You can use this class to realize a simple sectioned RecyclerView.Adapter without changing your code.
The RecyclerView should use a LinearLayoutManager.
You can use this code also with the TwoWayView with the ListLayoutManager (https://github.com/lucasr/twoway-view)
This is a porting of the class SimpleSectionedListAdapter provided by Google
Example:
//Your RecyclerView
mRecyclerView = (RecyclerView) findViewById(R.id.list);
mRecyclerView.setHasFixedSize(true);
mRecyclerView.setLayoutManager(new LinearLayoutManager(this));
mRecyclerView.addItemDecoration(new DividerItemDecoration(this,LinearLayoutManager.VERTICAL));
//Your RecyclerView.Adapter
mAdapter = new SimpleAdapter(this,sCheeseStrings);
//This is the code to provide a sectioned list
List<SimpleSectionedRecyclerViewAdapter.Section> sections =
new ArrayList<SimpleSectionedRecyclerViewAdapter.Section>();
//Sections
sections.add(new SimpleSectionedRecyclerViewAdapter.Section(0,"Section 1"));
sections.add(new SimpleSectionedRecyclerViewAdapter.Section(5,"Section 2"));
sections.add(new SimpleSectionedRecyclerViewAdapter.Section(12,"Section 3"));
sections.add(new SimpleSectionedRecyclerViewAdapter.Section(14,"Section 4"));
sections.add(new SimpleSectionedRecyclerViewAdapter.Section(20,"Section 5"));
//Add your adapter to the sectionAdapter
SimpleSectionedRecyclerViewAdapter.Section[] dummy = new SimpleSectionedRecyclerViewAdapter.Section[sections.size()];
SimpleSectionedRecyclerViewAdapter mSectionedAdapter = new
SimpleSectionedRecyclerViewAdapter(this,R.layout.section,R.id.section_text,mAdapter);
mSectionedAdapter.setSections(sections.toArray(dummy));
//Apply this adapter to the RecyclerView
mRecyclerView.setAdapter(mSectionedAdapter);You can customize the section layout, changing the layout section.xml and changing the code in the SimpleSectionedRecyclerViewAdapter.SectionViewHolder class and SimpleSectionedRecyclerViewAdapter#onBindViewHolder method.

I notice something strange. Why the AdapterDataObserver does not translate positionStart and itemCount to sectioned positions when notifies the outer adapter? The base adapter positions and the sectioned positions differ, so it notifies about incorrect positions. Isn't it? Anyway, I'm going to give it a try (with a staggered grid too)! 10x