3. The family stories of the late 1930s
through the early 1960s depict some of
the strongest, warmest family
relationships in contemporary realistic
fiction for children.
5. The actions of the
characters suggest that:
a. security is gained when family
members work together;
b. each member has responsibility to
other members;
c. Consideration for others is desirable;
and
d. family unity and loyalty can overcome
hard times and peer conflicts.
6. Early 1960s, many changes have
taken place in the characterizations
of the American family in realistic
fiction.
The Authors in the 1970s,1980s, and
1990s often focused on need to
overcome family disturbances.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. Some Authors use specific
situations or discoveries to
allow children to escape from
all reality.
12. Death of a parent
Divorce
Moving to a new location
13.
14.
15. Beverly
Cleary’s Strider
Uses a series of diary
entries to reveal
changes in character
By caring for
abandoned dog,
fourteen-year-old
Leigh Boots finally
learns to accept his
parents’ divorce and
gains self-confidence.
16. Libby Hathorn’s
Thunderwith
Also uses a dog to
help her heroine,
Lara, gain strength
and the ability to
respond to her
father’s new family.
26. Paula Fox’s
The Moonlight
Man
Catherine realizes
that it is sometimes
very difficult to love
someone, but we
may still love
someone if we dislike
him.
28. Many of the stories written about
single-parent families develop
themes in which children become
stronger as they make discoveries
about themselves and the adults in
their lives.
29. The Moonlight
Man
Some protagonists
learn to accept
the foibles of
separated fathers
or mothers and
even grow closer
to their parents.
35. As children grow older, they may
feel self-conscious about their
changing bodies and developing
sexuality.
36.
37.
38. Peer relationships involve many of
the joys and sorrows with which
children become familiar in family
life, but peer relationships also
expand understandings of other
people and the world in ways that
familiar family ties cannot.
41. Cynthia Voigt’s
Bad Girls
Uses the setting
of a fifth-grade
classroom and
focuses
attention on
the behaviors
of two girls who
become best
friends.
42. Authors often develop conflict in
stories about interpersonal
relationships by using person-
against-self or person-against-person
conflicts.
43. Authors enable readers to:
a. to identify inner conflicts;
b. to understand why the characters
have the conflicts;
c. how the characters handle the
conflicts; and
d. what things enable resolution of the
conflicts.
46. The conflicts that authors identify
and the ways in which the characters
overcome these conflicts usually
communicate unifying themes about
interpersonal relationships.
47. E. L. Konigsburg’s
Jennifer, Hecate, MacBeth,
William McKinley and
Me, Elizabeth
Konigsburg
encourages
understanding of
Elizabeth’s inner
conflict & need for a
friend by emphasizing
her shyness.
48. Janet Taylor
Lisle’s
Afternoon of
the Elves
Developed the
consequences of
being different,
having unusual
responsibilities,
and needing
friendship and
understanding.
49. Stories about growing up
frequently deal with
problems associated with
moving to new locations.
50. Barbara
Park’s The
Kid in the
Red Jacket
• Explores the
problems faced
by a fifth-grade
boy when he
moves to a
different city.
53. Authors who write about
physical maturity often describe
embarrassing physical
characteristics and explore ways
in which the characters, friends,
and family members respond to
the characteristics.
54. Person-against-person conflicts
include peer victimization of a
main character, with the story
told from the viewpoint of either
the victimized child or a child
who is part of the peer group.
55. Some problems have simplistic or
humorous resolutions, while other
resolutions are complex and express
the extreme sensitivity of children
who are experiencing changes in
their bodies & increased self-
consciousness about their
appearance as they grow up.
56. Judy Blume’s
Are You There
God? Its Me,
Margaret
• Explores a young girl’s
sexuality.
• Eleven-year-old
Margaret has many
questions about the
physical changes
occurring in her body.
60. Lois
Lowry’s
Anastasia
Krupnik
• A ten-year-old begins to
be the center of attention
and her jealousy when she
is able to place her
family’s new baby on her
list of loves instead of her
list of hates.
63. In Reluctantly Alice, she causes
difficulties when she decides that it is
her responsibility to advise her father
and her older brother on their love
lives.
In All But Alice, she continues her
meddling into her father’s and
brother’s lives and decides that she
needs to become involve in female
relationships.
71. Careful word selection,
imagery, and rhythm patterns
can heighten the emotional
impact and credibility of
adventures outside the realms
of experience of most readers.
74. George’s Julie of
the Wolves
• A thirteen-year-
old girl lost in the
arctic tundra
develops a
friendship with
wolves.
75. Scott O’Dell’s Island of the Blue
Dolphins
• Karana, a young
Indian girl, survives
years alone on a
Pacific Island.
• “I will tell you about
my Island.”
• “I was afraid.”
• “Should she go back
& face loneliness or
go on & face
probable disaster?”
76. Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet
• Carefully documents
Brian’s problem
solving approach.
• Encourage readers
to understand both
the gravity &
consequences of
many of the
problems.
80. Myer’s
Somewhere in
the Darkness
• A story in which a
boy learns about the
harsh realities of life
when he
accompanies his
convict father on a
search for truth and
respect.
92. Healing takes time, memories
are worth retaining, and
family members can help each
other in times of sadness.
93. Constance C.
Greene’s Beat
the Turtle
Drum
• A girl’s reactions to
her sister’s
accidental death by
describing the warm
relationship between
ten-year-old Joss
and her twelve-year-
old sister, Kate.
99. Changes in the roles of females:
Contains more girls who are
distinct individuals
Girls may be brave, they
maybe tomboys, & they
maybe unorthodox
100. Mothers different roles in
recent:
They work outside the home
They may even have jobs more
demanding than those of their
husbands
101.
102. Children’s realistic fiction is
becoming increasingly
sensitive to the importance of
overcoming cruel or
condescending stereotypes.
103. Judy Blume’s
Blubber
• Shows how peer
cruelty to someone
who is physically
different can have
negative
consequences for
all concerned.
104. Mary Sage (1977) recommends the
following criteria when evaluating books:
1. The author should deal with the physical,
practical, and emotional manifestations
of the disabling condition accurately but
not didactically.
2. Other characters in the story should
behave realistically as they relate to the
individual with disabilities.
3. The story should provide honest &
workable information about disabling
conditions & the potential of individuals
with disabilities.
105. Writers of such literature
often express the hope that
their stories will encourage
positive attitudes toward
individuals with physical
disabilities.
110. Some authors of
contemporary realistic fiction
are exploring the problems
related to old age with greater
sensitivity than authors
expressed in books of the past.
111. Gail Radley’s
The Golden
Days
• Explores both the
unhappy
emotions & the
unwanted feelings
of a boy living
with foster parents
& of an elderly
woman living in a
nursing home.
