Realistic Fiction

Realistic Fiction genre

Dancing Home

A year of discoveries culminates in a performance full of surprises, as two girls find their own way to belong. Mexico may be her parents’ home, but it’s certainly not Margie’s. She has finally convinced the other kids at school she is one-hundred percent American—just like them. But when her Mexican cousin Lupe visits, the image she’s created for herself crumbles.

Things aren’t easy for Lupe, either. Mexico hadn’t felt like home since her father went North to find work. Lupe’s hope of seeing him in the United States comforts her some, but learning a new language in a new school is tough. Lupe, as much as Margie, is in need of a friend. Little by little, the girls’ individual steps find the rhythm of one shared dance, and they learn what “home” really means. In the tradition of My Name is Maria Isabel—and simultaneously published in English and in Spanish—Alma Flor Ada and her son Gabriel M. Zubizarreta offer an honest story of family, friendship, and the classic immigrant experience: becoming part of something new, while straying true to who you are.

This book has been included in WOW’s Language and Learning: Children’s and Young Adult Fiction Booklist. For our current list, visit our Booklist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.

Migrant

Migrant farmers and their families represent an ever-growing body of laborers around the world. They are used as cheap labor but most of them are not allowed to settle down, integrate into their host countries and become citizens with full rights. This is, of course, devastating to their children.

Among these groups are the Mennonites from Mexico, who originally went to Mexico from Canada in the 1920s. They speak “Low German” and though many are poor, they are an important part of the Mexican farm community. Because of free trade and the fact that Mexican farmers cannot compete with highly subsidized US farmers, they have been forced to come back to Canada — as migrant workers — in order to survive. Anna is the child of Mennonites from Mexico, who have come north to harvest fruit and vegetables. Sometimes she feels like a bird, flying north in the spring and south in the fall, sometimes like a jackrabbit in an abandoned burrow, since her family occupies an empty farmhouse near the fields, sometimes like a kitten, as she shares a bed with her sisters. But above all Anna wonders what it would be like to be a tree rooted deeply in the earth, watching the seasons come and go, instead of being like a “feather in the wind.”

Bintou’s Braids

When Bintou, a little girl living in West Africa, finally gets her wish for braids, she discovers that what she dreamed for has been hers all along. A little girl named Bintou wants long, pretty braids that are woven with gold coins and seashells, just like her older sister and other women in their West African village. But she is too young for braids. When Bintou saves the lives of her two young cousins and is offered a reward, she discovers true beauty comes in many different forms.

The No 1 Car Spotter

Oluwalase Babatunde Benson is Number 1. He’s the Number 1 car spotter in his African village. The Number 1 car spotter in the world! The start of an exciting new series about the irresistible Number 1, whose hobby is car spotting, but who is good at solving all sorts of problems for his village.

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

Anna Hibiscus’ Song

Anna Hibicus is so filled with happiness that she feels like she might float away. And the more she talks to her mother and father and grandfather and grandmother and aunties and cousins about it, the more her happiness grows! There’s only one thing to do. Sing!

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

My Best, Best Friend

Lola and Lotta are best, best, BESTEST friends who do completely everything together. They always pair up, they look after the tadpoles in the pond, and they especially always swap lunches. But when Evie, a new girl, joins the class, suddenly it’s Evie whom Lotta does everything with, even lunch swapping. Lola tells her brother Charlie that she has lost her best friend forever, but Charlie isn’t so sure.

 

Who Dares?

A surfing competition, some serious skateboarding and several puzzling mysteries are the ingredients for an awesome beach vacation. While Rhys is totally focused on winning the Junior Surf Championship, Toby just wants to win his dare with Rhys. But things have a habit of not working out as planned, and the boys learn that it doesn’t pay to assume anything, about anyone, ever!

Butterflies

Katherine is almost eighteen. Severely burned when she was three, she dreams that one day she will look like everyone else. Be like everyone else. Achieve her dreams. But Katherine won’t be seen as a victim. Her life is filled with fun and humor and friendship, as she faces her first “real” date, arguments with her mum, and decisions about her future.

An extraordinary story of a journey where pain and trauma become triumph and a passion for living, “Butterflies” is a coming-of-age story that celebrates the fighter in all of us.