Archive for the ‘Fiction (non-fantasy)’ Category
Marcelo in the Real World
Marcelo in the Real World
Arthur A. Levine Books, 2009
Fiction
ISBN: 0545054745
320 pages
Synopsis
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Boys Without Names
Balzer + Bray, 2010
Fiction
ISBN: 0061857602
320 pages
Synopsis
For eleven-year-old Gopal and his family, life in their rural Indian village is over: We stay, we starve, his baba has warned. With the darkness of night as cover, they flee to the big city of Mumbai in hopes of finding work and a brighter future. Gopal is eager to help support his struggling family until school starts, so when a stranger approaches him with the promise of a factory job, he jumps at the offer. …
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Solace of the Road
David Fickling Books, 2009
Fiction
ISBN: 0375849718
272 pages
Synopsis
Holly’s story will leave a lasting impression on all who travel with her.
Memories of mum are the only thing that make Holly Hogan happy. She hates her foster family with their too-nice ways and their false sympathy. And she hates her life, her stupid school, and the way everyone is always on at her. Then she finds the wig, and everything changes. Wearing the long, flowing blond locks she feels transformed. She’s not Holly anymore, she’s Solace: the girl with the slinkster walk and the supersharp talk. She’s older, more confident—the kind of girl who can walk right out of her humdrum life, hitch to Ireland, and find her mum. The kind of girl who can face the world head-on. …
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Story of a Girl
Little, Brown Young Readers, 2007
Fiction
ISBN: 0316014532
208 pages
National Book Award Nominee
Synopsis
Caught having sex with an older boy in the backseat of his car by her father, thirteen-year-old Deanna quickly becomes branded a slut. Three years later, Deanna is still dealing with her reputation, a father who can’t look her in the eye, and her personal struggle with her identity and self-perception. Through a series of seemingly mundane events, Deanna decides to begin pursuing a path that will ultimately lead her to become the person she wants to be. …
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After Tupac and D Foster
Putnam Young Adult, 2008
Fiction
ISBN: 0399246541
160 pages
Newbery Honor Book
Synopsis
A summer of adventure and loss, the unnamed narrator gains a new best friend named D Foster. Mysteriously coming out of nowhere, D quickly becomes friends with the narrator and her best friend Neeka. Throughout this coming of age text, the narrator takes us on a journey throughout her summer, starting when D shows up, just after Tupac gets shot for the first time, and ending when Tupac gets killed and D leaves to go live with her real mother. Woodson takes us back a few years to show the reality of living in Queens as an African American family, and many of the personal and national events that effect the block the narrator lives on. …
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The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian
Little, Brown Young Readers, 2007
Fiction
ISBN-10: 0316013684
240 pages
National Book Award Winner
Synopsis
Told from the first person narrative of Arnold Spirit, aka Junior, the story chronicles a year in his life as a Spokan Indian from Wellpinit, WA, as he bravely decides to go to a high school outside of the reservation in a neighboring White town. Forced to overcome his insecurities as an ethnic outsider and his handicaps and speech impediments having been born with water on the brain, Junior discovers that choosing hope and pursuing his dreams will be the most difficult thing he’s ever done. …
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Touching Snow
Anatheneum, 2007
Fiction
ISBN: 1416917950
240 pages
National Book Award Nominee
Synopsis
Starting out by confessing the murder of her own stepfather, Karina launches into the backstory of how the incident happened and the events leading up to it. Outside of school, Karina and her sisters live an isolated life, the oldest, Enid, taking care of her two younger sisters, their Haitian immigrant cousins, and her toddler half brothers. …
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