanor Atkinson
from Living Book Press
for 6th-Adult
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Hans Brinker
by Mary Mapes Dodge
from Living Book Press
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.19
Horsecatcher, The
by Mari Sandoz
First Bison Book from Bison Books
for 6th-10th grade
1958 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.71
How the Heather Looks
by Joan Bodger, illustrated by Mark Lang
Reprint from Living Book Press
for 7th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.74
Jo's Boys
by Louisa May Alcott, Illustrated by Ellen Wetherald Ahrens
150th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$9.99
Just David
by Eleanor H. Porter
from Living Book Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.49
Keeper of the Bees
by Gene Stratton-Porter, illustrated by Gordon Grant, decorations by Lee Thayer
from Purple House Press
for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$13.59
Little Lord Fauntleroy
by Frances Hodgson Burnett, illustrated by Reginald Birch
from Living Book Press
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.49
Little Men
by Louisa May Alcott, Illustrated by Reginald B. Birch
150th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Little Princess
by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Illustrated by Ethel Franklin Betts
Illustrated Fir from SeaWolf Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott, Illustrated by Frank Merrill
from SeaWolf Press
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$13.13
Mad Scientists Club
by Bertrand R. Brinley, illustrated by Charles Geer
from Purple House Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$12.74
Old-Fashioned Girl
by Louisa May Alcott, Illustrated by Jessie Wilcox Smith
150th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$10.95
Penrod
by Booth Tarkington
from Living Book Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.19
Penrod and Sam
by Booth Tarkington, illustrated by Gordon Grant
from Living Book Press
for 7th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.34
Peterkin Papers
by Lucretia P. Hale
from Living Book Press
Humorous Fiction for 7th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.61
Pollyanna
Puffin Classics
by Eleanor Porter
from Living Book Press
Realistic fiction for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.34
Railway Children
by E. Nesbit, illustrated by C. E. Brock
from Living Book Press
Family Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.34
Red Badge of Courage
by Stephen Crane & Ambrose Bierce
from SeaWolf Press
Historical Fiction for 7th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Robinson Crusoe
by Daniel Defoe, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth
from SeaWolf Press
for 6th-10th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$9.99
Rose in Bloom
by Louisa May Alcott, Illustrated by Harriet Roosevelt Richards
150th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
for 4th-9th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.49
Sailing on the Ice: And Other Stories from the Old Squire's Farm
by C. A. Stephens
from Rutledge Hill Press
for 4th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$16.13
Secret Garden
by Frances Burnett, illustrated by Charles Robinson
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Fiction for 4th-8th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
Secret of Everyday Things
by Jean Henri Fabre
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-8th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$16.95
Secrets of the Woods
by William J. Long
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-8th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$11.95
Secrets of the Woods
by William J. Long
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$7.99
Swiss Family Robinson
by Johann Wyss, illustrated by Louis Rhead
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Stories/Adventure for 5th-9th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.95
Timely Arrival of Barnabas Bead
Tales of an Unremembered Country
by A.S. Peterson, illustrated by Joe Sutphin
from Rabbit Room Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.61
Titus: A Comrade of the Cross
Comrades of the Cross #1
by Florence Morse Kingsley
from Eirenikos Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Treasure Seekers
by E. Nesbit, illustrated by Cecil Leslie
from Living Book Press
Family Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.64
White Fang
by Jack London, illustrated by Charles Livingston Bull
from Living Book Press
Action/Adventure for 7th-10th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Wild Animals I Have Known
by Ernest Thompson Seton
from Yesterday's Classics
for 5th-8th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$13.95
Wild Animals I Have Known
by Ernest Thompson Seton
from Living Book Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$10.99
Wouldbegoods
by E. Nesbit
from Living Book Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.19
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