What's real about fiction?

Contemporary realistic fiction is a genre that allows the author to create stories that reflect issues in society today. The characters in contemporary realistic fiction encompass these five characteristics: they resemble real people, live in a place that is or could be real, participate in believable events, there is a problem of interest that is relatable to children, and discover a realistic solution (Temple, Martinez, and Yokota, 2019). This type of genre is applicable, not only to children but to adults as well. The characters in the story are like those in everyday life. In Me, Frida, and the Secret of the Peacock Ring by Angela Cervantes, she creates a story that some children can relate to. Paloma, the child of the professor, Emma, is on an educational trip to Mexico, and Paloma does not speak Spanish – they are from Kentucky and Paloma’s father passed away when she was young. At first, Paloma did not want to be in Mexico because she can not relate to the culture that is in Mexico – she can not speak Spanish and therefore believes she will be bored while there. Her mother, Emma, goes on to tell her that her father lived in the town that they were traveling to – this sparks Paloma’s interests because she wants to get to know more about her dad and her heritage. This story provides a real story that children can relate to if they were born in the United States, the father is no longer alive, and cannot speak Spanish – it happens all the time. The book focuses on Frida Kahlo, a famous artist in Mexico who passed away years ago, and they visit her home, now turned museum, that is there in real life. This is what contemporary fiction is about – provide a real-life experience through a story that has been created.

Contemporary realistic fiction, in the present time, still appeals to people’s emotions – the stories want you to feel a certain way about a topic that is pulled from the real world. Reading realistic fiction can benefit children, and adults, in a few ways: they come to feel that they are not alone, reflect on their own choices, develop empathy for people, observe life experiences different from their own, and look at life through a humorous and enjoyable lens (Temple et al., 2019). We want children to embrace different people and to feel like the stories are real. Children will reflect on how their actions affect other people when they read a book that relates to them. Children develop empathy for others when they read about the struggles that people go through and try to understand them.

I can incorporate realistic fiction into my classroom by the means of a Person of Color who must navigate the struggles of living in a community with a gang presence or a Person of Color who only lives in a one-parent household. In this context, how can I relate it back to mathematics? I can apply it to statistics that reflect the community the students live in – it is tough, but the students need to think about it.

Students that I serve have gone through different traumatic experiences and books of survival relate to my students. As Temple et al. (2019) state, “There are numerous ways of considering what constitutes survival. It could be surviving bullying experiences such as peer taunting and tormenting because a child does not fit in for some reason. It could be surviving oppressive life circumstances. And often, when we think of survival, we think of surviving life-threatening situations.” My students survive daily.

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