Realistic Fiction

Realistic Fiction genre

The Confessional

Mexican guy. White guy. Classmates and enemies from across the border and on each other’s turf. Big fight. White guy wins. Next day, he’s dead. Everyone’s a suspect. Everyone’s guilty of something.

Does what you look like or where you come from finally determine where your loyalties lie? Who’s Us? Who’s Them? Which side is your side? Is it Truth?

Contemporary politics, the consequences of guys-being-guys, and questions about faith and personal responsibility pulse throughout the pages of this provocative, eloquent debut.

The Tequila Worm

Sofia comes from a family of storytellers. Here are her tales of growing up in the barrio in McAllen, Texas, full of the magic and mystery of family traditions: making Easter cascarones, celebrating el Dia de los Muertos, preparing for quinceañera, rejoicing in the Christmas nacimiento, and curing homesickness by eating the tequila worm. When Sofia is singled out to receive a scholarship to boarding school, she longs to explore life beyond the barrio, even though it means leaving her family to navigate a strange world of rich, privileged kids. It’s a different mundo, but one where Sofia’s traditions take on new meaning and illuminate her path.

Let’s Eat

Little Antonio introduces his extended family and explains that Mama is the biggest because “she is going to have a baby any day now.” Everyday she sends the boy to gather the family for their midday meal. On Monday, Papa can’t leave his busy carpentry shop. On Tuesday, his sister Alicia is learning to dance the sevillanas for the summer fiesta. Day after day, when there is an empty seat at the table that Papa built and Mama has filled with inviting food, she sighs, “Ay, que pena! What a pity.” Eventually, it is Mama herself who is missing because it’s time for her to have baby Rosa.

Uno, Dos, Tres, Posada! Let’s Celebrate Christmas

A posada is an important Latino holiday tradition that happens all over the world on each of the nine nights before Christmas. There’s a lot to do every night before the party can begin, and here a little girl guides us through each step—from putting out poinsettias to hanging the piñata—as she counts to ten in English and Spanish. Young readers can follow along by counting the different items mentioned. An author’s note at the end of the story further explains the origins of the posada. Sprinkled with Spanish vocabulary and filled with lively illustrations, this is a posada no one should miss!

Alamo Wars

alamoJosephine “Miss Mac” McKeever had taught English and Theatre Arts at Rosemont Middle School for so long that her colleagues sometimes joked that she would die in the classroom. So when she does just that, students, teachers, and administrators are stunned. After getting over the initial shock of losing their colleague, the staff agrees that they need to do something very special to acknowledge Miss Mac’s fifty-one years of dedication to the students at Rosemont and suggest naming the school’s auditorium after her. When Mrs. Frymire, her long-time colleague and friend, discovers a play written by Miss Mac years before, she knows that it would be the perfect memorial to present the play, Thirteen Days to Glory: The Battle of the Alamo, in the school’s auditorium named after her friend. But the teachers quickly learn that presenting a play isn’t as easy as Miss Mac had always made it seem, and soon the entire school community is in an uproar as conflicts related to the play emerge. Seventh-grader and Golden Gloves boxer Marco Diaz is, at first, excited to be chosen to play Jim Bowie, the brave Texan who defended the Alamo against Santa Anna’s Mexican Army. But his friend Raquel, an undocumented immigrant, calls him a sell-out because she believes the play makes heroes out of the people who stole her ancestors’ land. And Sandy Martinez, Miss Mac’s much younger replacement, finds the Mexican characters’ dialogue not only politically incorrect but downright offensive. Miss Mac’s friends, though, are adamantly opposed to making changes. Ms. Martinez also tries to convince them that giving certain students plum roles in exchange for their parents’ contributions is wrong, but ends up leaving the production in frustration. Meanwhile, rehearsals only serve to increase the tension between Marco’s friend Izzy Pena and the school bully Billy Ray Cansler. And it’s only a matter of time before Billy Ray corners Izzy when Marco isn’t around to protect him. Weary from struggling with disruptive kids, teachers and kids dropping out of the play, and parents with unreasonable expectations, everyone begins to wonder if they should just give up and cancel the production. Is it too much to expect everyone to work together to pay homage to a long-time friend and teacher?

Snapshots from the Wedding

Maya attends a family wedding and captures it all on film, from her cousin getting rice in his eye to the cake that tasted as delicious as it looked, in a beautifully illustrated tale of a special family day.

Tyrone’s Betrayal (Roosevelt High School)

Drinking and fighting are nothing new in Tyrone’s house, but this time, his dad leaves and doesn’t come back. Tyrone’s anger at his father’s desertion finds an outlet through violent eruptions at school. Life at home is no better as his mother begins working a night job to pay the bills and expects him to take care of his siblings. Instead, he starts partying with older kids, skipping school, and sneaking home in the early morning hours. But when his younger brother is caught stealing candy, Tyrone realizes that he will have to take on the responsibility whether he wants to or not. Settling in to his new role, Tyrone is furious when he learns that his father wants to come home. He just doesn’t understand how his mother can forgive his father so easily. With the help of his friends and counselor, Tyrone begins to deal with his feelings of anger and betrayal as the son of an alcoholic, absentee father. This book is the seventh novel in Gloria Velasquez’s popular Roosevelt High School series, which features a multiracial group of teenaged students who must individually confront social and cultural issues (such as violence, sexuality, and prejudice) that young adults face today.

Lasso the Moon

In a compelling story by the author of Lizard, April cannot stop thinking about Fernando, her father’s patient from El Salvador, but when she hears two different stories of his life she wonders which one is the truth.

First Day in Grapes

All year long, Chico’s family moves up and down the state of California to pick fruits and vegetables. Every September, Chico starts at a new school. Often, the other kids pick on him — maybe because he’s always new, or maybe because he speaks Spanish sometimes. But third grade promises to be different. He likes his teacher, and she recognizes his excellent abilities in math — he may even get to go to the math fair! When some fourth-grade bullies tease him, he surprises them with strengths of his own.

This book has been included in WOW’s Kids Taking Action Booklist. For our current list, visit our Boolist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.