 |
Stories in the realistic genre resemble real life and could have actually happened to people or animals. The settings are believable and the characters react in a similar way to real people. |
Crenshaw by
The heart-warming new story about family and friendships from Newbery Medal-winner Katherine Applegate. Life is tough for ten-year-old Jackson. The landlord is often at the door, there's not much food in the fridge and he's worried that any day now the family will have to move out of their home. Again. Crenshaw is a cat. He's large, he's outspoken and he's imaginary. He's come back into Jackson's life to help him but is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?
The Penderwicks: a summer tale of four sisters, two rabbits, and a very interesting boy by
he Penderwicks: four sisters, as different as chalk from cheese, yet as close as can be. The eldest, Rosalind, is responsible and practical; Skye, stubborn and feisty; dreamy, artistic, budding novelist, Jane; and shy little Batty, who doesn't go anywhere without her butterfly wings. And not forgetting Hound, their large lumbering lovable dog. The four girls and their absent-minded father head off for their summer holidays, but instead of the cosy tumbledown cottage they expect, they find themselves on a huge estate called Arundel, with magnificent gardens ripe for exploring. It isn't long before they become embroiled in all sorts of scrapes with new-found friend, Jeffrey - but his mother, the icy-hearted Mrs Tifton, must be avoided at all costs. Chaotic adventures ensue, and it soon becomes a summer the sisters will never forget...
I heart pets by
Series: Ella Diaries
Ella and Zoe start their own pet-walking business. When their only job turns out to be minding a lizard, and then sneaky Peach Parker begins behaving very suspiciously, Ella starts to wonder what's up. Zoe and Ella must go undercover! With their detective notebooks in hand, Can Ella and Zoe discover the terrible truth?
Raymie Nightingale by
Raymie Clarke has come to realize that everything, absolutely everything, depends on her. And she has a plan. If Raymie can win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, then her father - who has run away with a dental hygienist - will see Raymie's picture in the paper and (maybe) come home. To win, not only does Raymie have to do good deeds and learn how to twirl a baton, but she has to compete with the wispy, frequently fainting Louisiana Elefante with her show-business background and the fiery, stubborn Beverly Tapinski, who's determined to sabotage the contest. But as the competition approaches, loneliness, loss and unanswerable questions draw the three girls into an unlikely friendship - and challenge them to come to each other's rescue in unexpected ways.
Ida B : and her plans to maximise fun, avoid disaster and (possibly) save the world by
Poignant tale of a 9-year-old girl's emotional journey after her idyllic life is shattered by her mother's illness. Ida B's life is perfect: she is home-schooled by loving parents on a beautiful farm with its own orchard, creek and mountain (well, a pile of earth too tall to be called a hill). Left to her own devices in this rural haven, she talks to the trees in the orchard and sends miniature rafts down the creek, to which she attaches notes like "What is life like in Canada? Please respond". But the idyll is shattered when Ida B's mother develops cancer. Her father is forced to stop home-schooling her - and to sell the orchard to a property developer. Feeling angry and betrayed, Ida B rebels in every way she can think of - until a young teacher at her new school shows her how to open her heart to others...
Pearl verses the world by
A moving illustrated verse novel about a girl dealing with isolation at school, and with her grandma's illness at home. At school, Pearl feels as though she is in a group of one. Her teacher wants her to write poems that rhyme but Pearl's poems don't. At home, however, Pearl feels safe and loved, but her grandmother is slowly fading, and so are Mum and Pearl. When her grandmother eventually passes away, Pearl wants life to go back to the way it was and refuses to talk at the funeral. But she finds the courage to deliver a poem for her grandmother that defies her teacher's idea of poetry - her poem doesn't rhyme; it comes from the heart.
Clementine by
Series: Clementine
Clementine seems to be constantly in trouble. Firstly, for cutting off Margaret's hair. Secondly, for not paying attention in class. And thirdly, for the black hole, which is her bedroom. Perhaps it's time for Clementine to change - or perhaps not.
Two wolves by
One afternoon, police officers show up at Ben Silver's front door. Minutes after they leave, his parents arrive home. Ben and his little sister Olive are bundled into the car and told they're going on a holiday. But are they? It doesn't take long for Ben to realise that his parents are in trouble. Ben's always dreamt of becoming a detective - his dad even calls him 'Cop'. Now Ben gathers evidence and tries to uncover what his parents have done. The problem is, if he figures it out, what does he do? Tell someone? Or keep the secret and live life on the run?
Walk two moons by
"How about a story? Spin us a yarn."
Instantly, Phoebe Winterbottom came to mind. "I could tell you an extensively strange story," I warned.
"Oh, good!" Gram said. "Delicious!"
And that is how I happened to tell them about Phoebe, her disappearing mother, and the lunatic.
As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe's outrageous story, her own story begins to unfold — the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to be reunited with her missing mother.
Out of My Mind by
From award-winning author Sharon Draper comes Out of My Mind, the story of a brilliant girl who cannot speak or write. Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She is smarter than most of the adults who try to diagnose her and smarter than her classmates in her integrated classroom--the very same classmates who dismiss her as mentally challenged, because she cannot tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy. And she's determined to let everyone know it...somehow. In this breakthrough story, reminiscent of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, from multiple Coretta Scott King Award-winner Sharon Draper, readers will come to know a brilliant mind and a brave spirit who will change forever how they look at anyone with a disability.
My life as an alphabet by
Candice Phee wants to bring light and laughter to those around her, and somehow she succeeds despite the bizarre mix-ups and the confusion she effortlessly creates. My Life as an Alphabet is a delightful novel about an unusual girl who goes to great lengths to bring love and laughter into the lives of everyone she cares about.
A Corner of the Universe by
A searing story about family ties and how they bind us. The summer Hattie turns 12, her predictable smalltown life is turned on end when her uncle Adam returns home for the first time in over ten years. Hattie has never met him, never known about him. He's been institutionalized; his condition invovles schizophrenia and autism. Hattie, a shy girl who prefers the company of adults, takes immediately to her excitable uncle, even when the rest of the family -- her parents and grandparents -- have trouble dealing with his intense way of seeing the world. And Adam, too, sees that Hattie is special, that her quiet, shy ways are not a disability,
Toppling by
A moving and triumphant illustrated verse novel about childhood illness and support for friends. John is obsessed with dominoes. But not with playing the traditional game, he is obsessed with toppling. He spends hours setting up spirals, ramps, patterns and lines of dominoes all for that satisfying toppling beginning with a small push in the right direction, everything falls as it is meant to. When John's friend Dom falls sick and is diagnosed with cancer, it is John and his friend's worlds that fall apart. Can they face Dom and support him through this uncomfortable illness? It's hard for all at first but John and his friends find a way to comfort Dom and laugh with him again. They even find support and understanding from an unlikely source within their class, the school bully.
Wonder by
Wonder is the funny, sweet and incredibly moving story of Auggie Pullman. Auggie wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old, but he is far from ordinary. Born with a terrible facial deformity, this shy, bright ten-year-old has been home-schooled by his parents for his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the stares and cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, Auggie is being sent to a real school - and he's dreading it. Auggie sees himself as just an ordinary kid and all he wants is to be accepted. But can he convince his new classmates that he's just like them, underneath it all?