Realistic Fiction

Because of Anya Because of Anya / Margaret Peterson Haddix

While ten-year-old Anya faces the difficulties of losing her hair to alopecia, her classmate Keely learns how to stand up for what she knows is right.

Because of Mr. Terupt Because of Mr. Terupt / Rob Buyea

Seven fifth-graders at Snow Hill School in Connecticut relate how their lives are changed for the better by "rookie teacher" Mr. Terupt.

Because of Winn-Dixie Because of Winn-Dixie / Kate DiCamillo

Ten-year-old India Opal Buloni describes her first summer in the town of Naomi, Florida, and all the good things that happen to her because of her big ugly dog Winn-Dixie.

Counting by 7s Counting by 7s / Holly Goldberg Sloan

Twelve-year-old genius and outsider Willow Chance must figure out how to connect with other people and find a surrogate family for herself after her parents are killed in a car accident.

The Garden of my Imaan The Garden of my Imaan / Farhana Zia

The arrival of new student Marwa, a fellow sixth-grader who's a strict Muslim, helps Aliya come to terms with her own lukewarm practice of the faith and her embarrassment over others' reactions to their beliefs.

Holes Holes / Louis Sachar

As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.

Hoot Hoot / Carl Hiaasen

Roy, who is new to his small Florida community, becomes involved in another boy's attempt to save a colony of burrowing owls from a proposed construction site.

A Long walk to water : based on a true story : a novel A Long walk to water : based on a true story : a novel / Linda Sue Park

When the Sudanese civil war reaches his village in 1985, eleven-year-old Salva becomes separated from his family and must walk with other Dinka tribe members through southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya in search of safe haven. Based on the life of Salva Dut, who, after emigrating to America in 1996, began a project to dig water wells in Sudan.

No talking No talking / Andrew Clements

The noisy fifth grade boys of Laketon Elementary School challenge the equally loud fifth grade girls to a "no talking" contest.

The Odd Squad The Odd Squad / Michael Fry

When his school counselor insists that he needs better socialization skills after being stuffed into a locker by a bully, middle-schooler Nick finds himself, along with two other misfits, joining the school's lamest club: Safety Patrol.

One crazy summer One crazy summer / Rita Williams-Garcia

In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.

Out of my mind Out of my mind / Sharon M. Draper

Considered by many to be mentally retarded, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.

Rules Rules / Cynthia Lord

Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with an young paraplegic.

Same sun here Same sun here / Silas House and Neela Vaswani

A twelve-year-old Indian immigrant in New York City and a Kentucky coal miner's son become pen pals, and eventually best friends, through a series of revealing letters exploring such topics as environmental activism, immigration, and racism.

Shiloh Shiloh / Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

When he finds a lost beagle in the hills behind his West Virginia home, Marty tries to hide it from his family and the dog's real owner, a mean-spirited man known to shoot deer out of season and to mistreat his dogs.

Smile Smile / Raina Telgemeier

From sixth grade through tenth, Raina copes with a variety of dental problems that affect her appearance and how she feels about herself

Something to hold Something to hold / Katherine Schlick Noe

In the early 1960s, Kitty is one of only two white children in her class on Warm Springs Reservation, Oregon, where her father is a government forester, and although past injustices and pain are still very much alive there, she eventually finds friendships and opportunities to make a difference. Includes map, author's note, glossary, and pronunciation guide.

The Strange case of Origami Yoda The Strange case of Origami Yoda / Tom Angleberger

Sixth-grader Tommy and his friends describe their interactions with a paper finger puppet of Yoda, worn by their weird classmate Dwight, as they try to figure out whether or not the puppet can really predict the future. Includes instructions for making Origami Yoda.

Three times lucky Three times lucky / Sheila Turnage

Washed ashore as a baby in tiny Tupelo Landing, North Carolina, Mo LoBeau, now eleven, and her best friend Dale turn detective when the amnesiac Colonel, owner of a café and co-parent of Mo with his cook, Miss Lana, seems implicated in a murder.

Walk two moons Walk two moons / Sharon Creech

After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.

Wonder Wonder / R.J. Palacio

Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.