Realistic Fiction

Realistic Fiction genre

Word Nerd

Twelve-year-old Ambrose is a glass-half-full kind of guy. A self-described “friendless nerd,” he moves from place to place every couple of years with his overprotective mother, Irene. When some bullies at his new school almost kill him by slipping a peanut into his sandwich — even though they know he has a deathly allergy — Ambrose is philosophical. Irene, however, is not and decides that Ambrose will be home-schooled.Alone in the evenings when Irene goes to work, Ambrose pesters Cosmo, the twenty-five-year-old son of the Greek landlords who live upstairs. Cosmo has just been released from jail for breaking and entering to support a drug habit. Quite by accident, Ambrose discovers that they share a love of Scrabble and coerces Cosmo into taking him to the West Side Scrabble Club, where Cosmo falls for Amanda, the club director. Posing as Ambrose’s Big Brother to impress her, Cosmo is motivated to take Ambrose to the weekly meetings and to give him lessons in self-defense. Cosmo, Amanda, and Ambrose soon form an unlikely alliance and, for the first time in his life, Ambrose blossoms. The characters at the Scrabble Club come to embrace Ambrose for who he is and for their shared love of words. There’s only one problem: Irene has no idea what Ambrose is up to.In this brilliantly observed novel, author Susin Nielsen transports the reader to the world of competitive Scrabble as seen from the honest yet funny viewpoint of a boy who’s searching for acceptance and for a place to call home.

Dear Toni

When sixth-grader Gene Tucks moves south, she dreads being the new kid at school and almost everything else about her life as a “nobody.” But what she dreads most is the hundred-day journal-writing assignment her teacher has given the class. His brilliant idea is to have the journals locked in the town museum’s vault for forty years so that future grade-sixers can read them. At first, Gene has trouble writing to someone who isn’t even born yet. But little by little, Dear Nobody becomes Dear Somebody, who evolves into Dear Toni. And bit by bit, Toni, a good listener, becomes a best friend to whom Gene tells everything. And, there’s lots to tell. Gene’s family is in transition to say the least. Her dad is looking for work, they are moving — again, her brother is the bane of her existence, and, more than anything else in the world, Gene wants something she can’t have — a dog. Toni is the first to learn that Gene is moving to a rent-free empty apartment at the back of a gas station, so her dad can manage it. And wonder of wonders, the owner’s dog needs looking after. Not just any dog; a St. Bernard who happens to have three pups. Through Gene’s one hundred entries the whole story unwinds and in the end, just like Toni does forty years later, we have come to know one of the freshest, funniest characters to grace the pages of a book in a very long time. Decorated with doodles by the author, Dear Toni has the look and feel of a journal, but the heart of a special 12 year old.

Gran, You’ve Got Mail!

ANNABELLE’S FATHER WANTS her to master her computer keyboard. Annabelle thinks the chore will be more tolerable if she writes letters to someone. She chooses Gran, her great-grandmother. Of course, Gran is most definitely not online, so Annabelle prints and mails her letters off. At first, Gran takes her time answering—and she’s in the habit of repeating herself—but soon the two are keeping up a steady correspondence. Letter by letter, a true, tender friendship evolves. Annabelle and Gran talk about everything: parents, movies, school, the past and the present. When Annabelle divulges a big secret—the reason she and her best friend are no longer speaking—Gran remembers a similar situation. And when Gran needs foot surgery, Annabelle begins to worry.

Serafina67 *urgently requires life*

Fifteen-year-old Sarah tracks on a blog her efforts to meet her “New Blog Resolutions,” especially to be happy again by the anniversary of “The Incident,” despite her father’s impending remarriage to the Monster, her mother’s unhappiness, and huge fluctuations in her own popularity.

Estrellita en la ciudad grande / Estrellita in the Big City

Relates, in Spanish and English, a telephone conversation  in which young Estrellita, who has recently moved to Brooklyn, New York, tells her grandmother, who still lives in  Puerto Rico, all about her adventures in and near Manhattan.
Text in English and Spanish.

Out of Reach

Pressured by his aggressively competitive father to play soccer, teenaged Pip McLeod secretly pursues a sport that he truly enjoys–indoor rock climbing.

Ice Cream Con

Jake and his buddies are over being bullied by the thugs at the housing projects he calls home. That’s why Jake decides to play the goons at their own game by creating a fake gangster, the Big Baresi. But before long, the imaginary mobster seems to have taken on a life of his own! The stakes are raised when a stash of stolen diamonds goes missing. From behind the wheel of an ice cream van, Jake’s got to pull off the ultimate con–while managing to keep the mint chocolate chip from a meltdown. Because, as the Big Baresi knows, revenge is a dish best served cold.

Molly and Her Dad

Molly’s father lives so far away that she makes up stories about him to tell at school, but when he comes to visit she discovers that they have a lot in common.

The Worry Tree

Juliet’s a worrywart, and no wonder! Her little sister, Oaf, follows her around taking notes and singing “The Irritating Song” all day long. Her parents are always arguing about Dad’s clutter. Nana’s so tired of craft lessons that she starts barbecuing things in the middle of the night. And Juliet’s friends Lindsay and Gemma are competing to see which of them is her best friend. Juliet can’t fit in any more worries! But then she makes a remarkable discovery. Behind the wallpaper in her new bedroom, Juliet uncovers an old painting of a very special tree. Nana remembers it well: it’s the Worry Tree, and with the help of the Worry Tree animals, Juliet just might be able to solve some of life’s big problems.

Best Friends

Gemma and Alice have been best friends since they were born on the same day in the same hospital—it doesn’t matter that Gemma loves soccer while Alice prefers drawing, or that Gemma is always getting into trouble while Alice is a model student and daughter. But when Alice has to move to Scotland with her family, their friendship is put to the test. Is Best Friends Forever stronger than five hundred miles? Readers will relate to the heroic efforts the girls make to maintain their friendship and the small disasters of ‘tween life that they encounter along the way.