Realistic Fiction

In every Realistic Fiction novel, there is a problem that the protagonist has to overcome in order to bring resolution to the book. In each of the books that follow, there were different situations and problems that the heroines had to deal with in order to bring peace to whatever was happening in their lives. Read on to find out more about each of their problems and see the significance these books can have in the lives of children today.


Speak
Laurie Halse Anderson

At the beginning of Speak, the reader finds new ninth grader Melinda being treated like a complete outcast by old friends and strangers alike. The book continues on for a while before we begin to see hints that something happened that causes people to treat Melinda this way. As the book progresses, we also see Melinda begin to retreat deeper and deeper into herself. Eventually, we find out that Melinda was raped by an older boy at a party during the summer. After she is raped, she calls the police who come and break up the party, resulting in the arrests of many kids who were there. Instead of telling anyone what happened, she keeps it a secret. Because of the way her former friends are treating her and the problems that her parents are having at home, she feels like she can't share her problem with anyone.

I think that this problem Melinda has- the she has been raped- is sadly a common problem in today's society. Add the rape to the fact that she is still virtually a child and doesn't feel she can tell anyone, and the problem becomes even greater. Unfortunately, this is probably something that many teens can relate to. Whether or not it's a similar situation to this one, sexual abuse is a travesty that probably touches each of us, whether we are aware of it or not. I think this book would be extremely beneficial to girls who have been abused in helping them find their voice to speak up and let someone know what has happened. It would also be good for adults who are working with teens, just to be aware of the realities of what many of them could be dealing with. A secondary problem is that she has been rejected by her peer group, something that happens to most kids at one point or another for various reasons. Just knowing that someone else has dealt with the same thing would be very helpful for teens dealing with this problem.

The way Melinda's problem worked out was mostly realistic. She internalized the problem until she just couldn't handle it anymore. She quit speaking, which should've been a huge warning sign to her parents that something was wrong, but they had their own problems to worry about and probably never thought the issue was as big of a deal as it turned out to be. Melinda found an outlet for her emotion in her art classes and also found a teacher that she respected and could relate to. One day, Melinda realized that she just didn't want to be dark and sad anymore and gradually came our of her depression. She eventually found the courage to speak up about what had happened when she realized that Rachel, her former best friend, was dating Andy, the guy who raped her. Unfortunately, her outcry fell on deaf ears...Rachel's. Eventually, it was found out that Melinda was telling the truth and Andy was caught. This novel teaches many great lessons for high school girls (and boys,) and I absolutely recommend it.


My Louisiana Sky
Kimberly Willis Holt

In My Louisiana Sky, 12 year-old Tiger Ann Parker has several problems to deal with that are all related to each other in one way or another. The first problem we find as we read the book is that Tiger's parents are mentally handicapped. Tiger, however, is very smart, which means that she realizes the mental deficiencies in her parents and feels a sense of shame. The second problem is that because of her parents (and the fact that she prefers the boys to the girls,) she is left out by most of the girls in her class at school. She decides that she wants to be accepted by the girls and therefore stops hanging around with her best friend Jesse Wade. Her newfound desire to be girly causes Jesse Wade to try to kiss her, which embarrasses her and makes her feel like she lost her one friend. To top it all off, her Granny dies of a heart attack and her Aunt Dorie Kay asks her to come live in Baton Rouge. Finally, Tiger has to make the choice of what seems to be best for her or what is best for her family.

Because there are so many different problems in this book, I think that every middle school student could relate with at least one of them. Although the problem of mentally handicapped parents probably isn't too common, shame, responsibility, death, acceptance, and the awkwardness of male/female friendships are common issues that almost everyone deals with at some point. Most of these problems worked themselves out in completely realistic ways. There really wasn't anything in this book that was too far-fetched or solved in a way that didn't make sense. And as in most good books, there were some issues that were left unresolved, letting us make the choice of whether or not we wanted to resolve them and if so, how.


Because of Winn-Dixie
Kate DiCamillo

Because of Winn-Dixie is a book that, while it has it's share of minor problems, teaches us how to find the best in others and the positive in every situation. The overlying problem in Because of Winn-Dixie is that India Opal Buloni and her father the preacher have been abandoned by her mother. Although the abandonment happened years before, Opal is just reaching the age where she really wants to know about her mother and why it was that her mother left. There are also quite a few minor problems in the book. Opal has recently moved to a new town and left all her friends, resulting in her having to make new ones. This in itself isn't really a problem, but as she sets about to make new ones, we get to experience the problems that each of her new friends have as well. A third problem is that of her dog, Winn-Dixie. He doesn't like to be left alone and is scared of storms.

The problems Opal encounters as she meets her friends are mostly solved as the story goes along and she gets to know them better. She realizes the reasons for why each of them are the way they are and she finds the best in them. Winn-Dixie's fear of storms results in her "running away" and Opal and her father have to go out in search of him, eventually realizing that he was right under their noses the whole time. The biggest problem, that of the abandonment, is mostly solved by her father telling her about her mother and letting her know that he loves her and that he is so glad that when her mother left, she left Opal with him. Like My Louisiana Sky, all of the problems aren't completely resolved, but at least addressed.

This book was mostly believable, at least for a small town in the past. There are a few things that happened in the book that probably wouldn't have happened in real life, but the majority of the problems were realistic. Some of the issues might've worked themselves out a little too easily, but because this book was written for elementary aged children, I think it was appropriate.



As long as the problems they are reading about are age-appropriate, students of all ages can greatly benefit from the problems they read about in books. Becoming aware of problems that others face not only prepares children for the way the world is, but it also helps them to be compassionate and understanding of others. If the children reading the books have experienced some of the same problems as the characters they are reading about, it helps them to know they are not the only ones dealing with these certain issues. Preparing our children for the world through the problems of characters in books may also keep them from experiencing some of those same problems, teaching them lessons and potentially saving them from unnecessary heartache later in life.