Chave, a grown woman, recalls her childhood trips from her border home in Brownsville, TX, to her grandparents’ ranch in northern Mexico. Large, bright drawings show young Chave, her brother, and their cousins racing around the ranch, sliding down dirt hills, herding baby goats, riding wooden barrels, and listening to a ranch hand tell stories.
Realistic Fiction
Realistic Fiction genre
Walking to School
When the path to eight-year-old Allison’s Catholic school goes through hostile Protestant territory in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Allison finds she is not alone in her loathing of the situation.
This book has been included in WOW’s Kids Taking Action Booklist. For our current list, visit our Boolist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.
Bamboo People
This coming-of-age novel takes place against the political and military backdrop of modern-day Burma. Narrated by two teenaged boys on opposing sides of the conflict between the Burmese government and the Karenni, one of the many ethnic minorities in Burma, Bamboo People explores the nature of violence, power, and prejudice as seen through the eyes of child soldiers.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume 3, Issue 1
A Step From Heaven
A young Korean girl and her family find it difficult to learn English and adjust to life in America.
See the review at WOW Review, Volume 3, Issue 1
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.
Noodle Pie
It’s Andy’s first trip on an airplane when he and his dad travel to Vietnam to meet all his relatives. Talk about culture shock! Everyone calls him by his Vietnamese name instead of Andy and he is stunned to discover the family restaurant. For Andy and his dad, a former refugee returning for the first time, Vietnam is full of surprises. Somehow though, it also becomes the place for learning how to see things in a whole new way.
Touching Spirit Bear
Within Cole Matthews lie anger, rage and hate. Cole has been stealing and fighting for years. This time he caught Alex Driscal in the, parking lot and smashed his head against the sidewalk. Now, Alex may have permanent brain damage’and Cole is in the Biggest trouble of his life.
Cole is offered Circle Justice: a system based on Native American traditions that attempts to provide healing for the criminal offender, the victim and the, community. With prison as his only alternative, Cole plays along. He says he wants to repent, but in his heart Cole blames his alcoholic mom his, abusive dad, wimpy Alex — everyone but himself — for his situation.
Cole receives a one-year banishment to a remote Alaskan island. There, he is mauled by Mysterious white bear of Native American legend. Hideously injured, Cole waits for his death His thoughts shift from from Anger to humility. To survive, he must stop blaming others and take responsibility for his life. Rescuers arrive to save Cole’s but it is the attack of the Spirit Bear that may save his soul.
Ben Mikaelsen paints a vivid picture of a juvenile offender, examining the roots without absolving solving him of responsibility for his actions, and questioning a society in which angry people make victims of their peers and communities. Touching Spirit Bear is a poignant testimonial to the power of a pain that can destroy, or lead to healing
Toughboy And Sister
The death of their drunken father strands ten-year-old Toughboy and his younger sister at a remote fishing cabin on the Yukon River near Ruby, Alaska, where they spend a summer trying to cope with dwindling food supplies and hostile wildlife.
The Snow Bear
“The bear came into town in the Autumn to feed at the dump. Her cubs had been killed by hunters and she was weary. Only Bruun saw her plight…” So begins a friendship between two unlikely companions Bruun, an Inuit Eskimo boy, and a snow bear from the wild. As they spend the winter out on the sea-ice together, Bruun learns the ways of the polar bear. But when spring comes, he must return home to the ways of his own people. What will happen, years later, when the two meet again and Bruun has become a hunter?
Green March Moons
Tash’s parents die and she must learn to take care of herself.
Ghost Of Spirit Bear
Alone in the wilderness, Cole found peace.
But he’s not alone anymore.
Cole Matthews used to be a violent kid, but a year in exile on a remote Alaskan island has a way of changing your perspective. After being mauled by a Spirit Bear, Cole started to heal. He even invited his victim, Peter Driscal, to join him on the island and they became friends.
But now their time in exile is over, and Cole and Peter are heading back to the one place they’re not sure they can handle: high school. Gangs and violence haunt the hallways, and Peter’s limp and speech impediment make him a natural target. In a school where hate and tension are getting close to the boiling point, the monster of rage hibernating inside Cole begins to stir.
Ben Mikaelsen’s riveting saga of survival and self-awareness continues in the sequel to his gripping Touching Spirit Bear. This time, he weaves a tale of urban survival where every day is a struggle to stay sane. As the problems in his school grow worse, Cole realizes that it’s not enough just to change himself. He has to change his world.