Realistic Fiction

Chapter 7 of The Joy of Children's Literature is about Realistic Fiction.  This genre is fiction based on realistic events.  It is considered realistic because the books involve setting, characters, and events that are plausible.  However, these books are fiction because the realistic events or characters are not real and did not really happen.  Authors do in fact base much realistic fiction on their own lives, though.  There are seven categories of realistic fiction.  The categories are survival/adventure, mystery, humor, animals, sports, family, and growing up.  Survival and adventure realistic fiction has a fast-paced plot with a conflict between person and nature.  Mystery has suspense, action, and a logical solution that is foreshadowed through clues in the book. Humor has characters that are involved in funny situations. Animal realistic fiction is about the affect that a relationship with an animal has on a character.  Books in the sports category focus on thrills that accompany a particular sport.  Realistic fiction about family are about the strong need for family to overcome conflict.  Books about growing up are about characters growing more independent.  Here are some examples of books in these categories.

Survival/Adventure - Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Mystery - The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Humor - Ramona by Beverly Cleary
Animals - Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Sports - Free Baseball by Sue Corbett
Family - Yolanda's Genius by Carol Fenner
Growing Up - Criss Cross by Lynne Perkins

Reference: 

Johnson, Denise. The Joy of Children's Literature. Second Edition ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.