Contemporary Realistic Fiction

1) Create a supersentence definition of CRF. Contemporary Realistic Fiction books have plots, characters, and settings that might be found in real life and are dealing with life's ups and downs.

2) How might I use this in my classroom? Using this type of book would be a way to introduce to students topics such as enemies, disabilities, religion, behavior, abandonment, divorce, friendship or even death. Each topic can be difficult, but by having a book with a story line behind it, the introduction may be less painful. Below are some books, with author and title listed, along with their story lines.

Avi. Nothing But the Truth: A Documentary Novel.A ninth-grader's suspension for humming "The Star-Spangled Banner" during homeroom becomes a national news story.
Bauer, Joan. Squashed.As a sixteen-year-old pursues her two goals -- growing the biggest pumpkin in Iowa and losing twenty pounds herself -- she strengthens her relationship with her father and meets a young man with interests similar to her own.
Bauer, Marion Dane On My Honor.When his best friend drowns while they are both swimming in a treacherous river that they had promised never to go near, Joel is devastated and terrified at having to tell both sets of parents the terrible consequences of their disobedience.
Bawden, Nina. Granny the Pag.Originally abandoned by her actor parents, who later attempt to gain custody, Cat wages a spirited campaign to decide her own fate and remain with her grandmother.
Blume, Judy. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.Faced with the difficulties of growing up and choosing a religion, Margaret talks over her problems with her own private God.
Byars, Betsy. The Burning Questions of Bingo Brown.A boy is puzzled by the comic and confusing questions of youth and by disturbing insights into adult conflicts.
Byars, Betsy. The Not-Just-Anybody Family.With a young brother in the hospital, a grandfather in jail, and their mother traveling with a rodeo, Maggie and Vern try to settle family problems.
Cleary, Beverly. Dear Mr. Henshaw.In his letters to his favorite author, Leigh reveals his problems in coping with his parents' divorce, being the new boy in school, and generally finding his own place in the world.
Creech, Sharon. Walk Two Moons.After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route.
Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963.The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.
Danziger, Paula and Ann Martin. P.S. Longer Letter Later.Best friends Elizabeth and Tara*Starr continue their friendship through letter-writing after Tara*Starr's family moves to another state.
Fine, Anne. The Tulip Touch.Natalie, who lives in the large hotel managed by her father, has a dangerous friendship with Tulip, the wildly uncontrollable girl on a neighboring farm.
Fleischman, Paul. Seedfolks.One by one, a number of people of varying ages and backgrounds transform a trash-filled inner-city lot into a productive and beautiful garden, and in doing so, the gardeners themselves are transformed.
Freeman, Suzanne. The Cuckoo's Child.Mia refuses to believe that her parents are not coming back after they're reported lost at sea.
Konigsburg, E.L. The View From Saturday.Four students, with their own individual stories, develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who chooses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition.
MacLachlan, Patricia. Baby.Taking care of an abandoned baby helps a family come to terms with the death of their own infant son.
Myers, Walter Dean. Scorpions.After reluctantly taking on the leadership of a Harlem gang, Jamal finds that his enemies treat him with respect when he acquires a gun -- until a tragedy occurs.
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Shiloh.When he finds a beagle in the hills near his home, Marty tries to hide it from his family and the dog's real owner, a mean-spirited man known to mistreat his dogs.
Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia.The life of a boy in rural Virginia expands when he befriends a newcomer who subsequently meets an untimely death trying to reach their hideaway, Terabithia, during a storm.
Paterson, Katherine. The Great Gilly Hopkins.An eleven-year-old foster child tries to cope with her longings and fears as she schemes against everyone who tries to be friendly.
Paulsen, Gary. The Crossing.Manny, a street kid fighting for survival in a Mexican border town, develops a strange friendship with an emotionally disturbed American soldier who decides to help him get across the border.
Rylant, Cynthia. Missing May.After the death of her beloved aunt who has raised her, Summer and her uncle Ob leave their West Virginia trailer in search of the strength to go on living.
Smith, Doris Buchanan. A Taste of Blackberries.No one, least of all his best friend, dreamed that Jamie's exuberance and a harmless prank could end in his sudden death. But when it does, his friend must find the strength to bear his grief and his feeling that he might have saved his friend.
Soto, Gary. Taking Sides.Lincoln Mendoza, an aspiring basketball player, must come to terms with his divided loyalties when he moves from the Hispanic inner city to a suburban neighborhood.
Spinelli, Jerry. Maniac Magee.After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.
Spinelli, Jerry. Wringer.As Palmer comes of age, he must either accept the violence of being a wringer at his town's annual Pigeon Day or find the courage to oppose it.
Voigt, Cynthia. Bad Girls.After meeting on the first day in Mrs. Chemsky's fifth-grade class, Margalo and Mikey help each other in and out of trouble, as they try to maintain a friendship while each asserts her independence.