Realistic Fiction Favorites
Booklist

Realistic fiction books reflect events that take place in real life.

The following titles are located in the Juvenile and YA fiction areas in the youth services department.

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
YAPB Anderson
A trauma has silenced Melinda and caused her to be rejected by students in her high school. Melinda's surprisingly funny observations take you from her state of isolation to the moment she finds the power to speak.

Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
YAPB Chbosky
This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory.

Cut, by Patracia McCormick
YAPB McCormick
Callie, 13 and confined to a treatment facility for self-mutilation, gradually begins to take him to understand some of the reasons behind her problems.

Fat Kid Rules the World, by Kelly Going
YA Going
Seventeen-year-old Troy, depressed, suicidal, and weighing nearly 300 pounds, gets a new perspective on life when a homeless teenager who is a genius on guitar wants Troy to be the drummer in his rock band.

All that Remains, by Bruce Brooks
YA Brooks
Three novellas highlighting teens whose lives are affected in various ways by a death in the family.

Leslie’s Journal, by Allan Stratton
YA Stratton
Using her English journal, Leslie records what happens as her life spins out of control.

The First Part Last, by Angela Johnson
YA PB Johnson
Sixteen-year-old Bobby accepts responsibility for raising his infant daughter, despite protests from his family and the challenges of staying in school and maintaining friends.

Stoner and Spaz, by Ronald Koertge
YA Koertge
A troubled youth with cerebral palsy struggles toward self-acceptance with the help of a drug-addicted young woman.

Imani All Mine, By Connie Rose Porter
YA PB Porter
Relates the story of Tasha, an unwed fourteen-year-old who raises her daughter Imani and survives the increasingly violent ghettos of Buffalo, New York, with determination and faith.

Monster, by Walter Dean Myers
YAPB Myers
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.