After the death of the beloved aunt who has raised her, twelve-year-old Summer and her uncle Ob leave their West Virginia trailer in search of the strength to go on living.
Realistic Fiction
Realistic Fiction genre
Onion John
His friendship with the town odd-jobs man, Onion John, causes a conflict between Andy and his father.
Dear Mr. Henshaw
In his letters to his favorite author, ten-year-old Leigh reveals his problems in coping with his parents’ divorce, being the new boy in school, and generally finding his own place in the world.
Julie Of The Wolves
Faced with the prospect of a disagreeable arranged marriage or a journey acoss the barren Alaskan tundra, 13-year-old Miyax chooses the tundra. She finds herself caught between the traditional Eskimo ways and the modern ways of the whites. Miyax, or Julie as her pen pal Amy calls her, sets out alone to visit Amy in San Francisco, a world far away from Eskimo culture and the frozen land of Alaska.
During her long and arduous journey, Miyax comes to appreciate the value of her Eskimo heritage, learns about herself, and wins the friednship of a pack of wolves. After learning the language of the wolves and slowly earning their trust, Julie becomes a member of the pack.
La Calle Es Libre
This urban story of caring and self-reliance takes place in a barrio in Caracas where wilderness, open space, and wild animals are threatened by the unstoppable advancement of urban expansion. This is a true story of a community that united to build a park for their children to play.
Blood Secret
A story of secrets and shadows by a Newbery Honor author.
When Jerry Moon is sent to live with her great–great–aunt, she discovers a trunk in the basement that reveals dark mysteries about her family’s ancestry. Newbery Honor author Kathryn Lasky brings a dramatic and rarely–portrayed period of history to life in this powerful coming–of–age tale that weaves together the Spanish Inquisition, Jewish belief, and a girl learning to understand her past.
Ages 12+
Crazy Weekend
Hector and Mando, two Chicano seventh graders from East Los Angeles, visit Hector’s uncle in the less-than-exciting town of Fresno and find plenty of excitement, laughs, and thrills after they witness a robbery and are chased by the dim-witted criminals.
Desert Passage
Miguel and Ramón are in big trouble with their family. The cousins were almost expelled from school for fighting, and just as they’re finishing up their final year in middle school and preparing to enter high school, their grades have dropped. Miguel’s father Rodrigo who, with his wife Connie, has raised Ramón since his father’s tragic death in a car accident has decided the boys need to be punished. So instead of going on the family’s summer vacation to Santa Fe, they’ll stay with their Abuelita Rosa in a remote town in northern Arizona and do chores around her place.Dreading a long, boring month with their grandmother in the middle of nowhere, the boys get started on the extensive list of tasks they are supposed to complete. Cleaning the shed seems like the least disagreeable one, and soon they find something interesting: a two-wheeled Vespa scooter covered with dust and cobwebs. Excited at their find, the boys decide fixing the scooter might enliven their stay. If they can get it to run, they’ll at least be able to get around town.The next morning, though, Miguel and Ramón wake to a quiet house, and they’re shocked to find their grandmother unconscious in her bed. When the ambulance takes her away to the hospital, the boys are left alone and unable to contact Miguel’s parents. Suddenly, the scooter seems to be the only answer to reaching their family, and so the boys gather food, water, sleeping bags, and the small amount of money they have and begin the long trip to New Mexico.Miguel and Ramón quickly learn that traveling across the country isn’t as easy as they had expected. Sharing the road with fast-moving eighteen-wheelers and camping in the cold desert all make for an exhausting trip. But along the way the boys see many wonderful sights including the Grand Canyon and the red rocks of Sedona and meet lots of interesting people: Frank, an old friend of their grandfather’s who helps them get the scooter ready for the trip; Turner, an attentive youth group counselor they meet at the Grand Canyon; and a group of scientists exploring an ancient Native American site. Most importantly, Miguel and Ramón will discover a lot about themselves through their growing independence as emergent young men.
Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida
Manny relates his coming of age experiences as a member of a poor Mexican American family in which the alcoholic father only adds to everyone’s struggle.
Featured in Volume VI, Issue 1 of WOW Review.
The Magic Shell
Living in two cultures – the Domonican Republic & New York – a kid learns to speak English as he overcomes his loneliness.