In the book, Boy's Life, by Robert R. McCammon, there are many realistic and fantastic events and ideas. Something that is realistic means that it exists and can normally be perceived. On the other hand, something fantastic means that it doesn't exist and can't normally be perceived. The major theme of the book, keeping the magic of staying a child, is obviously a fantasy, but the things that happen to Cory Mackenson, the main character, that make that magic stay with him, are a reality.
The first and most prevalent event in the book is during Cory's ride with his dad on the milk route. Cory watches as his dad tries to save a murdered man whose car plunges into Saxon's Lake, which is tagged to be bottomless. While his dad struggles to identify and save the man's body Cory looks up the road and sees a figure standing at the edge of the woods.
Cory Doctorow
Cory Reading
Cory reading Harry PotterHe goes up to investigate but only finds a small, green feather, which turns out to be a major link to the murderer. The reality of the situation is that Cory is a witness to a major crime that is extremely rare in his small town of Zephyr, Alabama. Also, it is a reality that someone Cory knows in the town could be this murderer. There is only a little bit of fantasy that goes along with this and it is that Saxon's Lake could not possibly be bottomless. Also, later Mr. Mackenson tells his wife that the corpse had said, "Come with me, down in the dark," something impossible for a dead man to do.
A second, stranger event is the parade on Good Friday. It starts in a city outside of Zephyr called Bruton where all the African-American people live. The...