No Cream Puffs - Realistic Fiction or Historical Fiction?

I am reading No Cream Puffs by Karen Day and thoroughly enjoying it. Madison is a twelve year old girl in 1980 and the first girl on an all boys little league team. Madison loves baseball and has great ability, however, she loves playing ball and NOT the attention that goes with being the first girl to blaze this trail. Madison is also struggling with issues twelve year old girls deal with - growing up, developing physically, noticing her appearance and boys for the first time, and trying to hang on to some friends even though they are growing in different directions. Madison has also put her absentee father on a pedestal. He was a great baseball player in college and Madison is sure that if he knew her now as she has grown up, he would want to be part of her life. Day has created suspense as well as we root for Madison's team at each game as the season progresses and at the championship game as Madison must face Billy, the boy she got into a fistfight with at the beginning of the novel when he made fun of her chest.

As I am telling others about this book, I never know if I should say it is realistic fiction or if I should say it is historical fiction. What makes something cross the line from one genre to the other? I ask myself this many times when I am pulling books for genre studies as I debate between whether something is historical fiction or realistic fiction. I think I will always consider Judy Blume's books realistic fiction, with perhaps the one exception being Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself. The same is true for Beverly Cleary, even though they were written a while ago. However, this book is set in 1980 (which scares me that something set 29 years ago - a year I can remember! is historical fiction), and deals with issues that are unique to that time period- gender equity in sports and the 1980 hostage crisis in Iran. So, because of this I lean toward this book being historical fiction. Is it possible for books to fall into more than one genre? What about when teachers are trying to use these books for genre studies and need them to be one genre, not both? Is there a line somewhere that defines this? What does everyone else think?

A YA Lockhart and a Memoir Lockhart

This morning I was writing information in my book journal about the latest book I had just finished. Last night I stayed up a little later than I should have to get through Mother in the Middle: A Biologist's Story of Caring for Parent and Child by Sybil Lockhart. I thoroughly enjoyed her memoir, but chuckled to myself when I entered the name, author and number of pages in her book into my book journal. Directly above that entry was the book Dramarama by E. Lockhart with the exact samenumber of pages. Same author name? Same number of pages? I figured I must have not been paying attention very closely to the information. It is true, though. I read two books by a Lockhart in a row with the same number of pages. That seems to be where the similarities end.
Dramarama by E. Lockhart is a YA title centered around Sarah from Ohio. She loves all things theatre and when she and her best friend, Demi, who happens to be black and gay (and therefore has a hard time fitting in in the small town he is from) are accepted to a theatre camp for the summer their friendship is tested. Sarah, who goes by Sayde at camp, realizes that she doesn't really fit in there and also is not as talented as she would like. Demi, however, is completely at home and flourishing in this new environment. The two have a few arguments, trying to decide where each belongs. Lockhart also includes transcripts from some tapes the friends make of their conversations, recording things for posterity. This book received a starred review when it was published and I almost purchased it then. I enjoyed it, but had so many starts and stops in my reading that I had a hard time getting into it. As someone who enjoys musicals I appreciated the references to different shows like Cats. This was a quick read, one I would have definitely liked in high school.

Mother in the Middle: A Biologist's Story of Caring for Parent and Child by Sybil Lockhart is the other book I have been working on. Lockhart's story seems all too familiar to many: a professional woman quits her job to stay home with her children. In addition to that, she is caring for her aging mother who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Lockhart is a biologist so she includes information about what is happening to her mother on a scientific level as well. The writing is interesting and engaging and I felt as though Sybil and I could be friends. The challenges she faces are ones many can relate to. Not only does she write about her mother's illness, but also includes her challenges with mothering, her marriage and her struggles in her professional life. This was a wonderful memoir and I enjoyed every word.

I can't believe it's back to work already today. The weekend went so quickly. I did get to talk books with a friend on Saturday, so even though I didn't find a lot of time to actually read anything, I was at least talking about reading.

The Funeral Director's Son

When I heard the title of this book, I knew it was one I would need to read. For ten years my husband and I lived in a house attached to the funeral home where he was a funeral director. It was an interesting ten years, to say the least. Coleen Murtagh Paratore's middle grade book tells the story of Kip, a boy born into a long line of funeral directors who does not want to go into the family business. Much of what Kip reveals about life in a funeral home are things that I know about and make me smile in reminisence....while being thankful for my current surroundings all that much more. In addition to the funeral home setting, Kip, while not wanting to take part in the family business does have an important job. He helps the newly deceased find peace. Kip hears the wishes of those who have just passed away and helps relay messages to loved ones who were not told goodbye. When Billy Blye dies Kip must find out the secret holding Blye back from his eternal rest.
I liked the setting the most in this book because it was so familiar. I felt like the plot could have been more well developed because there were things I was still questioning later on in the book. I am not sure middle grade readers could make some of the connections Paratore is having her readers make. Kip is entertaining and even though I am not in love with the plot I still found the book enjoyable.