Children's Literature, Autobiography, Fantasy
Tar Beach is a children's picture book that's based on a fine artwork. Right off the bat, that gives us a clue that this story will combine different things in interesting ways.
The author uses elements of her own childhood in Harlem and combines them with fiction. How do we know it's not pure autobiography? One hint is that the narrator's name is "Cassie," not Faith. (Take that, Sherlock!)
Finally, the story uses fantasy to help us understand Cassie's inner life. It's not pure fantasy because we're not supposed to believe that Cassie's literally flying around New York City. We know that she's using her imagination.