The Real Deal: Realistic Fiction for Teens
M: Middle School Students
J: 7th - 9th Graders
S: High School Students
Y / Adoff
Jimi and me.
Jaime Adoff. 2005. (MJS)
After his father's tragic death, twelve-year-old Keith James moves from
Brooklyn to a small midwestern town where his mixed race heritage is not
accepted. Gradually Keith finds comfort in the music of Jimi Hendrix and
the friendship of a white classmate.
Y / Atkins
Alt ed.
Catherine Atkins. 2003. (S)
Participating in a special after-school counseling class with other troubled
students, including a sensitive gay classmate, helps Susan, an overweight
tenth grader, develop a better sense of herself.
Y / Brooks
Martyn pig: A novel.
Kevin Brooks. 2002. (JS)
Teenager Martyn Pig lives alone in a dreary English neighborhood with his
drunken, abusive father. Then one day in a struggle, Dad falls, knocks his
head, and dies. When Martyn hesitates to report his death to the
authorities a bizarre, desperate chain of events results. A grim, but
darkly funny novel.
Y / Brooks
True confessions of a heartless girl.
Martha Brooks. 2003. (S)
A confused seventeen-year-old girl, two elderly women, a sad and lonely man,
a single mother and her young son - Each have their own individual
tragedies to bear, but they come together in a small Canadian town and find
a way to a better future.
Y / Cooley
Ostrich eye.
Beth Cooley. 2004. (JS)
Is the man Ginger meets in the park really her long-lost father . . . or is
he her family's worst nightmare? The guy is everywhere. On the jogging
path. At the video store. In the coffeehouse. He's beginning to give Ginger
the creeps. A cautionary tale of family relationships, identity, and the
disastrous results of miscommunication.
Y / Deuker
High heat.
Carl Deuker. 2003. (MJ)
When sophomore Shane Hunter's father is arrested for money laundering at his
Lexus dealership, the star pitcher's life of wealth and privilege begins to
fall apart.
Y / Draper
The battle of Jericho.
Sharon Draper. 2003. (JS)
At first, Jericho, a high school junior, feels lucky to be asked to join the
Warriors of Distinction, the school's most exclusive club. But things go
horribly wrong during the initiation, and he must choose between his friends
and his conscience.
Y / Flinn
Nothing to lose.
Alex Flinn. 2004. (JS)
A year after running away with a traveling carnival to escape his unbearable
home life, sixteen-year-old Michael returns to Miami, Florida, where he
finds that his mother is going on trial for the murder of his abusive
stepfather.
Y / Fredericks
Crunch time.
Mariah Fredericks. 2005. (JS)
Leo, Max, Daisy and Jane don't have much in common - except overwhelming
anxiety about their upcoming SAT test. They become an unlikely study group
and friendships and even romances develop. But when a shocking cheating
scandal comes to light, everyone is suspect.
Y / Frost
Keesha's house.
Helen Frost. 2003. (JS)
Joe's house offers shelter, safety, and healing to bewildered youth,
including Keesha, who is escaping her abusive father after her mother's
death.
Y / Gauthier
Saving the planet & stuff.
Gail Gauthier. 2003. (JS)
After losing his summer job, sixteen-year-old Michael is sent to Vermont to
work on an environmentalist magazine that's run by friends of his
grandparents. Suddenly he finds himself in an "all-natural" world of
composting toilets, tofu, solar power, and radical politics. So what can
happen when a typical, self-absorbed teenage boy is trapped for the summer
with radical, environmentally-concerned senior citizens? The possibilities
for humor are endless.
Y / Going
Fat kid rules the world.
K. L. Going. 2003. (S)
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.
Y / Hartinger
Geography club.
Brent Hartinger. 2003. 226 p. (S)
Russel is gay, and he knows he better keep it secret, or he'll be a total
outcast in his small-town high school. But then he discovers that there
are others like him, and together they form a club where they can finally
be themselves - at least until other kids find out what's going on.
Y / Hautman
Invisible.
Pete Hautman. 2005. (JS)
This creepy and compelling story follows two unlikely friends - one is a
loner obsessed by his model trains, the other is a popular student involved
in football and theater. Unexpected plot twists and revelations explain
their unusual bond.
J / Henkes
Olive's ocean.
Kevin Henkes. 2003. (MJ)
A rich, quiet book about twelve year old Martha's summer visit to her
grandmother's cottage. Martha has a lot to think about during her stay,
including the recent death of a classmate, her longing to be a writer, and
her feelings for an older boy.
Y / Johnson
The first part last.
Angela Johnson. 2003. (MJS)
Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a
father and must care for his adored baby daughter.
Y / Koertge
Boy girl boy.
Ron Koertge. 2005. (JS)
Three inseparable teenage friends decide to escape their small town together
after graduation - but things don't quite turn out how they planned. A
funny and insightful story about friendship and being true to yourself.
Y / Myers
Shooter.
Walter Dean Myers. 2004. (JS)
Myers uses interviews, newspaper reports, and journal entries to tell the
story of three troubled teenagers. This chillingly realistic story of
bullying ends in tragedy. Readers who like Myers' gritty style should also
try Monster about a teen on trial for a convenience store robbery that goes
wrong.
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