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Category Archives: realistic fiction
Kindness for Weakness – Shawn Goodman
When James’ older brother gives his mother an ultimatum, the boyfriend or him, he moves out leaving James alone to deal with the abusive boyfriend and a mother that has checked out long ago. James’s brother, whom he idolizes, has … Continue reading
Posted in highly recommend, realistic fiction
Tagged juvenile detention
Navigating Early – Clare Vanderpool
This story within a story is set in Maine at the close of World War II. Jack was raised in Kansas by a loving mother while his military father was away from home serving in the war. His mother dies … Continue reading
Posted in adventure, highly recommend, realistic fiction
Boy 21 – Matthew Quick
Finley’s family has been beaten down by the Irish mob of Philadelphia. He sees basketball as his way to a better life. Basketball is his focus and his coach is respected. One day Finley’s coach comes to their home and … Continue reading
Posted in highly recommend, realistic fiction
Tagged basketball, loss, sports fiction
The Child’s Child – Barbara Vine
Andrew and Grace inherit their grandmother’s large London home, Dinmont House, and decide to share the rambling mansion, dividing up the bedrooms, sitting rooms and libraries. The arrangement works well, until Andrew brings home his new love, James. James is … Continue reading
Posted in adult, realistic fiction
Inside Out & Back Again – Thanhha Lai
This fictionalized account of the author’s childhood in Vietnam during the civil war, the fall of Saigon, and new life in Alabama is written in free verse. She never knew her father, who was highly educated but had been missing … Continue reading
Posted in highly recommend, historical fiction, realistic fiction
Tagged 1975, free verse, refugee, Vietnam
Anything But Ordinary – Lara Avery
Bryce’s life was all planned out and just getting started at 17. Graduate high school, go to the Olympics in diving, teach at a university or coach, and be with the man of her dreams. But everything changed in an … Continue reading
Posted in realistic fiction
The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel – Alexander McCall Smith
This is the 9th novel in the Isabel Dalhousie series. As with most series, it helps to read them in order, but can be read randomly. The books are classified as mysteries. They are really books of philosophy with a … Continue reading
Posted in adult, mystery, realistic fiction
Tagged Isabel Dalhousie series
The Edge of Nowhere – Elizabeth George
Getting used to her new name, Becca, is the least of her problems when she and her mother escape from her stepfather and seek new identities. Her mother sees that she boards the ferry to Whidbey Island where she has arranged … Continue reading
Posted in mystery, realistic fiction
Colin Fischer – Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz
Colin Fischer has Asberger’s syndrome (high functioning) and begins high school without the adult specialist who has helped him strive to decode his classmates. On the first day of school, the school bully shoves his head in the toilet. Colin … Continue reading
Posted in highly recommend, mystery, realistic fiction
Tagged Asberger's Syndrome
Every Day – David Levithan
A wakes up each morning in a different body. It has been this way since A’s infancy. This is the only life A has known. A is a soul, an entity, a person without a body or a permanency in … Continue reading
Posted in highly recommend, realistic fiction
Tagged relationships
Through to You – Emily Hainsworth
Cam feels destroyed by the death of his girlfriend, Viv. He puts up a shrine at the accident site, recoils into himself, even further away from his friends and family. Then he sees a stranger at the accident site, shimmering … Continue reading
Posted in highly recommend, realistic fiction
Tagged alternate universe, death, grief, parallel universe
Flight Behavior: a novel – Barbara Kingsolver
Dellarobia knows about death. By the time she was a senior in high school, her parents had died, the unborn child who necessitated her marriage had died, and her dreams of going to college and escaping her backwoods community had … Continue reading
Posted in adult, realistic fiction
Tagged ecosystems, monarch butterfly
Blink Once – Cylin Busby
It’s hard for West to tell what’s going on . . . he knows he’s in a hospital, but no one talks directly to him and he’s aware for only brief flashes at a time. Slowly, he becomes more awake, … Continue reading
Posted in highly recommend, realistic fiction
Tagged coma, paralysis
Almost Home – Joan Bauer
Almost Home is one of those stories that hooks the reader from the first page. It is a story of loss, struggle, and the strength of a family’s love that is told from the perspective of Sugar, a 12-year old … Continue reading
Posted in highly recommend, realistic fiction
Tagged gentle reader
The Raft – S.J. Bodeen
Robie has been raised on the isolated island of Midway by her scientist parents. She is visiting her aunt in Hawaii who has to suddenly leave town on business. Robie decides to get on the supply plane back to Midway … Continue reading
Posted in realistic fiction
Tagged airplane crash, survival
