Module 6- Journal

Choose one of the books that you read this week as an outstanding example of realistic fiction. How did you respond personally to that book? Why? If possible, compare that books to a realistic fiction book that you think is NOT an outstanding example. What are the differences in the books (not just plot, but literary elements).

While I do not feel that any of my choices this week (Piper Reed, A School Story, There's A Boy in the Girl's Bathroom, and Ivy and Bean) were particularly outstanding, the one I enjoyed most was Piper Reed, Navy Brat. (What I gather from reading the discussion posts of others is that my choices were not the favorites of the group. I look forward to trying Clementine and a few others that were mentioned as outstanding examples by others.)

I believe I enjoyed Piper Reed most because my personal response was so strong. While I may not have moved as a child myself, as a current military spouse I move at least every three years. In addition, I also am currently teaching students who are growing up much like Piper, they have a list of homes longer than most adults. All military dependents struggle with the PCS (permanent change of station, or moving for the civilians). We worry that the new place will have less to offer, we dread saying goodbye to our friends, and we struggle to have a positive outlook. However, as Piper shows, when the rubber meets the road, our new place ends up being just as enjoyable (well, most of the time). I also enjoyed that she used the language of the military child throughout the book. Piper goes to a commissary, she lives on a base, and her enlisted housing is lacking compared with the same for officers. The military child reader relates with that. Ask my students what a grocery store is and they wouldn't be able to tell you. A commissary on the other hand, they have the schema for that. To the military child, this is the most realistic of the realistic fiction genre.

On the contrary, I also read Ivy and Bean. I did not have a strong personal response to this story, nor did I find it at all probable. The realism in the sister relationship faded quickly. The friendship became more and more unrealistic as the story went on. The conflict of Man vs. Self in Piper Reed seemed much more believable than the Man vs. Man conflict of Ivy and Bean. It seemed to me that rising action and resolution of Ivy and Bean's conflict with Ivy's sister were realistic, the climax itself was not. Would young girls really throw worms in the face of an older sister who has already told her mother about the mischief? Would a sister really fall in a mud pit? I think not. I understand the author's desire to add action and adventure into the story, but the silliness of the events really turned me off as a reader. Perhaps this would be different for a young girl who would love nothing more than to cast a spell on her own sister. Perhaps. While I know that according to the lecture notes realistic fiction "must be believable, although it may not be probable," the type of realistic fiction I find to be outstanding are those that allow the reader to get so lost in the story the line between fiction and life is blurred. For me, Ivy and Bean did not have this effect. (And I am feeling the same way about Stargirl, my current read. Although enjoyable, realistic might be a stretch.)