BiblioFiles #99: Realism in Juvenile Fiction

One of the purported goals of literature is to reflect the truth back to us so that we can see with fresh eyes. Books can be a mirror by which we see the real world with new perspective. But what role does realism have in books aimed at younger readers? Should we be revealing the dark and difficult truths to them? Why does it feel that this is sometimes done well and sometimes not so much?

Referenced Works:

– 30 Poems to Memorize (Before It’s Too Late), edited by David Kern

– Percy Jackson & the Olympians by Rick Riordan

– Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt 

– Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

– “The Case for Good Taste in Children’s Books” by Meghan Cox Gurdon

– A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter

– Turtles all the Way Down and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

– At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald

– The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez

– The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

– Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

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