Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Wonder
Author: R. J. Palacio Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction Reading Level: 4.8 Interest Level: Grades 5-7 Number of Pages: 404 Summary: A boy named August (Auggie) Pullman is a typical ten year old child who loves Star Wars and his dog Daisy. Auggie was born with a craniofacial abnormality. It is a birth defect. He does not look like a normal child (in the face). He has had countless numbers of surgeries throughout his 10 years. This led to Auggie being homeschooled through 4th grade. His mother, and even his father, decided that he should attend a private school (Beecher Prep) in NYC where they all live. His sister Via (Olivia) is attending high school. Auggie does not want to attend normal school at first. The principle, Mr. Tushman, has Auggie and his mother arrive at the school a few weeks before school begins. There, Auggie is taken on a tour by Jack Will, Charlotte, and Julian who are all students going into the 5th grade with Auggie. When Auggie starts school he hangs around Jack. Jullian begins to be mean to Auggie. At lunch Auggie sat alone at a table when all of the sudden a girl named Summer came up and sat with him. She ended up sitting with Auggie at lunch all year long. Auggie was a smart boy. He does very well academically. Auggie begins getting made fun of at the school by Julian and his friends, and eventually (what seems like) all of the school. On Halloween the kids at Beecher Prep are allowed to dress in costume for classes. Auggie loves Star Wars and plans to go as a Star Wars character, but at the last minute he decides to go as Bleeding Scream. Auggie decided that since no one knew who he was behind the costume, he would sit closer to the front of the room for a change. Then he heard Jack tell Julian and some other boys that Mr. Tushman had asked him to hang out with Auggie. He is so upset. Auggie thought Jack was his friend. Eventually Jack and Auggie make up. Then the students at Beecher Prep attend a nature retreat with a bunch of other schools. A huge event happens at the nature retreat that completely changes everything. To find out what happens at the nature retreat, you must read the book! How I will use this book: - This book would be fantastic for middle school students to read because it is about bullying. This book is about children in middle school. - This book would be great for students to learn, talk, and write about individuality. I believe individuality is a huge part of this book. - For an activity, teachers could have students write about what they would’ve done if they were a student at Beecher Prep. Would they have befriended Auggie? Why or why not? Would they have done something about Julian? Why or why not? Etc. |
Ungifted
Author: Gordon Korman Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction Reading Level: 5 Interest Level: Grades 3-5 Number of Pages: 280 Summary: Donovan Curtis was an 8th grade boy who attended Hardcastle Middle School. He did not care about school and was always in trouble because he acted without thinking. During a major basketball game against Salem Junior High, Donovan and his friends (the two Daniel’s) went to the top of the hill outside the gym. Donovan grabbed a big branch and struck the globe of a statue that then broke, rolled down the hill and busted into the gym causing major damage. Superintendent Dr. Schultz caught Donovan. Dr. Schultz wrote down Donovan’s name on a piece of paper and left it on his desk. His secretary accidently wrote Donovan’s name on the list for the Academy for Scholastic Distinction. She then threw away the paper with Donovan’s name on it. The next day at school, Donovan was sure he would get called to the principal’s office for what he had done; it never happened. A letter was sent home to Donovan’s parents informing them that their son had been selected to attend the Academy for Scholastic Distinction (the gifted school). When Donovan arrived at his new school everyone knew he didn’t belong but no one said anything. His homeroom class was Oz’s (Mr. Osborne) class. He was the Robotics Club teacher. The class was building a robot to beat Cold Spring Harbor. All the kids in the class helped build Tin Man and all Donovan did was put stickers on him. Donovan’s sister is pregnant. Some kids at ASD (the Academy for Scholastic Distinction) needed a human growth and development credit that the school had overlooked. Donovan arranged for the class to follow his sister through her pregnancy as their credit. Because Hardcastle Middle School’s gym had been shut down, the school dance then had to be held at ASD. Chloe was so excited because she always wanted a normal middle school experience. Oz required all his students to attend the dance as an assignment. Little did Donovan know, Dr. Schultz would be at the dance as well. The Daniel’s attended the dance and convinced Donovan to show them Tin Man. After showing the Daniel’s Tin Man, Donovan was planning to leave the dance. The Daniel’s snuck back in, grabbed Tin Man and brought him into the dance. Donovan realized what they had done and went back to save Tin Man only to see Dr. Schultz. (Dr. Schultz did not see Donovan). Tin Man had been slightly “injured”. Donovan was failing most of the classes at the Academy although he was trying harder than he ever had at Hardcastle Middle School. Oz had requested Donovan to be retested for the Academy. The students knew Donovan was not gifted so they had to figure out a way to help Donovan pass the test. Noah thought of hacking into the computer to cheat for him, but he didn’t. (Noah was trying to fail out of the Academy. He was smarter than any teacher there. He had an IQ over 200.) When Donovan was taking the test, the computer clicked the correct answers for him. Donovan ended up passing the test with flying colors. Ms. Bevelaqua, Donovan’s math teacher, knew someone had to have cheated for Donovan. To find out what happens, you must read the book. How I will use this book: - This book is great because it explains who middle school aged children do things. They do things because they feel like it. There is no reasoning behind it. - For an activity, the teacher can have the students explain a situation where they acted upon something without thinking it through first. Then have the children explain what they would have done had they thought it through first. |
Speak
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction Reading Level: 7.1 Interest Level: Grades 9-12 Number of Pages: 198 Summary: Before heading to high school, Melinda and Rachel Bruin (Melinda’s friend) attended a high school party over the summer. Melinda ends up being raped by a high school guy. Then Melinda calls the police causing the party to be broken up. Melinda is then seen as a “tattle tale” for having the party busted. Shortly after the party was broken up, Rachel drops Melinda as a friend. Melinda also stops talking, for the most part, after the incident. The first day of high school can be scary enough, but when your old friends won’t speak to you, it is even scarier. Melinda does not like any of her high school classes. The only one she seems to feel okay in is art. Mr. Freeman, her art teacher, passes out little slips of paper with a word on it. Whatever is written on their paper will be their art project for the year. Melinda get’s one that says tree. Melinda thinks the tree is stupid because she had been drawing trees since Kindergarten. Melinda meets a girl who has just recently moved to the school named Heather. Heather wants to be popular. Other than Heather, the only other “friend’ Melinda has is David Petrakis. He isn’t exactly her friend either. He is her lab partner for science. David is very nice to Melinda. (Melinda finds out that her ex-best friend Rachel is now going by Rachelle in high school. Melinda thinks it’s a little senseless.) Melinda finds a place in school where she can hide from everyone else. It is a janitor’s closet. She goes into the closet when she wants to skip class, in-between classes, when she wants to hide from people, when she wants to be alone (which is most of the time), etc. Throughout the year, she has hung up some of her artwork, and completed some homework in the closet. Throughout the book, Melinda refers to a guy as “IT”. “IT” is the guy who raped her at the party over the summer. (Andy Evans is “IT”.) Melinda’s parents do not know about her being raped. They do notice that her grades are slipping. However, she has an A in Art. They also notice that Melinda is engaged in art. For Christmas they even buy her charcoal pencils as well as a sketchpad. Melinda is amazed that they realize her love for art. She wants to tell them how thankful she is, but she cannot find words to express how she feels. Heather becomes friends with a group called the Martha’s. This is a group of girls who likes to be involved. Melinda sits with them at lunch because that is where Heather sits. One day, Andy Evans comes up to the table and begins to flirt with the Martha’s (especially Emily). Emily has been talking with Andy. Although she has heard rumors about him being dangerous, Emily does not believe it. While walking away, he touches Melinda’s hair. Melinda becomes so shaky, that she runs to the bathroom and pukes. At the end of the school year, Melinda decides that she no longer needs the closet and she goes to clean it out. All of the sudden Andy appears in the janitors closet and shuts the door. He has heard that Melinda has been saying bad things about him and he does not like it. He tries to rape her again. She screams, at the top of her lungs, “NO!” many times. She ends up breaking a mirror and holds a piece of glass to his neck. Some of the girl’s lacrosse team was in the hallway and heard what was going on, they go to get help. Melinda ends up getting out of the closet without being raped again by Andy. To find out what happens, you must read the book. How I will use this book: - To expose students to rape situations. To emphasize to students that if someone has been raped. They are victims, not problems. - To have students realize that rape is not acceptable. - A great activity for students would have them write a short story on what they would’ve done if they were in Melinda’s situation. |
Eight Keys
Author: Suzanne LaFleur Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction Reading Level: 3.8 Interest Level: Grades 4-6 Number of Pages: 216 Summary: Elise is a girl who is heading into 6th grade. She has a friend named Franklin; they have been friends throughout elementary school. Franklin and Elise are normal children who like to play pretend and create things. Elise lives with her Uncle Hugh and Aunt Bessie. Her mother passed away after she was born and her father passed away from cancer when she was three. Aunt Bessie’s sister Annie and her baby Ava move in with Aunt Bessie, Uncle Hugh and Elise. Because the middle school was so crowded, 6th graders had to share lockers. Elise gets stuck with a girl named Amanda who just wants to be popular and mean. Everyday Amanda squishes her lunch and calls her names. While building a castle in the barn, Elise spots a key hanging on the wall with her name on it. Shortly after she spots the key, Franklin accidently hammered a nail into her hand leading her to the hospital. Elise is about to turn 12 and every year for her birthday she gets a letter from her father. The letter this year stated that this would be the last one she would get. Her father said that there is something else for her to find. One day she decides to discover what they key she saw unlocked. She walks up the stairs to the top of the barn (where she had not been allowed) and tries to unlock the door. (There were 8 rooms upstairs that she had not been allowed in.) When she opened the door the walls were covered in pictures of a woman, baby pictures, school pictures, etc. All the pictures were of her mother. Also in the room was a note from her father and a stuffed animal named Miles. She took Miles and brought him inside the house. Everyone in middle school calls people names, like “dork”, so Elise starting doing that to Franklin. One of Amanda’s ‘followers’ named Caroline started talking to Elise. Franklin didn’t like that Elise and Caroline had started to become friends. The next key Elise found another key that was sitting on her windowsill. When she goes back to the barn to find out which room it opens, it was the third lock she tried. Inside the room the walls were filled with books. Her father collected all of the books. Behind one of the books she found another key and it unlocked a room that was completely empty. She found another key on her desk in her room. So she goes to the barn. This key unlocks a room that is filled with pictures of a man and a baby/toddler. Elise soon realizes all of the pictures are of her and her father. To find out how she finds all of the keys, you must read the book. How I will use this book: - This book would be great for children who have lost a parent (or both). It shows that children can still have their parents with them, even if they are not physically there for them anymore. - This book is great for sixth grade students. It talks about students who are beginning middle school. It explains some problems that may occur. Many of the students will be able to relate to this book. - For an activity, the teacher can have the students write about what happened to them when they first came to middle school. How it is similar to Elise’s situation. How it is different. |