Contemporary/ Realistic Fiction Book Blog

Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream

Written by: Jenny Ham
Illustrated by: Julia Kuo
Published by: Little Brown
Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction 
Reading Level: 3rd-6th Grade
Copyright: 2011
Pages: 160

Overview

This chapter book is about a young girl, Clara Lee. She has a bad dream of her grandpa dying and, at first was really disturbed by it. Clara came to find out that in the Chinese culture when you dream about a death it signifies great luck. Clara goes on to document all of the good things that happen to her. The story is also about her overcoming her doubts in herself. She believes that she cannot give a speech at the Little Miss Apple Pie contest because she is not as American as one of her classmates. This book would be great to read in an upper-grade setting to focus on owning who you are even if your culture is different from most of the people around you. It would also be great to teach about the Chinese culture that is portrayed throughout the book. 

Source: http://kotekchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/p/contemporary-realistic-fiction.html?m=1