Realistic fiction means the plot, characters, and setting are all things that can happen in the contemporary world. However, it does not mean that the story has to be true. It just means that it could happen.
Some subjects that you will see in realistic fiction are: family life, growing up, survival, and people as individuals and not stereotypes.
(Through the Eyes of a Child: An Introduction to Children's Literature by Donna E. Norton)
A Family Is a Family Is a Family by 
