Reading: Realistic Fiction
Realistic Fiction -- Recommended Books!
Prefer reading stories that are true-to-life? Check out these titles!
Recommended Realistic Fiction Books
- All American Boys byTwo teen males—one black, one white—grapple with the aftermath of a police officer who has brutally beaten the black teen. A powerful story about what it means to you a young man in America across the lines of race. Young Adult Fiction. 316 pages.
- As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by18-year-old Salama Kassab, a pharmacy student volunteering at the hospital in Homs, Syria, is desperate to find passage on a refugee boat for herself and her pregnant best friend, but first she must learn to see the events around her for what they are--not a war, but a revolution. Young adult fiction. 417 pages.
- Attachments byBeth and Jennifer know their company monitors their office e-mail, but they still spend all day sending each other messages, gossiping about their coworkers at the newspaper and baring their personal lives like an open book. When Lincoln applied to be an Internet security officer, he never imagined he'd be reading personal emails like some Peeping Tom, but here he is, falling in love with someone he's never met. You'll want to read this sparkling, laugh-out-loud funny book over and over again. Fiction. 323 pages.
- The Book of Unknown Americans byThe novel explores the experiences of characters who have immigrated to the United States from a number of Latin American nations through differing first-person perspectives. Fiction. 285 pages. Available as ebook
- Check & Mate byChess whiz Mallory Greenleaf is done with the game destroys her family, but then agrees to one last game at a charity tournament, where she is sucked into a fierce competition and attraction with the Bad Boy of chess. Young adult fiction. 352 pages. Available as ebook
- Chulito bySet against a vibrant South Bronx neighborhood and the youth culture of Manhattan, Chulito is a coming-of-age. coming out love story of a sexy Latino man and the colorful characters that populate his block. Honest and gritty. Fiction. 317 pages.
- Crank byKristina Snow is the perfect daughter, but she meets a boy who introduces her to drugs and becomes a very different person, struggling to control her life and her mind. Young Adult Fiction. 537 pages.
- The Difference Between You and Me bySchool outsider Jesse, a lesbian, is having secret trysts with Emily, the popular student council vice president, who also has a boyfriend. Their relationship becomes more complicated when they find themselves on the opposite side of a major issue. Young Adult Fiction. 256 pages.
- Disappearing Earth byOne of The New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, Disappearing Earth is described as brilliant, engrossing and daring. Set on the shoreline of the Kamchatka peninsula at the northeastern edge of Russia, the novel begins when two sisters, ages eight and eleven, go missing. Fiction. 255 pages.
- The Downstairs Girl byBy day, 17-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady's maid for the cruel daughter in a rich family in the 19th century American south. But by night, Jo is the secret writer of a newspaper advice column, where she challenges culture views on gender and race. Young adult historical fiction. 372 pages.
- Eleanor and Park byThis is the story of two star-crossed misfits--smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. Terrifically written and full of 1980s music references. Young Adult Fiction. 328 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook
- The Fault in Our Stars byHazel,a 16-year old girl with stage IV thyroid cancer. To help her deal with her clinical depression, her doctor sends her to a weekly support group where she meets "hottie" Augustus Waters, a fellow cancer survivor. Irreverent, raw, and unforgettable. Young Adult Fiction. 318 pages. Available as ebook
- Hate List byFive months ago, Valerie’s boyfriend , Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Val was as shocked as everyone else -- but, despite her own serious injury, she's implicated in the crime because of the list she and Nick made of people they hated. Young Adult Fiction. 408 pages.
- The Hate U Give byThis runaway best seller tells the story of 16-year-old Starr Carter, who is drawn to activism after she witnesses the police shooting of her unarmed friend. Winner of the Coretta Scott King award. Young Adult Fiction. 444 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook
- I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter byWhen the sister who delighted their parents by her faithful embrace of Mexican culture dies in a tragic accident, Julia, who longs to go to college and move into a home of her own, discovers that her sister may not have been as perfect as believed. Described as a "perfect book about imperfection." Young adult fiction. 344 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook
- I Love Yous Are for White People byHeart-wrenching and ultimately uplifting, this stirring memoir chronicles one Asian-American immigrant's struggle to find himself--and to transcend the dangers of gang life in Los Angeles. Nonfiction. 249 pages.
- It's Kind of a Funny Story byA humorous account of a New York City teenager's battle with depression and his time spent in a psychiatric hospital. This is a remarkably moving tale about the sometimes unexpected road to happiness. Young Adult Fiction. 444 pages. Available as audiobook
- Little Fires Everywhere byWhen Mia Warren and her daughter Pearl rent a house from the wealthy Richardson family, they quickly become entwined in each other's lives. When family friends of the Richardsons try to adopt a Chinese baby from a local woman a battle erupts that forces both families to reckon with culture, the powerful bond of motherhood, and long-hidden secrets. Fiction. 328 pages.
- Me Before You by"Funny, surprising, and heartbreaking... A thought-provoking, thoroughly entertaining novel that captures the complexity of love." (review from People). Fiction. 369 pages.
Recommended Realistic Fiction Books
- Monster byRiveting courtroom drama. 16 year old Steven Harmon is on trial as an accomplice to murder. An emotionally compelling story about living in our times, especially for young African American males. Young Adult Fiction. 281 pages.
- My Brilliant Friend byBeginning in the 1950s in a poor but vibrant Naples neighborhood, the novel follows the divergent life of paths of Elena and Lila during a time of momentous change. From one of Italy's most acclaimed authors. Fiction. 331 pages. Available as ebook
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower byThe Perks of Being a Wallflower is a story about what it’s like to travel that strange course through the uncharted territory of high school: the world of first dates, family dramas, sex, drugs, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and those wild and poignant times. Young Adult Fiction. 231 pages. Available as ebook
- The Poet X byWhile Xiomara Batista’s parents are determined that she obey all of the laws of the Church, she pours her passions and frustration into a leather notebook. As her body is developing curves, her voice is developing through poetry. Written in verse, this book crackles with lyrical energy. Young adult fiction. 361 pages.
- Push byA self-portrait of a black teenage girl, big, fat, unloved, with a father who rapes her and a jealous mother who screams abuse. For Precious, hope appears when a courageous young teacher bullies, cajoles and inspires her to learn to read. Fiction. 139 pages.
- Redeployment byThis intense collection of short stories takes readers to the frontlines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking us to understand what happened there, and what happened to the soldiers who returned. One of the New York Times Best Books of 2014. Fiction. 291 pages.
- Salvage the Bones byEnduring a hardscrabble existence as the children of alcoholic and absent parents, four African American siblings from a coastal Mississippi town prepare their meager stores for the arrival of Hurricane Katrina while struggling with such challenges as a teen pregnancy and a dying litter of prize pups. Fiction. 261 pages.
- The Silver Linings Playbook byPat Peoples formulates a theory about silver linings while in a neural health facility. Once he becomes physically fit and emotionally supportive, his happy ending will be the return of his estranged wife, Nikki. Or so he thinks. Fiction. 289 pages.
- Suicide Notes byFifteen-year-old Jeff wakes up on New Year's Day to find himself in the hospital. Make that the psychiatric ward. With the nut jobs... Suicide Notes is a darkly humorous novel that examines the fuzzy line between "normal" and the rest of us. Young Adult Fiction. 295 pages. Available as ebook
- Summer in the City of Roses byIn 1990s Portland, Oregon, seventeen-year-old Iph, aided by George, a modern-day Robin Hood, seeks her sensitive fifteen-year-old brother, Orr, while Orr has escaped wilderness boot camp and is residing with The Furies, an all-girl punk band. Young adult fiction. 325 pages.
- Thirteen Reasons Why byHigh school student Clay Jenkins receives a box in the mail containing thirteen cassette tapes recorded by his classmate Hannah, who committed suicide after recording the events leading up to her death. Mesmerizing and shatteringly real. Fiction. 288 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow byA modern love story about two childhood friends, Sam, raised by an actress mother in LA's Koreatown, and Sadie, from the wealthy Jewish enclave of Beverly Hills, who reunite as adults to create video games, finding an intimacy in digital worlds that eludes them in their real lives. Fiction. 401 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook
- Trans-Sister Radio by"Provocative and insightful, this gender-bending novel will make readers question what it means to be a man or a woman, and how strongly these identities are influenced by biological and cultural pressures." (Booklist). Fiction. 352 pages.
- Waiting to Exhale byFour African-American women are leaning on each other while "waiting to exhale", waiting for the one man who will take their breath away. Fiction. 409 pages.
- Wandering Stars byWandering Stars' traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Industrial School for Indians through to the shattering aftermath of Orvil Redfeather's shooting in Tommy Orange's best selling novel "There There." Fiction. 315 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook
- Where the Crawdads Sing byKya Clark is a young woman growing up practically on her own in the wild marshes of coastal North Carolina. This lush, lyrical novel takes a suspenseful turn when Kya is accused of murder. Fiction 368 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook
- Where the Heart Is byAbandoned by her boyfriend at a Wal-Mart in Oklahoma, Novalee Nation, 17 years old and seven months pregnant, soon discovers the treasures hiding in this small Southwest town. Fiction. 376 pages.
- Who Asked You? byTerry McMillan (author of Waiting to Exhale) offers a valentine to the power and beauty of black families and the indestructible bond that holds us together. -- Essence. "Hillarious, irreverent, ... thoroughly entertaining." NYTimes Book Review. Fiction. 385 pages.
- Will Grayson, Will Grayson byWhen two teens, one gay and one straight, meet accidentally and discover that they share the same name, their lives become intertwined as one begins dating the other's best friend, who produces a play revealing his relationship with them both. Young Adult Fiction. 310 pages. Available as ebook