My Account Wish List Shopping Cart Log In
Store Location

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.
Did you find this review helpful?
Parent Categories
Subcategories
64 Items found Print
Filter
Active Filters: Print-on-demand paperback
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
Best Bad Thing
by Yoshiko Uchida
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Betsy and Billy
by Carolyn Haywood
from Harcourt
for 1st-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Bevis, The Story of a Boy
by Richard Jefferies
from Living Book Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$17.99
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
Chestry Oak
by Kate Seredy
from Purple House Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$15.99
Christmas Star
by Alta Halverson Seymour
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.99
Christmas Stove
by Alta Halverson Seymour
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Daisy Chain
by Charlotte Yonge
from Living Book Press
Realistic Fiction for 9th-12th grade
in Morality Tales (Location: FIC-WH05)
Down, Down the Mountain
by Ellis Credle
from Purple House Press
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$14.99
Dream Days
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from SeaWolf Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$6.95
Dutch Twins
by Lucy Fitch Perkins
from Eirenikos Press
for 2nd-5th 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)
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
Five Little Peppers Abroad
Five Little Peppers #3
by Margaret Sidney
from Living Book Press
Family Stories for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.99
Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
Five Little Peppers #1
by Margaret Sidney
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.99
Five Little Peppers Grown Up
Five Little Peppers #4
by Margaret Sidney
from Living Book Press
Family Stories for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.99
Five Little Peppers Midway
Five Little Peppers #2
by Margaret Sidney
from Living Book Press
Family Stories for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
Freckles
by Gene Stratton-Porter
from Living Book Press
Romance for 7th-10th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
General Butterfingers
by John Reynolds Gardiner
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 2nd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.95
Golden Age
by Kenneth Grahame, illustrated by Maxfield Parrish
from SeaWolf Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.95
Grandma for Christmas
by Alta Halverson Seymour
75th Anniversary Edition from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Hans Brinker
by Mary Mapes Dodge
from Living Book Press
Realistic Fiction for 4th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.99
Heidi
by Johanna Spyri, translated by Elisabeth Stork and illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$7.95
Henry the Explorer
by Mark Taylor, illustrated by Graham Booth
from Purple House Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99
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)
$14.95
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)
$14.99
Jack and Jill
by Louisa May Alcott, Illustrated by Harriet Roosevelt Richards
150th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$9.45
Jack and Jill
by Louisa May Alcott, edited by Phyllis and Amy Puetz
from Golden Prairie Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Jane Eyre
by Charlotte Bronte, Illustrated by F. H. Townsend
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.19
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)
$9.95
Just David
by Eleanor H. Porter
from Living Book Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.99
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)
Lad: A Dog
by Albert Terhune
from Living Book Press
Realistic Animal Stories for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
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)
$9.95
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)
$8.45
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)
Mansfield Park
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)
$12.95
New Treasure Seekers
by E. Nesbit
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.99
Northanger Abbey
by Jane Austen, illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 8th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.95
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
Oliver Twist
by Charles Dickens
from Living Book Press
Realistic Fiction for 10th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
On the Edge of the Fjord
by Alta Halverson Seymour
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.99
Oswald Bastable and Others
by E. Nesbit
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.99
Penrod
by Booth Tarkington
from Living Book Press
Realistic Fiction for 7th-Adult
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.99
Persuasion
by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$8.95
Peterkin Papers
by Lucretia P. Hale
from Living Book Press
Humorous Fiction for 7th-9th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.95
Pollyanna
Puffin Classics
by Eleanor Porter
from Living Book Press
Realistic fiction for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen, Illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Romantic Fiction for 8th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.95
Railway Children
Puffin Classics
by E. Nesbit, illustrated by C. E. Brock
from Living Book Press
Family Stories for 4th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.99
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm
by Kate Douglas Wiggin
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.99
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)
$7.45
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)
Sailing on the Ice: And Other Stories from the Old Squire's Farm
from Rutledge Hill Press
for 4th-12th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$18.98
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)
$8.95
Secret of Everyday Things
by Jean Henri Fabre
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-8th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$16.95
Sense and Sensibility
by Jane Austen, illustrated by Hugh Thomson
200th Anniversary from SeaWolf Press
Romantic Realistic Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$11.45
Story Book of Science
by Jean Henri Fabre
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$16.95
Story Book of Science
by Jean Henri Fabre
from Living Book Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$12.99
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)
Three Knocks on the Wall
by Evelyn Sibley Lampman
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$14.99
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)
$8.99
Wouldbegoods
by E. Nesbit
from Living Book Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.99
Wuthering Heights
by Emily Bronte, Illustrated by Clare Leighton
from SeaWolf Press
Realistic Fiction for 9th-12th grade
in Seawolf Illustrated Classics (Location: FIC-SW)
$10.95
Sign Up!

Shop

Support

Hours & Directions

Learn more about our store location and hours

Connect

503.655.1951

hello@exodusbooks.com

19146 Molalla Ave,
Oregon City, OR 97045