50 Books for 50 States
Read your way across the United States with a book for every state in the union.
Read your way across the United States with a book for every state in the union.
Alabama
Inside Out & Back Again BY THANHHA LAI
Alabama comes to life through the eyes of Hà, a Vietnamese immigrant whose family leaves everything familiar in Saigon to make a new life away from the Vietnam War. And it’s not easy — Alabama may not have soldiers on the street corners, but it has people who make fun of Hà’s accent and appearance, adults who don’t seem to understand that you can miss your home even if it isn’t a safe place, and food and culture that feel totally unfamiliar. I love the way the free verse structure of this book echoes the way that learning a new language can feel — metaphors and allusions make up the gap between the words we know and the words we're still learning.
Alaska
Sweet Home Alaska BY CAROLE ESTBY DAGG
It’s 1934, and in an effort to develop Alaska and improve lives during the Great Depression, President Roosevelt has offered farmer families the opportunity to start a new life in an Alaskan colony. Thirteen-year-old Terpsichore has grown up reading the Little House series and convinces her struggling family to seize the opportunity to start a new life where all her book-learned pioneer knowledge will prove to be a handy resource.
Arizona
Saving Lucas Biggs BY MARISA DE LOS SANTOS AND DAVID TEAGUE
When her father is sentenced to death (on the first page of the book!), 13-year-old Margaret uses her family’s ability to travel back in time through the history of her Arizona mining town to understand why Judge Lucas Biggs has targeted her father — and how she can change the past in order to return to a different future.
Arkansas
Where the Red Fern Grows BY WILSON RAWLS
Go into this story of Billy’s backwoods childhood and the two dogs who are his best friends knowing it’s a tear-jerker. Billy’s farm is in the Ozarks, which sprawl from Arkansas to Oklahoma and which remain a largely rural area even in the 21st century.
California
One Crazy Summer BY RITA WILLIAMS-GARCIA
It’s the summer of 1968, and three sisters from Alabama are spending it in Oakland, California with their artist mother. Their mother is more interested in her own life than in her kids and sends them off to a summer camp run by the Black Panthers. Williams-Garcia is at her best writing the relationship between the book’s three sisters, but she also conjures a vivid image of what life was like for northern California’s Black community during the 1970s.
Colorado
Father and I Were Ranchers BY RALPH MOODY
Flashback to turn-of-the-20th-century Colorado through the eyes of 8-year-old Ralph, who moves from New Hampshire with his family to start a “dirt ranch” in the Colorado foothills. Ralph learns how to be a rancher at his father’s side, and when the time comes, he’s ready to take over the work of ranching himself.
Connecticut
Night Of The Moonjellies BY MARK SHASHA
In this quiet picture book, 7-year-old Mark spends the day helping at his family’s hot dog stand at the Connecticut, and when night comes, he finds the perfect place to release the mysterious jelly creature he found on the way there.
Delaware
The Book of Unknown Americans BY CRISTINA HENRIQUEZ
Maribel’s family has a new home in a Delaware apartment block. They’ve immigrated from Mexico and everything they know, hoping that the United States will hold the cure for Maribel’s traumatic brain injury. Mayor Toro, the son of Panamanian immigrants living in the same complex, develops a deep relationship with Maribel, but the suspicion and uncertainty of immigrant life makes things complicated.
Florida
Chomp BY CARL HIAASEN
The Everglades are the latest destination for "Expedition Survival!," and Wahoo and his animal trainer dad have the increasingly difficult job of keeping the show’s clueless-about-animals star from getting mauled, maimed, or otherwise destroyed by the Florida swamp’s wildlife.
Georgia
Truth with a Capital T BY BETHANY HEGEDUS
Maebelle is crushed when she’s bumped out of her school’s gifted-and-talented program, and she’s counting on a summer at her grandparents’ antebellum Georgia mansion to cheer her up. Instead, she finds a talented cousin and a locked room mystery that only she can solve.
Hawaii
Night of the Howling Dogs BY GRAHAM SALISBURY
A Boy Scout camping trip on the Big Island goes awry when an earthquake strikes, causing a tsunami. Dylan and Louie team up in this adventure, which captures the beauty and danger of the Hawaiian wilderness and some of the nuances of Hawaiian culture and tradition. Amazingly, it's based on a true story that happened to a group of young campers in 1975.
Idaho
Walk Two Moons BY SHANNON CREECH
On a road trip with her grand- parents from Ohio to Idaho, 13-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle spins a story for her grandparents about the mysterious disappearance of her new friend’s mother. Sal is on her way to visit her own mother’s final resting place in Lewiston, Idaho, and her story spinning starts to intersect more and more with her own life.
Illinois
The Ambrose Deception BY EMILY ECTON
Chicago becomes a giant game board in this book about three middle schoolers competing for a mysterious scholarship that sends them around the city following cryptic clues to city landmarks. Of course, the shadowy figures behind the competition may be up to more than an innocent scavenger hunt.
Indiana
The Fault in Our Stars BY JOHN GREEN
When they aren’t on a quest to Amsterdam, Hazel and Gus call Indianapolis home: The action in these teen love-story-tearjerker takes place at 100 Acres at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Castleton Square Mall, Holiday Park... and Crown Hill Cemetery.
Iowa
Tomás and the Library Lady BY PAT MORA
In this warm picture book, a transplanted-from-Texas boy who has come with his family to do seasonal work finds his Iowa home at the library, where a kind librarian gives him books — but also compassion, support, and the occasional glass of cold water. (Tomás is based on the real-life Tomás Rivera, who would grow up to become the chancellor of the University of California at Riverside.)
Kansas
May B. BY CAROLINE STARR ROSE
In this novel-in-verse, 12-year- old May B.’s parents hire her out to a homesteading couple on the Kansas prairie. She’s already upset about missing months of school, where she struggles but dreams of becoming a teacher, and lonely without her family, when she realizes that she’s been abandoned, 15 miles from home with winter bearing down on her. As May’s story becomes a tale of survival and inner strength, this book takes its place with other 19th century pioneer stories like Little House on the Prairie and Hattie Big Sky, as a novel that captures the beauty and danger of the wild in the west.
Kentucky
Chasing Redbird BY SHARON CREECH
I usually try not to duplicate authors on my lists, but I’m making an exception for Sharon Creech and this heart- wrenching story about a girl coming to terms with the loss of two people she loved. The Kentucky woods — and an ancient trail she discovers in them — play an important role in Zinny’s story.
Louisiana
A Place Where Hurricanes Happen BY RENÉE WATSON
The mixed media illustrations and free-verse storytelling make this story of Hurricane Katrina compelling for young readers. Adrienne, Keesha, Michael, and Tommy have lived on the same street in New Orleans for their whole lives, but everything changes after the hurricane strikes. The kids’ perspective brings a fresh hopefulness to this true story.
Maine
Welcome Home or Someplace Like It BY CHARLOTTE AGELL
Aggie and Thorne are used to getting dropped off in random places by their writer-mother, so it’s no surprise when she leaves them with their estranged grandfather in the quirky hamlet of Ludwig, Maine. Aggie is surprised when this strange and temporary place starts to feel like home. (Bonus points to this book for highlighting that classic soda of Maine life: Moxie!)
Maryland
Dicey's Song BY CYNTHIA VOIGT
In this sequel to Homecoming, Dicey and her siblings find a home with their grandmother on a rundown farm on Chesapeake Bay. Dicey, who is used to carrying the responsibilities her mentally ill mother can’t handle, doesn’t know what to do with herself now that she is free to be a regular teenager.
Massachusetts
Make Way for Ducklings BY ROBERT MCCLOSKEY
Boston landmarks are the backdrop for this classic picture book about a family of ducks on their way to the Public Gardens.
Michigan
Bud, Not Buddy BY CHRISTOPHER PAUL CURTIS
Ten-year-old Bud is in Flint, Michigan on the trail of his long-lost father, who he’s convinced plays in a band whose posters he’s seen in his mom’s things. Depression-era Michigan is a tough place for a boy on the run, but Bud’s a tough boy, and he’s determined to change his life for the better.
Minnesota
Emily of Deep Valley BY MAUD HART LOVELACE
Unlike Lovelace’s other heroines, Emily is a loner without a big, busy family. Instead, she lives with her beloved grand- father, taking care of him and trying to model her life after her hero Jane Addams. In that spirit, she finds a surprising sense of connection and be- longing when she starts working with the growing population of Syrian immigrants in her neighborhood.
Mississippi
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry BY MILDRED D. TAYLOR
This book perfectly captures the racial tensions in 1930s Mississippi, which means it’s not always an easy book to read. Racism stinks. But the Logans are a caring, intelligent, inspiring family to spend some time with, and talking about racism with our kids is more important now than ever.
Missouri
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer BY MARK TWAIN
No one captures the small town, old-fashioned charm of childhood in rural Missouri the way Mark Twain does. Nobody likes Tom Sawyer, who’s all privilege and swagger, but it’s impossible not to enjoy his antics. Importantly, this book also captures some of the racism against Native Americans that permeated U.S. history, making it a great conversation starter for your family.
Montana
The Miseducation of Cameron Post BY EMILY DANFORTH
After her parents die in a car accident, still-in-the-closet Cam moves to Montana to live with her very old-fashioned grandmother and aunt. She’s determined to just blend in, but then she meets the cowgirl of her dreams, and she realizes that she doesn’t want to spend the rest of her life hiding who she really is.
Nebraska
Savvy BY INGRID LAW
Everyone in the Beaumont family has a superpower — Grandpa can move mountains. Fish can control the weather. And almost-13-year- old Mibs is about to discover her own superpower when word comes that her beloved Poppa has been in an accident. Mibs travels through the Nebraska countryside to reach her father, convinced that her still-to-be-revealed power can save him.
Nevada
Riding Freedom BY PAM MUÑOZ RYAN
Charlotte is supposed to be a proper Victorian-era young lady, but she’d rather just hang out with horses. After being raised in a boys’ orphanage, the idea of settling into the role of a young lady is enough to drive her to an inspired solution: She’ll disguise herself as a boy and run away to Nevada to become a horse rancher.
New Hampshire
The Enormous Egg BY OLIVER BUTTERWORTH
In Freedom, New Hampshire, a very unusual egg hatches into a baby dinosaur — and suddenly, the cozy little 1950s town is front-page news every- where. The little town of freedom is a picture-perfect flashback to the kind of small New England town that we still look back at nostalgically (even as we realize that it might not have actually existed for most people).
New Jersey
Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal BY G. WILLOW WILSON
Kamala’s parents are super-strict Muslim immigrants, but Kamala’s just your average Jersey City girl — until she walks into a strange mist and emerges with shape-shifting super powers.
New Mexico
Kepler's Dream BY JULIET BELL
While her mother is in the hospital receiving an experimental cancer treatment, Ella has to go stay with her buttoned-up, book-obsessed grandmother in Albuquerque. Ella’s not sure how she’ll survive the heat, the boredom, or the endless list of rules — much less worrying about what’s happening with her mom. Then a book disappears from her grandmother’s be- loved library, and Ella teams up with a new friend to solve the mystery and get her grandmother's book back.
New York
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street BY KARINA YAN GLASER
Five kids, two parents, and a host of pets call the first two floors of a Harlem brownstone home — and they can’t imagine living anywhere else. So when their landlord declines to renew their lease, Jessie, Isa, Oliver, Hyacinth, and Laney are determined to convince him that he’s making a big mistake. I love the way this book brings the small-town-in- a-big-city feel of Harlem to life.
North Carolina
Serafina and the Black Cloak BY ROBERT BEATTY
Serafina lives (secretly) in the basement of the Biltmore Estate with her grandfather, who is Vanderbilt family’s maintenance man. When children begin disappearing from the house, Serafina and her friend young Braeden Vanderbilt risk the perils of the surrounding forest to investigate — but the forest is full of secrets.
North Dakota
Apple In the Middle BY DAWN QUIGLEY
Apple is nonplussed to spend a summer on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation with her late mother’s family, but her dad doesn’t give her much of a choice. As Apple learns about her Native heritage — and comes to appreciate its emphasis on family, faith, nature, and humor — she also learns more about the mother she never knew and about herself.
Ohio
Unwind BY NEAL SHUSTERMAN
Ohio is the backdrop for this speculative fiction novel in which abortion is illegal but parents can “unwind” their teens’ lives between age 13 and 18 as long as their organs are donated to another person. Three kids scheduled to be unwound go on the lam across Ohio, determined to stay undercover until they turn 18 and can no longer be terminated.
Oklahoma
The Outsiders BY S.E. HINTON
The Greasers and the Socs face off in 1960s in Tulsa in this classic coming-of-age story about class, friendship, and hope. Teenage Ponyboy is a working class kid who gets caught up in the escalating violence between the city’s two socioeconomic factions. This was one of the first books to feature a teen protagonist with an authentic voice, and it’s been banned as often as it’s been praised since it was published.
Oregon
Roller Girl BY VICTORIA JAMIESON
Astrid’s roller derby team practices in Portland’s Oaks Park, and she’s determined to make her mark on the team, even though she’s not the best skater and even though her best friend doesn’t seem interested in being best friends anymore. This graphic novel charts a tough season in the life of a middle schooler, but Astrid’s persistence — and a little support from the people who love her — carries the day.
Pennsylvania
Maniac Magee BY JERRY SPINELLI
Jeffrey Magee achieves folk hero status in Two Mills, Pennsylvania, thanks to his amazing athletic abilities, but that doesn’t protect him from racism or the problems of growing up in poverty. This is an odd little book that bounces between slapstick and heartstring-tugging, but somehow, it all works.
Rhode Island
The Amazing Adventures of John Smith, Jr., a.k.a. Houdini BY PETER JOHNSON
John’s friends call him Houdini because he’s obsessed with magic, but he finds a new ob- session when an author visits his school in the rundown part of Providence. Houdini finds that his adventures with his friends make good literary fodder, but it’s harder to write about his dad’s job loss or his brother’s military PTSD.
South Carolina
Brown Girl Dreaming BY JACQUELINE WOODSON
The contrast between life as a young Black girl in 1960s in South Carolina and Brooklyn, New York, is the heart of this lyrical memoir in verse, based on Woodson’s own life. It’s simple enough to read with an elementary student, but it’s rich enough to be a rewarding read with a high schooler, too.
South Dakota
The Trickster and the Troll BY VIRGINIA DRIVING HAWK SNEVE
The cultural convergence is part of what makes North Dakota so interesting, and this picture book — featuring a Lakota trickster and a Norwegian troll — captures both. While trying to track down his recently immigrated family from Norway, a troll meets Iktomi, whose people have also gone missing.
Tennessee
A Snicker of Magic BY NATALIE LLOYD
There’s been no magic in Midnight Gulch, Tennessee, since the Brothers Threadbare left the town drained of magic and under a curse. Newcomer Felicity doesn't really care, though, since she’s never lived anywhere long enough to feel at home. But when she discovers an ability that suggests Midnight Gulch could be her real home, she’s determined to get to the roots of the town’s magical problem.
Texas
Love, Sugar, Magic: A Dash of Trouble BY ANNA MERIANO
Leo’s always getting told she’s too young to help with her family’s Rose Hill, Texas, bakery, but she’s thrilled when she accidentally discovers that her mom, aunt, and big sisters are all pastry brujas with the power to mix magic into everything they bake. Leo thinks that seems pretty cool — so cool that when her best friend comes to her with a problem, Leo decides to whip up a magical solution for her.
Utah
The Great Brain BY JOHN D. FITZGERALD
Tom — a.k.a. the Great Brain — and his brothers get up to all kinds of mischief in 1896, shortly after Utah officially joined the United States. The Great Brain isn’t a nice kid, exactly, but he’s a very entertain- ing one — and his stories paint a vivid picture of turn-of-the- 20th-century Utah.
Vermont
Witness BY KAREN HESSE
In this powerful novel-in-verse, 11 different characters tell the story of the year the Klu Klux Klan arrives in a small Vermont town, changing its in- habitants’ lives forever. Though the (true) story is set in 1924, readers will identify with the choice between fear and acceptance that permeated this book.
Virginia
Bridge to Terabithia BY KATHERINE PATERSON
Jess doesn’t love much about his life in rural Virginia until Leslie moves in next door and teaches him to see the world in new ways. This tearjerker classic about a boy and girl who imagine a magical world in the Virginia wilderness is a moving meditation on friendship, belonging, and identity.
Washington
Jackie's Wild Seattle BY WILL HOBBS
When their parents head overseas for the summer to work with Doctors Without Borders, Cody and Shannon stay in Seattle with their uncle, who drives the ambulance for a local wildlife rescue center. When their uncle is injured by a rescued hawk, the kids take over his job, and Seattle be- comes a backdrop for their animal adventures.
West Virginia
Shiloh BY PHYLLIS REYNOLDS NAYLOR
When Shiloh runs away from his abusive owner, Marty finds him and immediately knows the beagle is meant to be his dog. Marty's determined to keep Shiloh — and keep him safe — but in his rural West Virginia town, stealing someone else’s dog is something you shouldn’t do. Marty finds himself asking hard questions about what the right thing to do is when it feels like the rules should be broken.
Wisconsin
The Westing Game BY ELLEN RASKIN
A shiny new apartment building on the Wisconsin side of Lake Michigan is the setting for this classic mystery, in which an unconnected group of residents find they have a mystery in common. The millionaire Sam Westing has been murdered in his nearby mansion, and the resident who solves the mystery will inherit the Westing fortune.
Wyoming
My Friend Flicka BY MARY O’HARA
Ten-year-old Ken meets the untrained horse Flicka on his family’s horse ranch in Wyoming. As Ken trains Flicka, he gains confidence and comes to understand himself and his family better. The wildness and wide open spaces of Wyoming are almost a secondary character in the story.
This reading list was originally published in the fall 2019 issue of HSL.
A Mount Everest-Inspired Reading List
Mount Everest is a story in its own right, a mountain full of mystery, drama, and suspense. These books capture some of the thrills of the world’s highest mountain.
Mount Everest is a story in its own right, a mountain full of mystery, drama, and suspense. These books capture some of the thrills of the world’s highest mountain.
“Because it’s there.”
That’s the reason British climber George Mallory gave for his Mount Everest ascent attempt in 1924 — we don’t know whether he made it to the summit or not, but we know that it took 75 years to find his body, frozen in the snow on the legendary mountain’s north face.
There’s something about the world’s tallest mountain that makes it an irresistible challenge in spite of its many hazards — 381 climbing permits were issued by the summer of 2019, and 11 of those climbers died. Since it’s officially been a century since Sir Edmund Hillary became the first white man to make it to the summit of Everest and back down (assisted by 20 Sherpas led by Tenzing Norgay, who reached the summit with Hillary), this is the perfect time to add a little mountain adventure to your reading list.
Jon Krakauer brought Everest into pop culture with his memoir of the 1996 disaster in which climbers were stranded in a storm and eight people died. Krakauer points out the problem with Everest’s popularity: Too many inexperienced climbers can spell disaster when anything unexpected happens. But he also captures the thrill and drama of attempting the world’s highest peak with writing that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Steve Jenkins does a terrific job illuminating the specific challenges of an Everest expedition, from avalanches and frostbite, to extreme winds and limited oxygen. The cut paper illustrations, though, are the real star here, providing a detailed peek inside climbers’ backpacks, the area’s geography, and the mountain’s geology.
The sheer tension and beauty of the mountain climbing scenes are the highlight of this manga series about the lure and danger of Mount Everest. A photojournalist in 1990s Kathmandu discovers a camera that may have belonged to Mallory and sets off on an adventure to track down a contemporary daredevil climber and solve the mystery of Mallory’s attempt.
Gordon Korman's three-part adventure series would make more sense as a single book, but that fact aside, this is a gripping and suspenseful tale of four climbers competing to become to youngest person to successful scale Mount Everest. Naturally, there’s some natural disaster and sabotage to make things a little more complicated.
If you want to bring a little science into your Mount Everest studies, this volume delivers, giving a significant chunk of its attention to the effects of climate change on the world’s highest mountain.
Kids inspired by Everest will love the alphabetical breakdown of details in this guide by an Everest climber that includes plenty of details for the armchair climber (including gruesome details like what real-life frostbite looks like) and the can’t-wait-to-get-started enthusiast. (Start with the trees in your own backyard.)
(We’re Amazon affiliates, so if you purchase something through an Amazon link, we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Obviously this doesn’t influence what we recommend, and we link to places other than Amazon.) This was originally published in the summer 2019 issue of HSL.
It Came from the Search Terms: September
What were people searching for on HSL in September?
I’ve seen other bloggers round this up, and I always enjoy it, so I thought we might do it, too. Here’s what people have searched for that brought them to HSL in September — with comments that may point them in the right direction!
Hero’s Journey movies
So maybe people are finding what they’re looking for in this post, but there are lots more movies that reflect the stages of the hero’s journey. The Hobbit (even though it didn’t need to be split into three movies!) is a good one; see also:
The Lion King (which manages to be a hero’s journey narrative even though Hamlet — on which it’s loosely based — ISN’T really a hero’s journey narrative, which would totally be a fun thing to discuss with a high schooler)
O Brother Where Art Thou (which may be cheating a little since it’s based on The Odyssey, arguably the original hero’s journey)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the 1992 movie)
Geography books for middle school
In fact, I’m not sure books are the best tools for middle school geography. Books can be a great way to introduce geography to younger students — the Sleeping Press state books are really delightful, for example — and for digging into the nuances of geography with older students (How to Lie with Maps and The Map the Changed the World are fascinating options), but for middle school, I think doing trumps reading for studying geography. Obviously mapping places is part of this, but I love hands-on projects like clothesline geography, landscape in a box, and role-playing geography adventures like planning a climbing trip to Mount Everest.
Nature study curriculum
I’ve been reading a lot of Emerson and Thoreau lately, and I feel like they’ve illuminated a problem for me of secular homeschooling: Really nature-y nature study curricula get all religious about nature. I feel like some of that comes from this Emersonian notion that spending time in Nature (with a capital N) is necessarily a spiritual experience. So it’s maybe not surprising that a 100% secular nature study curriculum is hard to find. So here’s what I’d do — unless you just want to grab a copy of The Nature Connection, which isn’t a curriculum, but which has served as one for us for many years: Pick a topic each year, and dig into it together. One year, you might study bugs — hit the library for books, sign up for any bug-related classes at your local nature center, curate a collection of bug photos from your neighborhood, watch documentaries about bugs, build an ant farm, go on a bug hunt in your nearest green space every day — basically make thinking about bugs part of your regular routine. The next year you could tackle trees (and make a big leaf book, take bark rubbings, etc) or weather (build a barometer, measure your backyard rainfall, keep a sky chart, etc.). Instead of a curriculum, work on making nature study part of your routine, and develop in the directions that follow your child’s interest.
What did Vikings give each other as gifts?
I’m guessing people end up here because of our Norse mythology gift guide, but the answer to this question (which I had to research a little) proves to be pretty interesting. We think of Vikings as pillagers and plunderers, but gift-giving and hospitality were an important part of Viking culture, too. In The Tale of Audun from the West Fjords (an Icelandic saga that dates back to the 1200s C.E. in written form), Audun is given generous gifts by King Svien of Denmark, including the gold bracelet from his own arm. In Njáls saga (c.1280), King Harald of Denmark gives the warrior Gunnar some of his own clothes, a pair of embroidered gloves, and a “Russian hat.” What’s interesting is that in both these cases, we see two ideas that recur in Viking gift-giving: First up, gifts definitely come with strings attached — gifts are repayments for favors given or down payments on future favors. And second, the most meaningful gifts aren’t things you go out and procure, but things you own and love, making giving them to someone else a little bit of a sacrifice. That’s why so many gifts involve clothing and ornaments. So there you go.
(We’re Amazon affiliates, so if you purchase something through an Amazon link, we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Obviously this doesn’t influence what we recommend, and we link to places other than Amazon.)
A Note About Affiliate Links on HSL: HSL earns most of our income through subscriptions. (Thanks, subscribers!) We are also Amazon affiliates, which means that if you click through a link on a book or movie recommendation and end up purchasing something, we may get a small percentage of the sale. (This doesn’t affect the price you pay.) We use this money to pay for photos and web hosting. We use these links only if they match up to something we’re recommending anyway — they don’t influence our coverage. You can learn more about how we use affiliate links here.