Itasca Community Library
500 West Irving Park Road | Itasca, IL 60143 | 630-773-1699
Recommended Reading for Realistic Fiction
A Mother to Embarrass Me by Carol Lynch Williams
12-year-old Laura can hardly believe how embarrassing her mother has become – dancing at her first boy-girl party, singing so loud that the whole neighborhood can hear, nearly burning the house down, and most of all how she is acting now that she is pregnant. Y WIL
Define Normal by Julie Ann Peters
When Antonia agrees to peer counsel Jasmine at their middle school, she never dreams that this girl with the black lipstick and pierced eyebrow will end up helping her deal with the serious problems she faces at home. Y PET
Face by Benjamin Zephaniah
British teenager Martin Turner is looking forward to a normal summer holiday with his two best friends and girlfriend until a car accident changes his entire life. He learns a lot about himself and who his real friends are. Y ZEP
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanan
Julie has liked Bryce since the second grade, despite the fact that he has done nothing but avoid her. When Bryce finally does show interest, Julie starts questioning what she sees in him and suddenly their relationship has flipped! Y VAN
Godless by Pete Hautman
When sixteen-year-old Jason Bock and his friends create their own religion to worship the town's water tower, what started out as a joke begins to take on a power of its own. Y HAU
My Life and Death by Alexandra Canarsie by Susan O’Keefe
When Allie begins to attend strangers’ funerals, she becomes obsessed with the life and death of a fifteen-year-old boy who died in a swimming accident. Y OKE
Names Will Never Hurt Me by Jaime Adoff
Several high school students relate their feelings about school, themselves, and events as they unfold on the fateful one-year anniversary of the killing of a fellow student. Y ADO
Shooter by Walter Dean Myers
Written in the form of interviews, reports, and journal entries, the story of three troubled teenagers ends in a tragic school shooting. Y MYE
You Don’t Know Me by David Klass
Abused by his mother’s boyfriend, John feels that no one knows him at all. In spite of his unhappy home life, he deals with the normal problems of a teenage boy with a fantastic sense of humor. Y KLA
