Keepin' it real!

I enjoy receiving and giving realistic fiction, for both children and adults, with strong characters, beautiful language, and humane visions.

Sharon Creech

If I ask a typical middle schooler to show me a book categorized as realistic fiction, they'd probably show me one about some sort of girl drama or sports...because that's how they roll.  If they asked me to show them an example of realistic fiction, I'd run, or drive, to my nearest public library and find Dorothea Benton Frank, Elin Hilderbrand, or Nora Roberts...because that's how I roll.

Wait a minute....GASP...OMG, we're on the same page.  They just want to read something they can connect to, identify with, recognize, empathize, and feel similar feelings as the characters in their books.  Just. Like. Us.

Realistic fiction is a huge umbrella that spans romance to mystery, humor to sports, and even includes a little ghostliness in there sometimes.  It can be overwhelming to anyone when they hear..."find a realistic fiction book to read".  Wait, what?  For current middle schoolers, is Hurricane Katrina considered historical fiction or realistic fiction?  What about 9/11 fiction?  These are issues I've seen lately when teachers ask students to search for this genre.  Who decides?  Teachers?  Students?  Librarians?  Does it matter?  Well it certainly shouldn't but it does put some things into perspective when we strive so hard to categorize a book by genre.  As librarians and teachers, we should do more of the discussion about a book and less of the categorization (IMHO).  Am I channeling Donalyn Miller here or what?

So let's keep it real in January.  The weather is cold (this week in SC it's 30, next week it's going to be 70...but I digress) so it's a great time to find some good realistic fiction and sit down with some hot coffee, hot chocolate, soup, well you get the hint, and READ.  As I mentioned in our #bookbootcamp wiki, some of the books on this month's reading list overlap with other genres.  Just like us, our books are certainly unique but they can't be placed into a specific niche all of the time.  

With those random thoughts about realistic fiction, go be one of your students...explore, read, think.  We'll chat about all of this and more on Monday, January 25th at 8:00 pm EST on Twitter using hashtag #bookbootcamp.  If this is your first chat, welcome!  If you're a regular, welcome back!  Talk to you soon and have fun keepin' it real with your reading.

http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1921602/Realistic_Fiction

What's So Funny?

"There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt." Erma Bombeck

It is an embarrassing fact that I have a middle-schooler's sense of humor. I often struggle to keep myself from laughing when my students do something hysterically inappropriate or silly, especially when another teacher is nearby. If someone tells me that I have the sense of humor of a  middle school student, it generally isn't a compliment. Most of the time it means that I find silly, inappropriate pranks to be funny. If someone passes gas in yoga class, I am the one who won't be able to stop herself from laughing.

Some of my favorite middle level funnies.

Selecting middle school literature is like wading into the ocean. It is important to be familiar with the water to avoid wading into the deep and dangerous  "too mature for this audience" books all the while knowing that yes, there are a few eighth graders who are ready to enjoy books in this area.  Remaining in the shallows of the "safe" books is not a good idea either. This is especially true for romance, realistic fiction and comedy.  Yes, some of my sixth graders will read N.E.R.D.S, but many of them will put it down as soon as  they learn that the characters are in elementary school. I find that my students generally want to read about students who are their age or older. I serve students in grades 6-8, but my purchasing includes titles that are recommended for grades 5-9. Middle school has to be the toughest level to buy for, the books have to be like Goldilocks, just right!

Certain books and series are super popular, such as the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. I usually tend to read only the first book in a series like this because once a book reaches that type of mass popularity, it doesn't need me to promote it. I certainly take advantage of the hype that accompanies new books in a series and movie releases with expertly timed trivia contests and first check out drawings, however.

Sometimes, the illustrations and pictures are the funniest part of the book. And what about some of those R.L. Stine books? Many of his books are humorous. . . . And what about books like Nightlight, a parody of Twilight? There are quite a few literary elements employed in humorous books, making them excellent teaching tools.  Is humor a genre or a literary element? Why isn't there an award for it? What could we call the award? How about the Ha! Ha! ?  What's that smell?

I think someone farted.

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