CONTEMPORARY REALISTIC FICTION

Cleary, B. (1983). Dr. Mr. Henshaw. NY: Morrow.

Review: 






Evaluation criteria met: Setting and Style

     In this book, the character Leigh Botts has to do a class assignment which requires him to write and send a letter to his favorite author. Mr. Henshaw, the author, responds and suggests that Leigh keep a diary. Through a diary like format the author allows the reader to learn more about Leigh's life. The reader learns that Leigh is struggling with his parents' divorce and his relationship with his father while having to deal with being the new kid in town.
     This story starts in a mobile home outside of Bakersfield, California. However, when Leigh's parents decide to get divorced, Leigh and his mother move to a home in Pacific Grove, California.

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Draper, S. (2013). Out of my mind. NY: Antheneum.

Review: 



Evaluation criteria net: Setting and Theme

     There are many settings in this book, but the main events take place at the following three locations: Melody's school, house, and Mrs. Vs house (babysitter). In Melody's classroom at school her mom confronts the teacher about how she is running the class. This particular part of the book and other parts show the theme of family (or family support). Throughout the book Melody's mother, father, and Mrs. V are watching out for her and want to make sure she is getting what she needs.
     Another theme of this book is acceptance. Melody dreams of being picked first, taking gymnastics, square dancing, and talking on the phone with friends. However, she is unable to do all of these things due to her disability. She longs to be accepted by those who do not understand her disability.

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Lord, C. (2008). Rules. NY: Scholastic.

Review: 






Evaluation criteria met: Characters, Setting, and Style

     The main character, Catherine is a twelve year old girl with an autistic brother. In the beginning she wants a normal life, but what is normal? She feels that she can help her brother through introducing rules she came up with. For example, "Sometimes people don't answer because they didn't hear you. Other times it's because they don't want to hear you." Then she meets the new neighbor girl whom she and Jason go to the fundraiser dance with, but while at the dance Kristi finds out Jason is disabled and leaves. Catherine decides that it is okay not to have Kristi as her friend because of the way she acted towards Jason. However, in the end she realizes that she should be grateful for what she has and accept others' differences.
     This story takes place in present day Maine during summer vacation.
     The chapter headings add style through use of rules or lessons.

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Urban, L. (2009). A crooked kind of perfect. NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Review: 





Evaluation criteria met: Characters and Plot

     The main character, Zoe Elias, is easy to relate to. She is a ten year old who becomes interested in becoming a pianist after watching a documentary about Viadimir Horowitz. Her dream is to appear onstage at Carnegie Hall, but this is all changed when her father gets her a Perfectone D-60 organ. This isn't the only problem that Zoe has, she also has a mother who works all the time, father who's afraid to leave the house, and Wheeler Diggs following her home from school. However, in the end things turn around for her and she wins fourth place in the annual Perform-O-Rama organ competition.
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Pastis, S. (2013). Timmy Failure: Mistakes were made. NY: Candlewick Press.

Review: 








Evaluation criteria met: Characters and Style

     The main character of the book is a boy named Timmy. He lives with his single mom and business partner Total, who is a very large polar bear. Timmy and his business partner, Total, run a detective agency where they spend their days solving crimes for his peers. This things that Timmy must overcome include: defeating his nemesis Corrina Corrina, stop getting grounded by his mom, deal with his mom's loser boyfriend, and keep Total out of the zoo.
     This book can be placed into two genres, contemporary realistic fiction and graphic novel. The author/illustrator, Stephan Pastis has added a small black and white graphic to most of the pages in this book. These graphics enhance the experience the reader has while reading this book.
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Paterson, K. (1972). Bridge to Terabithia. NY: Crown.

Review:
In this book a boy by the name of Jesse Aarons spends his summer waking up early to practice running. He is working to become the fastest runner in the fifth grade. When practicing running one day he heard someone talking to him and stops to see who it is. This is the day that he meets his new neighbor child, Leslie Burke. Upon the first day of class he feels badly for Leslie because of the clothing she wore and how others made fun of her. However, he tries to ignore her himself. One day during recess the races were going on and Leslie came over to check it out. In just a few minutes she ended up being in the races and winning. She continued to be in the races and win, so eventually the races ended. After some time Jess and Leslie became friends. Eventually, they set up a place in the woods that they call Terabithia, where they built a castle. In Terabithia the two of them imagined that they were King and Queen and that battles were fought. One battle they discuss is how to get Janice Avery back for stealing May Belle’s (Jesse Aarons little sister) Twinkies. They decided to make Janice Avery look stupid by writing her a letter from a boy that she likes saying that he likes her and wants to meet with her after school. This plan works and Janice stays after school. Janice never found out that they did this. Later, in the story it is Christmas time and Jesse wants to give Leslie just the right gift. He eventually finds what he wants to get her, a brown and black puppy. She loves the gift and names her puppy Prince Tertian (referred to as PT later in the story). In return she gives him art supplies. One day Leslie tells Jesse that she heard Janice Avery crying in the girl’s restroom and they decided that Leslie should try to help Janice. Janice informs Leslie that she told her best friends that her father beats her and they told lots of other children at the school. Leslie tells Janice to act like she doesn’t know what her friends had been talking about and it will go away. Finally, May Belle tells Jesse that she knows about Terabithia and he makes her swear on the Bible that she will not tell anyone else about it. Towards the end of the book Jesse’s teacher Miss Edmunds calls and takes him to Washington. When he returns from being out with her, he is informed that Leslie is dead. He is in disbelief. That night he awakes from what he thinks was a nightmare. The next morning he plans to go see Leslie because he thought that she only dies in his nightmare. However, he was quickly informed that this was not so. Eventually, the Burke’s move away and let him have some wood. Jesse uses this wood to make a bridge to Terabithia. Then he brings the new Queen, May Belle to Terabithia.

Evaluation criteria met: Plot and Theme

     Jesse Aaron is good at running and wants to become the fastest runner in fifth grade. However, this becomes a problem when Leslie Burke comes to town and becomes the fastest runner. Then Jesse ends up becoming best friends with her. Jesse and Leslie sometimes would have issues with Janice Avery and try to figure out what to do. Jesse and Leslie's friendship and imaginary world is going well until Jesse returns home from a day off with Miss Edmund to discover that Leslie has died. The death hit Jesse and Leslie's family hard and the grieve. Before Leslie's parents move away they gave Jesse some wood that he used to build a bridge to his and Leslie's imaginary world.
     This story was filled with both conflict and resolution while also including the themes of friendship and grief.

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