# Realistic Fiction books about family life

**20** realistic fiction books that explore family life, drawn from the US-school assigned-reading canon. Sourced from Common Core exemplars, AP, IB, Cambridge, and 50 state ELA curricula.

**Genre:** Realistic Fiction  ·  **Theme:** family life
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/genre/realistic-fiction/theme/family-life
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.
**Primary source — Common Core ELA exemplars:** https://www.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/programs/standards-instruction/appendix-b-text-exemplars-and-sample-performance-tasks.pdf

## Realistic Fiction family life reading list

- [101 Ways to Bug Your Parents](https://readinglist.school/book/101-ways-to-bug-your-parents) by Lee Wardlaw _(Grades 4–6 · pub 1996)_
- [All About Sam](https://readinglist.school/book/all-about-sam) by Lois Lowry _(Grades 4–6 · pub 1988)_
- [Attaboy, Sam!](https://readinglist.school/book/attaboy-sam) by Lois Lowry _(Grades 4–6 · pub 1992)_
- [Backlash](https://readinglist.school/book/backlash) by Sarah Darer Littman _(Grades 3–8 · pub 2015)_
- [Daphne's Book](https://readinglist.school/book/daphnes-book) by Mary Downing Hahn _(Grades 4–8 · pub 1983)_
- [Fig Pudding](https://readinglist.school/book/fig-pudding) by Ralph J. Fletcher _(Grades 3–5 · pub 1995)_
- [Guji Guji](https://readinglist.school/book/guji-guji) by Chen, Zhiyuan _(Grades K–3 · pub 2004)_
- [Ida B. and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World](https://readinglist.school/book/ida-b-and-her-plans-to-maximize-fun-avoid-disaster-and-save-the-world) by Katherine Hannigan _(Grades 2–8 · pub 2004)_
- [If You Come Softly](https://readinglist.school/book/if-you-come-softly) by Jacqueline Woodson _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1998)_
- [Loser](https://readinglist.school/book/loser) by Jerry Spinelli _(Grades 4–6 · pub 2002)_
- [One Lucky Girl](https://readinglist.school/book/one-lucky-girl) by George Ella Lyon _(Grades K–2 · pub 2000)_
- [Poor Louie](https://readinglist.school/book/poor-louie) by Tony Fucile _(Grades K–3 · pub 2017)_
- [Project Mulberry](https://readinglist.school/book/project-mulberry) by Linda Sue Park _(Grades 3–8 · pub 2005)_
- [Ramona's World](https://readinglist.school/book/ramonas-world) by Beverly Cleary _(Grades 4–6 · pub 1999)_
- [Room](https://readinglist.school/book/room) by Emma Donoghue _(Grades 9–12 · pub 2010)_
- [Saving Zasha](https://readinglist.school/book/saving-zasha) by Randi G. Barrow _(Grades 3–8 · pub 2011)_
- [Shadow of the Dragon](https://readinglist.school/book/shadow-of-the-dragon) by Sherry Garland _(Grades 9–12 · pub 1993)_
- [Striped Ice Cream](https://readinglist.school/book/striped-ice-cream) by Joan M. Lexau _(Grades 4–6 · pub 1968)_
- [The Fourteenth Goldfish](https://readinglist.school/book/the-fourteenth-goldfish) by Jennifer L. Holm _(Grades 4–6 · pub 2014)_
- [The Stories Julian Tells](https://readinglist.school/book/the-stories-julian-tells) by Ann Cameron _(Grades 2–3 · pub 1987)_

---

_Generated from primary-source citations indexed on ReadingList.school. HTML view: https://readinglist.school/genre/realistic-fiction/theme/family-life._
