Realistic Fiction

Realistic Fiction genre

Chain Reaction

Luis Fuentes is a good boy who doesn’t live with the angst that his big brothers, Alex and Carlos, have always lived with. Luis is smart, funny, and has big dreams of becoming an astronaut. But when he falls for the wrong girl, Luis enters a dark world he’s never known, and just when he thinks he’s got life all figured out, learns some disturbing news about his family that destroys his positive outlook on life. Will that Fuentes bad boy streak come out with a vengeance and lure Luis to live on the edge like his new girlfriend and his own father?Continuing all the steamy romance of the first two books, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Simone Elkeles gives fans one more satisfying taste of the irresistible Fuentes boys.

Cat Found

A heartwarming tale about the importance of caring for strays. In Billy’s small town, stray cats are running wild, and there’s growing pressure to get rid of them. The school bullies don’t even hesitate to throw rocks at the poor creatures! So when Billy finds a wounded, starving kitten and sneaks her home, he has to be extra-careful to keep her hidden while he nurses her back to health. However precious little Conga is to him, he knows his dad would take her away if he discovered her, safe and warm in Billy’s bedroom. Can Billy and his friends confront the cat abusers, convince the town of the importance of caring for abandoned animals, and find a safe haven for strays?

Underdogs

Markus Zusak wrote a trilogy of gritty, funny, and at times heart-breaking novels about the Wolfe brothers: THE UNDERDOG, FIGHTING RUBEN WOLFE, and GETTING THE GIRL. These novels are presented in one volume for the first time. Cameron and Ruben Wolfe are champions at getting into fights, coming up with half-baked schemes, and generally disappointing girls, their parents, and their much more motivated older siblings. They’re intensely loyal to each other, brothers at their best and at their very worst. But when Cameron falls head over heels for Ruben’s girlfriend, the strength of their bond is tested to its breaking point.

A New Year’s Reunion

Little Maomao’s father works in faraway places and comes home just once a year, for Chinese New Year. At first Maomao barely recognizes him, but before long the family is happily making sticky rice balls, listening to firecrackers, and watching the dragon dance in the streets below. Papa gets a haircut, makes repairs to the house, and hides a lucky coin for Maomao to find. Which she does! But all too soon it is time for Papa to go away again.

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

The Scar

When his mother dies, a little boy is angry at his loss but does everything he can to hold onto the memory of her scent, her voice, and the special things she did for him, even as he tries to help his father and grandmother cope.

Dancing on Grapes

It’s September, time for the annual grape harvest, one of the happiest times in Tuscany.

On the first day of the harvest, Claudia’s aunts, uncles, and cousins have come to her home to gather the grapes from the vineyard. Harvesting grapes is hard work, but Claudia knows it can be fun, too. At the end of the day, her family will celebrate with pizzas filled with ricotta cheese and sausages and olives.

But the most fun of all will be what Claudia has been dreaming about all year: crushing the grapes. Now she is old enough to join her cousins and stomp the grapes in the big tub. But the tub is on top of the cantina, and Claudia is afraid of heights. Will she muster the courage to climb the ladder to the top? Or will she wait until next year to join in the fun?

Grace at Christmas

When her grandmother takes in a stranded family at Christmas, Grace is reluctant to share her favorite holiday with strangers, even though the visiting family includes a “real live ballerina.”

Across the Barricades

Kevin is Catholic. Sadie is Protestant. In Belfast they are supposed to be enemies – so what chance do they have when they fall in love?

Kevin and Sadie both know their relationship is dangerous. In these terrifying times in Belfast no Catholic boy and Protestant girl go out together without resentment and even violence flaring up around them. So what will happen if they insist on seeing each other?