Tag Archives: realistic fiction

Gone Camping

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In a follow up to the popular Gone Fishing, a camping trip with grandpa is told through a variety of poetry forms. Siblings Lucy and Sam head off to the woods with grandpa when their dad comes down with a cold. Lucy is skeptical about the ‘fun’ of a trip, but Sam is all in. Their adventures, from setting up the tent to early morning fishing, are all part of a trip that goes from bad idea to wonderfully exciting for Lucy.

Each poem tells part of the story and is labeled with the poetry form, which is described in the back of the book. Poetry rhythm, rhyme and techniques are also explained, making this book multi-faceted. It is a series of short poems that expand into a full story for the reader. In addition to reading this for fun (highly recommended), this book can be used very successfully for a poetry unit.

Illustrations are done in black ink and are scattered liberally throughout the story. They add to the fun and exuberance of the words.

This book is a wonderful tribute to time spent with a grandparent. Adventures range from worries about possible critters in the tent to yummy s’mores and cannonballs into the lake. Who wouldn’t love to spend time with a grandpa (or any loving adult) doing just that?

Click

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Fifth grade Olivia has many friends and can float easily between groups. One day, Mr. Florez (her teacher) announces the date for the annual fifth grade Variety Show. The students excitedly discuss ideas for their acts and form pairs and groups. That is where the problems begin for Olivia – none of her friends ask her to join their acts! Olivia realizes at that moment that while she has lots of different friends and friend groups, she does not have a best friend. It just hasn’t ‘clicked’ for her.

This dilemma throws her into a panic and she begins to feel isolated and alone. She turns to her family. Her mom wants to fix things for her, which is never a good idea (in a kid’s mind). Help really comes in the form of her rather hip aunt, who has Olivia over for an aunt/niece sleepover and shows Olivia videos of old television variety shows. Aunt Molly also shares her school talent show experience, when she did a solo act and felt great about it. Olivia studies the old shows, thinks about her aunt’s youthful experience and determines the best route for herself.

She returns to school and, as Mr. Florez notes student acts, announces to the class and her teacher that she wants to host the fifth grade Variety Show. Her classmates embrace this idea and her family supports her as she takes on this challenge. When asked how she even thought of the idea of hosting, Olivia replied that it jut “clicked”. In the following days, she and her friends reconnect and she happily moves between friend groups, sometimes introducing them to each other with fun results. The story ends on the night of the Variety Show as Olivia takes the stage and the curtain opens.

This is a wonderful book with a story that many kids of this age can relate to on many levels. Friendships are difficult to navigate and understand and the feeling of isolation can happen on any given moment for the tween crowd. Olivia’s emotions are clearly visible as she grapples with this problem – dreaming about it, thinking about it and talking about it with her family. The beauty of the solution is that is comes from herself. Her aunt gives her some information and Olivia works through it all and is confident in her plan and place.

Illustrations are pen and ink with muted colors and the characters are diverse. Fans of Smile and Best Friends will love this first book in the series.

Judy Moody Gets Famous!

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Third grader Judy Moody has many moods and the one we read about here is jealousy. She is jealous of her classmate, Jessica Finch, who gets her picture on the front page of the newspaper for winning the spelling bee. Judy wants that same fame so badly that she will do anything to achieve it. As fans of Judy Moody know, this might backfire and Judy may well become rather infamous instead! Her brother, Stink, appears in this book as well. So, fans of his series may enjoy reading about Stink’s adventures with his sister as well.

Illustrations by Peter H. Reynolds are crisp and realistic, adding to the story as pictures the size of thumbnails to two page spreads. They move the story along nicely and give it a clean, fresh look. The cover art is bright and will attract young readers that might not have found the previous editions as appealing. Recommended.

The Three Rules of Everyday Magic

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Kate Mitchell has a lot going on in her young life – a father who disappeared when his depression became too much, a grammy that is moving into the shadows of dementia and a friendship that is falling apart. This story is told in Kate’s voice as she struggles to understand and, perhaps, fix the pain in her life. Grammy talks of the Three Rules of Magic that Kate hopes can help ‘fix’ her life: Believe in magic or it won’t work, give magic to people you love, and trust the magic to work.

While the magic doesn’t necessarily work in the way Kate expects, it leads to a new friendship, a return to music and a closeness to her mother. Grammy is with them and life will be different and perhaps her father will climb out of his depression and come home to them (she did leave some magic outside his apartment door – the last hat her grammy knitted and Kate’s heartfelt notes from the the last several months).

While this novel deals with some heavy subjects like depression, dementia and their effects on family in a fairly simple way, it seems very appropriate for a middle grade reader. It is written from Kate’s point of view and the her understanding of those difficult parts appears to be aligned with a typical child of that age. Her feelings of abandonment, hurt and eventual empowerment and acceptance will resonate with readers, some who might be dealing with some of the same issues themselves. Recommended

For This Life Only

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The book “ For This Life Only” written by Stacey Kade is deeply describing how unexpected and horrible accident can change the person’s and family’s life.  Throughout the story there is a common theme of how important it is for a family to help, understand and be open with each other, as well as being together, especially through the hardest times of their life. In my opinion, this realistic novel includes a lot of philosophical and psychological aspects and themes.

Nobody ever could expect that one winter evening could change Jacob (Jace) Palmer’s life forever. That day was when the main hero of this book, Jace asked his twin brother Eli to pick him up from his friend’s party and drive him home. On a way to their house, while they had conversation, Ely suddenly loses control of the car and crashed, “… Jeep rolled, turned our world upside down…”. Jace was dead for three minutes followed by couple months of struggling for his life and a lot of surgeries, he tried to get back to his normal life but now without his identical twin brother Eli, who died in the car accident that horrible night. Now Jace must learn, how to live and struggle, not just with his physical pain, but also with his emotions, feelings, and pain that he keeps inside of himself, “…Wake up. Take more pills…Try not to think… It was difficult for me to step back into a life that was all sharp edges and no soft landing places, a life that no longer left like mine-that didn’t matter…”  Throughout the story we see how Eli’s death impacts people and friends surrounding him, especially his family and his little sister. Also, there is a deep conflict inside the family, more so because their father is Pastor, who often helps to solve other people’s problems, sometimes caring for them more than his own family, particularly now when they need him the most. Jacob’s family is falling apart, arguing a lot, feeling guilty, blaming each other about Eli’s death, and everybody tried to avoid the conversation dealing with it. Thankfully, Jacob met a good friend, Thera (even if she was weird and he ignored her before), who helped him to organize his thoughts, fears and feelings, by listening and talking with him about it.

Through this story a lot of different questions arise about the life, expectations, difference between right and wrong, many religious questions, and afterlife (if it’s exist), but only a few answers. This is a well written story, because while you read this book you are totally immersed and feel the characters’ emotions, worries, fairs, grief, and relationships. Personally I think it’s really sad story, and it has many curse words, which is why I would recommended this book for high schoolers and young adults, who like this type of books.

Review by M.M.

Ebb & Flow

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Heather Smith’s Ebb & Flow is a novel in verse. Smith grabs readers from the first page. Once started, the reader will want to read the book in one sitting to unfold Jett’s story.

After “a rotten bad year,” Jett’s mother sends him from the mainland to spend summer on a quaint coastal island with his eccentric grandmother. While on the island, Jett rediscovers himself and must learn forgiveness. Raw emotions roll in like rogue waves, changing as new experiences and memories merge. At times he is playful & clever, but he is also angry & bitter. While Jett’s catchphrase is “No Regrets”, he is deeply remorseful and ashamed of his actions. Grandma Jo’s unconditional love and patience help Jett to see himself the way she sees him – a compassionate, smart boy who made a mistake. He must take responsibility for his role in his “rotten bad year”. As Jett make amends for actions, he discovers forgiveness is possible.

Ebb & Flow is a fitting title, as Smith’s telling of Jett’s journey is not a direct path. His story takes the reader from the present to memories from the past. His emotions come and go like the tides. The story evokes strong emotions. Give this book to readers who like books that don’t sugar coat things but tell stories the way life happens with all the gritty, heartfelt details. They’ll appreciate the honesty of Jett’s journey to redemption.  

The Thing About Leftovers

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The cover of the book doesn’t begin to describe the story within. Following a middle school girl that has her own problems to deal with, it’s a story with depth hiding underneath the camouflage of a bright appearance. The Thing About Leftovers by C.C. Payne followed Fizzy Russo, a girl with dreams of winning the Southern Living Cook-off. However, recent turmoil in her own family has her feeling like a leftover. Now she lives with her mom and attends a new school. There, she finds new friends in Miyoko and Zach, and along the way learns that sometimes things change, but it can be for the better. I enjoyed the realism and emotion in the story. It was very personal with how Fizzy felt about these events that were happening in her life, and I was swept up in the story immediately. My only frustrations were that it didn’t last longer! I would’ve enjoyed a much more closed resolution, but an open ending is always open to imagination. The conflict and setting were very relatable from a middle school standpoint. Divorce and moving are both very real events that can happen and affect students, especially in the middle school years. Overall, the pace of the story was great and I was left satisfied when I put the book down. Personally, I would recommend this book to anyone who is passionate about a hobby or sport. Fizzy’s pursuit of her dreams are relatable to anyone who aspires to do the same, and her nonstop work can be an inspiration to those with their own ambitions. It was an entertaining read.

-Review by B.W.

Unidentified Suburban Object

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The title invoked a colorful mix between science fiction and everyday life. The blurb addressed “not fitting in”, a concern for many middle schoolers and diversity in a small town.

The plot focuses on Chloe Cho who despite being extremely successful in everything she does is frustrated because she has no one to talk with about her cultural background. She is the only Korean girl in town, and her parents don’t talk about their heritage, so when a new teacher, also Korean, arrives, Chloe is anxious to learn from her. However, the plot twist comes when Chloe soon discovers more about her family than she ever wanted to know. Chloe struggles with the new knowledge and her status as “the best” at everything also suffers. In the end, Chloe has to come to terms with who she is and what it means to “fit in”.

The reader initially sympathizes with Chloe as a girl who is just trying to learn more about her background. However, through the plot twist, Chloe becomes harder to like, as her narrative becomes completely selfish. The reader starts to side with her parents. The plot twist does keep you on your toes, and Chloe’s reactions are normal for a teenager, it just would have been a more enjoyable read if Chloe had been a little more relatable.

If you enjoy realistic fiction with a science fiction twist, then Unidentified Suburban Object is the book for you!

S.H.

Some Kind of Happiness

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 “Some Kind Of Happiness“ written by Claire Legrand is story about young girl’s real life mixed with mystery and fantasy, who tried to struggle with her anxiety and overwhelmingly difficult days all by herself, keeping her secret only in the notebook through imaginary stories.

      The book is best summed up in author’s pre-words/preview:

                            “If you are afraid, sad, tired, or lonely

                                  if you feel lost or strange

                          If you crave stories and adventure,

                       And the magic possibility of a forest path —

                                    this book is for you.“

   Finley, 11 year old girl, who has been sent to her unknown grandparents’ house (Hart’s House “enormous and white, the largest house I ever seen in real life…”), from her father’s side for the whole summer, until Finley’s mom and dad can solve their relationship problems.  This little girl tried to escape reality through her imagined tales, which helped her deal with real life problems, like dealing with her previously unknown cousins or her weird neighbors ( children of Bailey’s family ), who go on to become her best friends.  Through her stories, she creates an imaginary kingdom of Everwood – “towering green place full of sunlight”, where she pretends to be “an orphaned girl”, while everyone else had their own roles in the story.  Meanwhile she tries to uncover an old secret , why her father’s family got separated.  Her imaginary game ends up uniting the feuding families after years of avoiding each other.  This feud inspired her to seek out, what caused the falling out between these families ( Hart’s and Bailey’s ), which heavily involves her father.

This book spans three generations of her family, showing that family secrets can become huge issues, even between the closest family members.  But even with all the issues within the families, the children still love and cherish their parents, no matter their flaws.

In my opinion this story is very informative and educational to the young readers for several reasons.  Firstly, it shows how the reader can organize all their thoughts .  Secondly, it introduces interesting words in a way that sticks with the reader, expanding their vocabulary in the process ( “ … one of my favorite words, a nine-letter word for “slow, heavy, rhythmic” : ponderous.” ). Thirdly, it encourages the young readers to use their imagination to create fun and adventurous games in real life.

Reading as an adult, it was interesting to see the world through 11 year old Finley’s eyes, especially the way she sees adults in her life, bringing me back to my own childhood and various games we used to play. It was fun.

I would highly recommend this book for young readers (middle school age) as well, as for adults.  This book manages to be both relaxing and breathtaking at the same time, gripping the reader with its mysteries and memorable plot . I really enjoyed this book.

M.M.

When Friendship Followed Me Home

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When Friendship Followed Me Home is a story about friendship and growing up. Ben Coffin spent many years in the foster care system. Finally finding a home to call his own, his life progresses steadily. He mostly keeps to himself and enjoys spending time at the local library. Books are his friends; the library his domain. The librarian knows his reading preferences and suggests books to check out. One day, a small dog follows Ben into the library and then home. On that same day, Ben meets the most amazing girl he has ever met, Halley – like the comet. A friendship blooms and a creative partnership is born. Together Ben and Halley embark on a journey to write a story. Then, when life is progressing smoothly, Ben’s adoptive mother dies, Ben and his four-legged friend, Flip, find themselves living with his aunt and her husband. Unfortunately, this is not an ideal situation as Leo doesn’t have the temperament to be a father. Halley’s family ends up opening their home and hearts to Ben and Flip.The relationship that develops between Ben and Halley’s family is heartwarming. Halley is sick, and the Lorentz’ are struggling with Halley’s physical decline. Ben learns that unlike writing a story, you cannot write a new ending to life. You can, however, choose your path and the people you call family.  This was a touching story that is a great choice for realistic fiction lovers.