Realistic Fiction

Kailee Klus

December 12, 2013

Book Report - Realistic Fiction

Paintings From the Cave is a realistic fiction book by Gary Paulson. The three stories, a novella, have a theme of survival by the main characters. Each story has a main character that is in their early teens who is struggling with problems in their neighborhood or family. They have to make decisions to make a good or bad choice that helps them grow up and overcome struggles.

The first story, Man of the Iron Heads, takes place in a big city apartment building with lots of criminals. The main character, Jake, has to take care of himself since his alcoholic aunt does not pay attention to him. Jake wants to stay away from trouble but it keeps running into him. He meets an artist to in his building that sculpts with metal. The sculptor befriends Jake and makes a big difference in his life. This makes the change and survival struggle different for both Jake and the sculptor.

The second story, JoJo the Dog Face Girl, takes place in a trailer park with her the main character, JoJo, and her alcoholic parents. JoJo is teased because she has a face like a dog. She meets another girl, Rose, who escapes her pain of leukemia by walking her dog in the woods. JoJo and Rose escape their pains by walking their dogs and help each other as friends. Their tragic life events make their friendship stronger as well as their love of dogs.

The third story, Erik's Rules, is about a brother, Erik, and sister, Jamie, who run away from their alcoholic mom and her many boyfriends. They live in many places and not for long times. Erik works to support himself and his sister at many different jobs. They move a lot but survive because they rely on each other. Jamie finds a dog that is injured and she convinces Erik to let her keep it so she can nurse it back to health. Jamie begins to sketch pictures of the dog and someone offers her money for her sketches. Erik makes up rules for Jamie and him to remain on the run and safe. Jamie, Erik, and the dog save each other from sadness.

These three stories make me think no matter how rough times are; find something good to help you survive it. Each story tells about realistic ways to overcome trouble. This is a good book to read. I recommended it to all middle school students to read.