I started this challenge on a whim because I thought it sounded fun and interesting. So during the course of my normal reading, I marked my list if the book I finished took place in a state I needed. This actually worked fine for half the states and then I decided that I wanted to actually finish the challenge. So I looked through books I had around the house that I hadn’t read to see how many I could find that worked for states I needed. This actually got me through 45 states. Then I had to go to the library to search for interesting books for the last five. So I was surprised that I did this challenge without much struggle, which goes to show that I am pretty well-rounded, geographically speaking!
And which books did I give 5 stars? Alabama, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Alabama: Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai
Alaska: Black Star, Bright Dawn, by Scott O’Dell
Arizona: Listening Woman, by Tony Hillerman
Arkansas: Philip Hall Likes Me, I Reckon Maybe, by Bette Greene
California: A Time of Troubles, by Pieter Van Raven
Colorado: The Secret School, by Avi
Connecticut: The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare
Delaware: The Unbearable Book Club for Unsinkable Girls, by Julie Schumacher
District of Columbia: Talking God, by Tony Hillerman
Florida: Turtle in Paradise, by Jennifer L. Holm
Georgia: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, by Beth Hoffman
Hawaii: Under the Blood-Red Sun, by Graham Salisbury
Idaho: Double Jeopardy, by Steve Roos
Illinois: Fair Weather, by Richard Peck
Indiana: A Girl Named Zippy, by Haven Kimmel
Iowa: A Thousand Acres, by Jane Smiley
Kansas: May B., by Caroline Starr Rose
Kentucky: The Coffin Quilt, by Ann Rinaldi
Louisiana: Keepsake Crimes, by Laura Childs
Maine: Like the Willow Tree, by Lois Lowry
Maryland: Stepping on the Cracks, by Mary Downing Hahn
Massachusetts: The Shape of Mercy, by Susan Meissner
Michigan: Bud, Not Buddy, by Christopher Paul Curtis
Minnesota: The Birchbark House, by Louise Erdrich
Mississippi: Mississippi Trial, 1955, by Chris Crowe
Missouri: The Shepherd of the Hills, by Harold Bell Wright
Montana: Dancing at the Rascal Fair, by Ivan Doig
Nebraska: Worth, by A. LaFaye
Nevada: Lost December, by Richard Paul Evans
New Hampshire: Nothing But the Truth, by Avi
New Jersey: The Fighting Ground, by Avi
New Mexico: The Fallen Man, by Tony Hillerman
New York: Two Suns in the Sky, by Miriam Bat-Ami
North Carolina: On Agate Hill, by Lee Smith
North Dakota: The Children’s Blizzard, by David Laskin
Ohio: Trouble Don’t Last, by Shelley Pearsall
Oklahoma: True Grit, by Charles Portis
Oregon: The River, by Mary Jane Beaufrand
Pennsylvania: The Wedding Quilt, by Jennifer Chiaverini
Rhode Island: Black Duck, by Janet Taylor Lisle
South Carolina: Death by Darjeeling, by Laura Childs
South Dakota: The Indian Agent, by Dan O’Brien
Tennessee: Eggs in Purgatory, by Laura Childs
Texas: Flygirl, by Sherri L. Smith
Utah: When the Emperor was Divine, by Julie Otsuka
Vermont: Witness, by Karen Hesse
Virginia: With the Might of Angels, by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Washington: A Turn in the Road, by Debbie Macomber
West Virginia: Miss Julia to the Rescue, by Ann B. Ross
Wisconsin: Ida B. . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World, by Katherine Hannigan
Wyoming: The Traitor, by Laurence Yep
Bonus Book: How the States Got Their Shapes, by Mark Stein
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