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ADVENTURE/SURVIVAL
= stories in which the adventures/survival of the main character(s)
is the point of the story
* sub-genre of realistic
* examples: adventures (Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The
Black Pearl)
survival (Julie of the Wolves, Island of the Blue
Dolphins, Slake's Limbo)
ANIMAL = stories about humans giving love to and receiving
devotion and loyalty from an animal
* sub-genre of realistic
* should
be from the viewpoint of a human (Trouble With Tuck,
Black Stallion). The exception is stories in which
animals are trying to journey to their humans (Incredible
Journey) and the jist of the story is the journey, not
the conversations between the animals.
* can also be about injustice or cruelty to animals (White
Fang, A Tale of Antarctica)
BIOGRAPHY = realistic detailed stories about the lives
of individual people which may be dead or alive; the story
is about the people, not a period of history such as with
historical fiction
* there are three levels, explained only to help you understand
the breadth of currently published biographies; we will classify
generically as biography, no matter which of these types the
story falls under
1) authentic biography = well-documented, carefully
researched account of a person's life. Only those statements
that are actually known to have been made by the subject are
included in the conversations.
examples: Jean Fritz books about historical personages (And
Then What Happened Paul Revere?, Will You Sign Here,
John Hancock?)
2) fictionalized biography = author may invent dialogue
and even include unspoken thoughts of the subject, with the
actual conversation based on actual facts taken from diaries,
journals, or other period sources
examples: Constance, Homesick, My Own Story
3) biographical fiction = consists entirely of imagined
conversation and reconstructed action
* examples: Ben and Me, Mr Revere and I
CLASSIC = this is left-over category of books that
are timeless; these will be mainly misplaced realistic books
* examples: Silas Marner, Little Women, To
Kill a Mockingbird, Heidi
FAIRY TALES = wonder tales of magic and supernatural,
romance, and adventure
* authorship may or may not be known
* fairly short (not novel length)
* typical language includes 'once upon a time', 'lived happily
ever after'
* the number three is common (Three Little Pigs, Goldilocks
and the Three Bears, you get three wishes...)
* the virtues of love, kindness, and truth prevail; hate,
wickedness, and evil are punished (this is what makes fairy
tales different from fantasies)
* often includes magic such as fairies or elves (Elves
& The Shoemaker), fairy godmothers (Little Rabbit
Foo Foo), giants (Jack and the Beanstalk), witches
or evil people (Hansel & Gretel), wizards and spells
(Rumpelstiltzkin), or beasts (Beauty & The Beast)
* settings with kings and queens, nobles, dragons, etc. are
common
* often the hero triumphs all odds to get the princess (don't
confuse with King Arthur Tales which are legends and thus
folk tales
* includes spoofs (jokes) on classics (Sleeping Ugly,
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Emperor
Penguin's New Clothes)
FANTASY = stories whose plot or characterization cannot
happen in the 'real world'
* animated toys (Toy Story)
* breaks laws of physics (Mary Poppins)
* cars/animals that do fanciful things (Mouse & The
Motorcycle, Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang
* classic good versus evil (The Dark is Rising)
* ghosts (Stonewords)
* people switching identities internally (Freaky Friday)
* superhuman (Superman, Pippi Longstocking)
* tales of pure imaginations (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,
Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan)
* talking animals (Animal Farm, Charlotte's Web,
Animal Farm
* time travel (Root Cellar, Time Machine)
* tiny people (Borrowers, The Indian in the Cupboard,
The Littles)
* travel to another world or dimension, not referring to space
travel, like by NASA (The Hobbit, Chronicles of
Narnia, Phantom Tollbooth)
FOLK TALES = stories that have been passed down (orally
or written) through the years
* authorship may be unknown
* includes myths, superstitions, fabels, lengends, tall tales,
epics, parables and proverbs, nursery rhymes and ballads,
games and songs, dance rituals, and religious stories
* examples:
Robin Hood, Paul Bunyan, Bringing the Rain
to Kapiti Plain
HISTORICAL = a realistic story with a setting in the past
* large genre in which the quality and extent of historical
content varies
* historical setting must be crucial to the story line
* examples: Witch of Blackbird Pond, My Brother
Sam is Dead, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry
INFORMATIONAL
= books that provide information on a topic, some of which
appear to be story-like, others like a textbook
* includes books about art, computers, fine art (paintings),
games, geography, language arts, mathematics, physical education/sports,
science, social studies, and history
*examples: The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor,
Playground Rhymes, How to Draw Cats and Kittens,
The Kids Book of Chess, See Inside a Roman Town
MYSTERY
= involves the atmosphere of excitement and suspense - solve
the case, who-dun-it, etc.
* sub-genre of realistic
* examples: The Westing Game, Encyclopedia Brown
series, House of Dies Drear, Who Really Killed Cock
Robin?
POETRY = verse text; the book may include a collection
of poetry (called an anthology) or only a single verse (usually
illustrated)
* if genre of book is poetry plus any other, label it as both
examples: The Sign of the Seahorse (poetry + fantasy)
Welcome to the Green House (poetry + informational)
REALISTIC = stories whose plot and characterization
are possible (maybe outlandish, but still possible); everything
that happens could happen; setting is in recent times
* setting can be in the past if the setting is not the issue
(And Now Miguel, The Outsiders)
Possible topics and examples:
* accidental
injury to an animal/human by a human (One-Eyed Cat)
* child abandonment, kidnapping, missing children (Who
is Eddie Leonard, The Face on the Milk Carton)
* cultural groups (Young Landlords, Zeely, Child
of the Owl, Plain Girl, Shabanu)
* terminal illness (A Taste of Blackberries, Rumble
Fish, When the Phone Rang, Grover)
* drugs, alcohol use (That Was Then This Is Now, Driver's
Ed)
* family issues - divorce, siblings, elders, etc. (Dear
Mr Henshaw, It's Not the End of the World, Superfudge,
Won't Know Until I Get There)
* growing up - body changes, romance, dating, etc. (Are
You There God It's Me Margaret)
* humor (Best Christmas Pageant Ever, How to Eat
Fried Worms)
* interracial relationships (Edgar Allen)
* mental or physical handicaps (Summer of the Swans)
* emotional or physical abuse (The Pinballs, I Hadn't
Meant to Tell You This)
* prejudice (The Hundred Dresses)
* premarital pregnancy, foster homes (Great Gilly Hopkins,
The Pinballs)
* sports (Hoop Dreams)
SCIENCE FICTION = events of the story are possible,
given advances in science sometime in the future
* sub-genre of fantasy but differs from fantasy not in subject
matter but in aim; the aim of science fiction is to suggest
real hypothesis about mankind's future or about the nature
of the universe
* Possible topics and examples:
* alien visitors to earth (The Fallen Spaceman, E.T.,
The Forgotten Door)
* colonization differnet from now, due to geological changes
(Waterworld)
* killer viruses (The Stand)
* new governments or methods of controlling social order or
the intelligence of the population (Farenheit 451)
* nuclear or other war (After the Bomb)
* population overcrowding or lack of natural resources such
as food, water, oil, etc.
* robotization or other manufactured humans as part of the
work force/daily life of humans (The White Mountains,
My Robot Buddy, Konrad)
* travel to other planets or galaxies (Wrinkle in Time,
Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet)
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