A quick way to classify a story or novel as realistic fiction is to identify the following characteristics within that literary work:
Realistic fiction stories tend to take place in the present or recent past.
Characters are involved in events that could happen.
Characters live in places that could be or are real.
The characters seem like real people with real issues solved in a realistic way (so say goodbye to stories containing vampires, werewolves, sorcerers, dragons, zombies, etc.).
The events portrayed in realistic fiction conjure questions that a reader could face in everyday life.