Realistic Fiction

Realistic Fiction genre

Now Is the Time for Running

Just down the road from their families, Deo and his friends play soccer in the dusty fields of Zimbabwe, cheered on by Deo’s older brother, Innocent. It is a day like any other . . . until the soldiers arrive and Deo and Innocent are forced to run for their lives, fleeing the wreckage of their village for the distant promise of safe haven. Along the way, they face the prejudice and poverty that await refugees everywhere, and must rely on the kindness of people they meet to make it through. But when tragedy strikes, Deo’s love of soccer is all he has left. Can he use that gift to find hope once more? Relevant, timely, and accesibly written, Now Is the Time For Running is a staggering story of survival that follows Deo and his mentally handicapped older brother on a transformative journey that will stick with readers long after the last page.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume IV, Issue 4

In the Small, Small Night

Kofi can’t sleep in his new home in the United States, so his older sister Abena soothes his fears about life in a different country by telling him two folktales from their native Ghana about the nature of wisdom and perseverance.

The Plant Hunters

Driven by an all-consuming passion, the plant hunters traveled around the world, facing challenges at every turn: tropical illnesses, extreme terrain, and dangerous animals.  They battled piranhas, tigers, and vampire bats.  Even the plants themselves could be lethal!  But these intrepid eighteenth and nineteenth century explorers were determined to find and collect new and unusual specimens, no matter what the cost.  Then they tried to transport the plants- and themselves- home alive.  Creating an important legacy in science, medicine, and agriculture, the plant hunters still inspire the scientific and environmental work of contemporary plant enthusiasts.

Working from primary sources–journals, letters and notes from the field– Anita Silvey introduces us to these daring adventures and scientists.  She takes readers into the heart of their expeditions to then-uncharted places such as the Amazon basin, China and India.  As she brings a colorful cast of characters to life, she shows what motivated these Indiana Jones-type heroes.  In The Plant Hunters, science, history, and adventure have been interwoven to tell a largely forgotten- yet fascinating- story.

Welcome To Silver Street Farm

What are three city friends to do when a couple of newly adopted baby poodles turn out to be rotten hatch into ducklings?  For Gemma, Meera, and Karl, the answer’s easy– turn the abandoned train station into a city farm!  Throw in a friendly policeman, a chicken-herding dog, and a pair of runaway goats, and you’ve got yourself the start of Silver Street Farm– the little farm in the big city.

Someone Else’s Life

When 17-year-old Rosie’s mother, Trudie, dies from Huntington’s Disease, her pain is intensified by the knowledge that she has a fifty percent chance of inheriting the crippling disease herself. Only when Rosie tells her mother’s best friend, “Aunt Sarah,” that she is going to test for the disease does Sarah, a midwife, reveal that Trudie wasn’t her real mother after all. Rosie was swapped at birth with a sickly baby who was destined to die.Devastated, Rosie decides to trace her real mother, joining her ex-boyfriend on his gap year travels, to find her birth mother in California. But all does not go as planned. As Rosie discovers yet more of her family’s deeply buried secrets and lies, she is left with an agonizing decision of her own, one which will be the most heart breaking and far-reaching of all.

Hooey Higgins and the Shark

Hooey Higgins is in love–with the massive chocolate egg in Mr. Danson’s shop window. But he and his best friend, Twig, have nowhere near the money they need to buy it. Then a shark is spotted off the coast of Shrimpton-on-Sea, and Hooey and Twig come up with the perfect idea to capture the shark and change people to view it. With Will, Hooey’s older brother, in charge of their foolproof plan to lure the shark to shore, the three set off, equipped with ketchup, a cricket, bat, and some rope. What they find, however, is something so amazing that it will blow the shark plan right out of the water!

Steve Voake introduces Hooey Higgins and his hilarious adventures with his friends and family. With Emma Dodson’s illustrations, readers will discover that there’s never a dull moment in this English seaside town!

Alice-Miranda on Vacation

When Alice-Miranda goes home to her family’s lavish estate for the school holidays, along with her best friend Jacinta, their break is not exactly what they expected because of a cranky boy causing mischief, a visiting movie star, a snooping stranger, and a grandmother with a family secret.

A Tinfoil Sky

Mel and her mother, Cecily, know what it’s like to live rough, whether it’s on the streets or in the apartment of an abusive man. When Cecily announces that they’ve had enough and that they are going to go home to her mother’s, Mel dreams of security, a comfortable bed, and a grandmother’s love seem to be about to come true. But some mistakes cannot be easily forgiven or erased. Her grandmother is not what Mel expects, and though the local library offers sanctuary, a real home seems beyond her grasp. Mel’s determination to rise above what fate has dealt is about to change that. Cyndi Sand-Eveland’s work with homeless youth gives her characters an authenticity no reader will forget. Ultimately, a story of hope and acceptance, A Tinfoil Sky is a powerful novel.