Reviews and Blog Posts: Realistic Fiction

Phineas is a fourth grade boy whose goal in life is to be a genius scientist. Phineas wants to create a mold museum. He grows different kinds of molds at home. Everyone thinks mold is gross, but Phineas thinks it's really cool and wants to convince everyone that they should...

Adam and his family are Australians living in a fancy compound in the Middle East. Walid is an abused boy who rides camels in the popular sport of camel racing. When war breaks out, Adam is separated from his family and Walid manages to escape the camel masters. The two...

This is the story of two very different riders. Alex grew up pretending his bike was a horse, wanting to escape and ride dressage, not be the roping cowboy his father imagines him as. Cleo grew up spoiled; getting everything she wanted from her rich, absentee parents. She's sent to...

James Sveck is not really happy, not really sure of his future, wonders how he fits in. This 18 year old New Yorker has the summer to figure some things out. His parents are pressuring him to go to college, but he's been obsessively looking at houses in small towns...

Every Friday, dad and son walk through the city to the corner diner. They say hello to the people they pass, they window shop, they watch the building going up on the corner. They are not rushing; they take time to notice details of the city. They are regulars at...

This isn't just a collection of short stories–it's a history lesson. Before each set of stories, 2 from each decade from the 1950s to today, there are a few detailed pages on what life was life for GLBT folks during that decade, with a particular focus on what it was...

This book is a set of short stories with lesbian, bisexual, and transgender teens as the main characters. Some are heartbreaking, some will make you laugh out loud, all of them will make you wish you had more time to spend with these interesting and unique characters. If you like...

Kip has a secret. When he was 9 years old, he killed someone, set them on fire. Now he's 13. He's spent the past 4 years in an institution for criminal kids. They've decided to give him another chance, but he can't go back to where he used to live,...

Brit thought she was going on a family trip. She didn't want to go, but she REALLY didn't want to end up at Red Rock Academy, a "school" for teens with problems--or general rebelliousness. Brit doesn't think she's a bad kid, and doesn't understand why her father would put her...

Charity Meyers knows what she should do if she's taken.It's 2035, and kidnapping is a career choice for many money minded individuals in the United States. Charity has gone through trainings on kidnapping procedure and lives in a gated and secured neighborhood, escorted to school every day by armed guards....