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REALISTIC FICTION
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Goal: List your absolute-go-to SHORT texts (not every MS text available, ha).
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This list is a draft, edited by anyone, and meant as a starting place. It has several tabs (see the bottom of the document) for different genres.

**When adding books, please check the title and author are correct.
**Suggested grades means grade you think the texts will work the best with, due to subject matter, complexity, or interest. They do not necessarily mean they correlate with reading level.
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Suggested Grade(s)*SHORT* Title, AuthorTypeSynopsis, Recommendation
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7-8What They Found: Love on 145th Street, MyersShort stories AWESOME follow-up to 145th Street Stories which blows the first book out of the water. Teens dealing with family, life challenges (caring for drug-recovering mother, struggling with identity, etc)
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5-6Baseball in April, SotoShort stories Teen and preteen issues, in short, sweet, sometimes funny, stories. Mostly from boy’s perspective. Broken bike, in love with a girl, looking up to big brother.
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5-8Living Up the Street, SotoShort StoriesAnother Soto anthology: mostly centered around stories of a Mexican-American boy coming of age in the barrio in Fresno, California. Stories of bullying, parochial school, first love. Some repeat stories from other anthologies.
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5-8First French Kiss and Other Traumas, BagdasarianShort stories (Might be out of print, but used copies available) Very funny, biting, stories about Adam’s family growing up. Some stories are stellar to use, others don’t go over as well, so be picky. “My Side of the Story” and “Carrots” particular hits.
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5-6Your Move, BuntingPic book James babysits his younger brother Issac while his mom works nights, this night he goes out to impress a gang.
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5-7Fly Away Home, BuntingPic book Boy and dad live in an airport. Many teachers like the symbolism of the scene with a bird trying to get through the automatic glass doors.
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6-8Every Living Thing, BuntingShort stories An animal play a pivital role in each short story. Often stories of personal or family hardships and the animal aides in the transformation.
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6-8Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories edited by Dawn Metcalf, Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones Short StoriesWell-known authors write letters to bullies from their past. This anthology is also associated with the web site http://dearbully.com/.
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6-8Guys Write for Guys Read: Boys' Favorite Authors Write About Being Boys edited by Jon ScieszkaShort stories Funny, moving and honest tales about what it means to be guy during the teen years.
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6-8Every Man for Himself: Ten Short stories about being a Guy edited by Nancy MercadoShort storiesGreat YA authors tell their stories about the joys and hardships of being a guy – the good, bad, funny and ugly. Each story holds an often humorous, compelling and honest life lesson.
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6-8First Crossing: Stories About Teen Immigrants edited by Donald R. GalloShort stories Fleeing from political violence in Venezuela, Amina and her family have settled in the United States. Sarah, adopted, is desperate to know her Korean birth parents. Adrian’s friends have some spooky — and hilarious — misconceptions about his Romanian origins. Whether their transition is from Mexico to the United States or from Palestine to New Mexico, the characters in this anthology have all ventured far and have faced countless challenges. –Amazon review
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5-7Home of the Brave, ApplegateNovel in verseA quicker read bc it's in verse, though still takes some time to get through. Kek is a refugee from Sudan, new to the United States, and trying to find a home and a voice here. Told from his keen, sweet, and reflective point of view.
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5-7Love that DogNovel in VerseJack doesn't care for poetry, but through the lessons of a strong teacher and some amazing poets he finds out that poetry is for everyone.
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6-8No Easy Answers: Short Stories About Teenagers Making Tough Choices edited by Donald R. GalloShort stories Stories about hard choices and hard life lessons.
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6-813: Thirteen Stories That Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen Short stories The title speaks for itself.
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6-8On the Fringe edited by Donald R. GalloShort stories Kids who are geeks, unathletic, poor, emotionally fragile, loners, or unattractive by current standards form the heart of this collection of exceptional stories by well-known authors.- Amazon Review
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6-8 Marshfield Dreams: When I Was a Kid by Ralph Fletcher short storiesFunny, poignant snapshots from Ralph Fletcher’s childhood. The perfect mentor text for a personal narrative or memoir unit.
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5-7Woman Hollering Creek by Sandra CisnerosShort stories"Eleven" is one of the shorts - about a young girl dealing with her birthday - in this book. Topics and themes range across the book.
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6-8House on Mango Street, Sandra CisnerosNovel in verse (Vignettes)Coming of age story of a young Latina girl growing up in Chicago
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5-6Knucklehead by Jon ScieszkaShort StoriesSilly short snippets from Jon Scieszka's life. Great for personal narrative.
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5-8Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald DahlAutobiography/MemoirTrue stories from Roald Dahl's life. Try using chapter title "The Great Mouse Plot"
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4-6One Green Apple by Eve Buntingpicture book short picture book with excellent reference to teach symbolism, author's craft and inference.  Great story about acceptance
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6-8Best Shorts edited by Avishort storiesAll of these are short, great read alouds.  I especially love "The Special Powers of Blossom Culp".  Kids LOVE them.
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8This I Believe ed. by Jay AllisonNonfiction
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5-8The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales by Chris Van Allsburg et.alShort Stories"This inspired collection of short stories features many remarkable, best-selling authors in the worlds of both adult and children's literature: Sherman Alexie, M.T. Anderson, Kate DiCamillo, Cory Doctorow, Jules Feiffer, Stephen King, Tabitha King, Lois Lowry, Gregory Maguire, Walter Dean Myers, Linda Sue Park, Louis Sachar, Jon Scieszka, Lemony Snicket, and Chris Van Allsburg himself." - Amazon.com page Kids are LOVING these as both a reading and a writing tool. The art of the short story is not lost here.
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6-8Crow Call, LowryPic book Lois Lowry, author of The Giver
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6-8Beauty Lessons, by Judith OrtizShort StoryComplex tale of a girl discovering the images and ideas of beauty around her through
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6-8 Seedfolks by Paul FleishmanNovelA short novel that tells the story of a community of people coming together to start a community garden. Each chapter is told from a character's perspective.
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6-8Charles, by Shirley JacksonShort StoryA classic short story that has a twist when it comes to one of the character's reliability. Great for prediction and revising theories abt a character. Central character is a boy getting in a lot of trouble at school.
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4-8Tripping Over the Lunch Lady: And Other School Stories, edited by Nancy MercadoShort StoriesThere are some real gems here by fave authors: Avi, Terry Trueman, Rachel Vail, and David Lubar to name a few. "The Crush" is very sweet, and "Tied to Zelda" allows for some great inference work around perspective.
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6-8Shelf Life: Stories by the Book, edited by Gary PaulsenShort StoriesGary Paulsen asked authors to contribute stories that somehow incorporate a book, or reading. Margaret Peterson Haddix, M.T. Anderson and Gregory Maguire selections, among others.
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7-8Who am I Without Him, by Sharon FlakeShort StoriesAmazing, but intense short stories about girls and their relationships with the men in their lives... Great for NYC schools, not so great for suburbs.
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5-8http://storylineonline.net/variousScreen Actors Guild members reading children's books online. Yes. It is that cool. (an @Cathy_Blackler find)
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5-8Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris Short StoriesBig Boy Chapter only a page-and-a-half! One of the funniest stories that makes you laugh out loud. Great for writing humor. It's a brilliant piece!
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5-8How Angel Peterson Got His Name by Gary PaulsonShort StoriesPaulson is a guy's guy writer. The story of Angel Peterson, which is the first chapter, is hilarious! The other chapters are all separate stories and all funny! Enjoy!
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5-8Priscilla and the WimpsShort StoryRobert Peck, from an anthology...Past, Present and Tense, great for theme, symbolism, close reading.
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5-8Harris and Me by Gary PaulsenNovel While this is a short novel, each chapter reads as its own short story. So funny, kids LOVE this book. I use it for visualization and foreshadowing lessons, just to name a few
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