LM_NET: Library Media Networking
Many of you asked for a HIT of titles of elementary books that take place
in various states. Here's your HIT. I hope you find it helpful. Thanks
to all of you who helped.
Audrey
I would recommend Wiley and the Hairy Man (Alabama) by Judy Sierra. The
illustrations by Brian Pinkney are beautiful. Another version of the
story is done by Molly Bang. These books would be appropriate for the
reading levels that you mention.
***
I have a book in my library (Cassie: The Girl with the Hero's Heart) that is
historical fiction about a Maryland farm girl living minutes from Antietam,
Maryland during the Civil War. It was written by the girl's distant
relative, author Myrtle Long Haldeman.
Publisher:Review and Herald Publishing Association
Hagerstown, Md.21740
Date:1997
Grade Level: High 4th and up
***
Here's one from Arizona:
The Righteous Revenge of Artemis Bonner
Walter Dean Myers
Pub: Harper Collins
1992
***
Gloria Whelan has a couple of historical fiction books at an easy
reading level (2.0-2.5?), but I can only remember the title of one of them:
Next Spring an Oriole. I'm sure there is a second. They are set in
Michigan. I'm not sure of the exact time period either, but it's during
pioneer days.
***
Molly's Pilgrim and Make a Wish Molly both by Barbara Cohen are easier
novels that take place in NJ.
***
Alabama - There's always 13 ALABAMA GHOSTS AND JEFFREY, by Katherine
Tucker Windham; and several books about prehistoric Alabama Indians
(IKWA OF THE MOUND BUILDER INDIANS, & CHARM OF THE BEAR CLAW NECKLACE)
by Margaret Searcy; The Watsons go to Birmingham 1963, by Christopher
Paul Curtis. The Alabama Angels & The Alabama Angels in Anywhere, L.A
(lower Alabama) by Mary Barwick; One Big Front Porch/ Katherine Tucker
Windham. Mighty Close To Heaven/Faye Gibbons; Wiley and the Hairy Man /
Molly Bang Garrett
Alaska - JULIE OF THE WOLVES and the sequel JULIE by George; WATER SKY
ALASKA (DON'T KNOW THE AUTHOR) THE SECRET MOOSE by Rogers; GOING FOR THE
BIG ONE by Petersen; PRINCE WILLIAM by Rand; GENTLE BEN by Morey;
Alaska's Three Bears/Shelly Gill; Polar Bear Journey and Caribou Journey
are both by Debbie Miller. Raven and River by Nancy White Carlstrom,
and The Sleeping Lady by Ann Dixon. Jack London's Call of the Wild.
Arizona - One book that takes place in Arizona is by an Arizonan, Don
Schellie. It's called Me, Cholay, & Co. : Apache Warriors. *Sing Down
the Rain* by Judy Moreillon (who is a school librarian). It is set on
the Tohono O'Odam reservation right outside Tucson.
California - CAT RUNNING by Snyder; Eight Mules From Monterey (author?)
Delaware - _Come Morning_ by Leslie Davis Guccione, a graduate of
Wilmington Friends School, is set in Wilmington and the nearby PA
countryside. The plot revolves around the help given runaway slaves by
free blacks and Quakers. When 12-year-old Free's father is taken
captive by bountyhunters, he is left to ferry the runaways across the
border to freedom, a job much more challenging than he had ever
anticipated.
Florida - Missing Gator of Gumbo Limbo by Jean Craighead George
Georgia - TURN HOMEWARD HANNALEE by Beatty; IDA EARLY series by Burch;
Robert Burch wrote a book named "Queenie" and Doris Buchanan Smith wrote
"Blackberry Summer."BIG WORDS by Engel; A MONTH OF SEVEN DAYS by Climo;
Georgia Music by Stevenson
Illinois - Running for Our Lives by Glennette Tilley Turner is about
escaping slaves and the Undergrounsd RR; CASSIE'S JOURNEY by Harvey
(this one starts in Illinois, where Cassie's family joins a wagon
train); Marion Bauer's On My Honor in which two boys take off beyond
their parents' limits. One dies in an Illinois River, and the friend has
to deal with the guilt of his loss. Irene Hunt's historical novel Across
Five Aprils; AbeLincoln Grows up or Prairie town boy by Carl Sandburg
Louisiana - Bill Wallace's Blackwater Swamp is set in the bayou and is a
wonderful book. Students love it! The ghost of Bayou Tigre by Mary
Alice Fontenot. The story of a young girl in South Louisiana who is
visiting relatives in the country and learns many of the customs
particular to this area.
Maine - WINTER BARN by Parnall; SIGN OF THE BEAVER by Speare; WORRY WEEK
by Lindbergh; BLUEBERRIES FOR SAL and TIME OF WONDER BURT DOW:
DEEP-WATER MAN, ONE MORNING IN MAINE by McCloskey; Donn Fendler: Lost
on a mountain in Maine. As told to Joseph B. Egan ISBN 0912274603 This
is a true story of a boy who was lost on Katahdin in 1939 for 9 days.=20
by Barbara Cooney - MISS RUMPHIUS, and ISLAND BOY. by Cherie Mason -
WILD FOX (winner of the annual Lupine Award, which was created in honor
of Barbara Cooney's Miss Rumphius); by Lew Dietz - THE STORY OF ANDRE
and A SEAL CALLED ANDRE (w/Harry Goodridge); by Ethel Pochocki - A PENNY
FOR A HUNDRED; Grass and Sky by Lisa Fraustino is set at a camp on a
lake in northern Maine. It deals with environmental issues as well as
family communication between generations. The Original Freddie Ackerman_
by Hadley Irwin is set on Deer Isle? Or Blue Isle? Look for Me by
Moonlight_ by Mary Downing Hahn takes place at an inn on the coast. This
is a great story about a girl who moves to Maine to live with her
father and stepmother. They run an inn on the coast of Maine. It is
winter and desolate and there are no visitors at the inn - until a dark,
entrancing and mysterious stranger arrives who turns out to be a
vampire! It's a great story!
Maryland - HEY-EY-EY, LOCK, ADVENTURE ON THE C&O CANAL by Fradin
Minnesota - THE WINTER ROOM by Paulsen; KIRSTEN series by Shaw; ON THE
BANKS OF PLUM CREEK by Wilder; Hassler, Six Miles to Pinecone (YA);
Hassler, Grand Opening; Anything else by Jon Hassler; Mary Higgins Clark
novel set in Minnesota is "A Cry in the Night."Our most well-known
Minnesota setting books are those by Maud Hart Lovelace. They are the
BETSY-TACY, BETSY, TACY, AND TIB, etc. books set in a small town in the
early 20th century. Don=92t forget our own local author (and personal
friend) Gary Paulsen. (Winter Room, Tracker) Marion Dane Bauer - A Taste
of Smoke; Jane Resh Thomas - Courage at Indian Deep; Hassler, John -
Jemmy, Four Miles to Pinecone; Bowen, Betsy - Antler, Bear, Canoe;
Tracks in the Northwoods Barbara Esbenson has written, LADDER TO THE
SKY: HOW THE GIFT OF HEALING CAME TO THE OJIBWAY NATION which is a
32-pager with pictures. Will Weaver has a good book out for grades 5
and up called STRIKING OUT set in northern Minnesota.
Mississippi - THE FRIENDSHIP and LET THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN Mississippi
Bridge; Song of the Trees; Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry; by Taylor;
MISSISSIPPI POSSUM by Miles; Good Old Boy by Willie Morris or Good By My
Lady by James Street
Nevada - Dragon's Gate by Laurence Yep. This story is about a Chinese
immigrant who works on the transcontinental railroad in Nevada.
New Hampshire - MISS HICKORY by Bailey; A GATHERING OF DAYS by Blos
Picture books: Old Home Day, by Donald Hall, w/ pictures by the McCully
who did the Caldecott-winning Mirette ( a must-have for the library!)
Lucy's Summer and Lucy's Christmas, by Donald Hall (about his
grandmother's girlhood in Danbury); Ox-Cart Man by D. Hall; also a
picture book about his boyhood summers in the early '40's on his
grandmother's NH farm --can't remember exact title); Pianna, by Mary Lyn
Ray; Easy historical Fiction: Hannah's Fancy Notions, by Pat Ross.=20
Gathering of Days by Joan Bloss.
New Jersey - This time, Tempe Wick by Gauch is set in NJ, based on a
real life spunky New Jersey girl during the Revolution, who hid her
horse in her bedroom from both the Americans and the British.
New Mexico - AND NOW MIGUEL by Krumgold; Billy by Laura Roybal. This a
story about a teenager named Billy who lives in New Mexico with his
father and discovers that he was actually kidnapped by his father from
his adoptive parents. The one who came back by Joann Mazzio
This is the story of two best friends who go hiking in the mountains of
New Mexico and only one of them returns. There is much speculation as
to what happened to the other boy and the one who came back is blamed
for his disappearance. New Mexico try Kokopelli's Flute by Will Hobbs.
The Illinois state contender for the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book
Award Contest has the main character discovering an old flute in a cliff
dwelling. Through its power he discovers experience with ancient Native
American magic. Farolitos of Christmas by Rudolfo Anaya;
Grandmother's Adobe Dollhouse by Marylou Smith
North Dakota - BY THE SHORES OF SILVER LAKE by Wilder; Sacagawea:
Indian Guide by Wyatt Blassingame published by Garrard Publising Co.,
1965. Under This Roof by Borghild Dahl; Dutton; 1961 (about a Norwegian
ND prairie family in which a young girl must act as head of the
household after the mother dies.) The Snowbird by Patricia Calvert; New
American Library; 1982. (One of 1980's Best Books for Young Adults
chosen by the American Library Assn. This book is set in Dakota
Territory in 1883 and involves the relationship between an orphaned
teenager and her silverwhite foal, Snowbird. Boots and Saddles by Mrs.
Elizabeth Custer; Oklahoma Press, 1961(pro-Custer account of life in
Dakota Territory by Custer's wife who describes life at Ft. Abraham
Lincoln); Marquis de Mores: Emperor of the Bad Lands by Donald Dresden;
U of Oklahoma Press; 1970; The Lawrence Welk Story by A. Govoni; Simon
& Schuster; 1966(young adult nonfiction about Welk's life); Wings Over
Alaska by Edward Herron; Englewood Cliffs; 1959 (biography of Carl Ben
Eielson who soared to fame as a pioneer of Alaskan aviation and air mail
service); White Buffalo by Lyla Hoffine; Longmans, Green & Co; 1939=20
(story about the Teton Sioux); The Bones of Plenty by Lois Phillips
Hudson; Minnesota Historical Society Press; 1984 (absorbing novel about
a proud, independent North Dakota wheat-farming family and its struggles
during the Depression); Reapers of the Dust: A Prairie Chronicle by
Lois Phillips Hudson; Little, Brown; 1964 (short stories); Prairie
School by Lois Lenski; J.B. Lippincott Co; 1951 (story of the Great
Blizzard of 1949); Gopher Tails for Papa; Lanterns Over the
Prairies--Books I and II; Boy From Johnny Butte; Stone Johnny School;
The Tiger-Lily Year. These books are all by Erling Rolfsrud and
published by Lantern Books in Alexandria, MN. Medora by Zdena Trinka;
First Award Books; 1948 (about the Marquis de Mores. Trinka is one of
ND's most noted and famous authors.) Teddy, Saga of the Badlands by
Zdena Trinka; International Books;1958 (period of Theodore Roosevelt's
life spent in ND); Out Where the West Begins by Zdena Trinka; Pioneer
Company; 1920. (early romantic history of ND); Beyond the Bedroom Wall
by Larry Woiwode; Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1975 (novel about the lives
of three generations of the Neumiller family in North Dakota and
Illinois areas);The Checkered Years by Mary Dodge Woodward; Cass Co.
Historical Society; ND (diaries of the Bonanza Farms of early
ND) American Daughter by Era Bell Thompson; Chicago Press; 1946
(autobiography devoted mostly to her ND experience as a minority)
Oklahoma -Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. Story is set
during the Depression and tells from a boy's earnest desire to obtain
two hunting dogs to the responsiblity and care they give each other.
Ohio - Weasel by Cynthia De Felice; The Borning Room by Paul Fleischman
BELLS OF CHRISTMAS by Hamilton; Walk two moons by Creech. Story starts
in Ohio. Out of the storm by Patricia Willis; M.C. Higgins the great
by Virginia Hamilton; Dr. Gravity by Dennis Haseley
Oregon - most of Beverly Cleary=92s books (Ramona and Henry live on
Klickitat St. in Portland); Avi=92s The Barn; Evelyn Sybil lampham wrote
many books with Oregon settings. =20
Pennsylvania -Night Journeys by Avi. Set in the late 1770's, it is the
story of two young indentured servants who make their escape with the
help of Quakers in Bucks County. TROUBLE AT THE MINES by Rappaport.=20
Rosie and her family are caught up in the Arnot, PA mining strike of
1899-1900 led by Mother Jones. BEYOND THE DIVIDE by Lasky. Starts in
Pa in 1849, with an Amish girl who leaves behind the rest of her family
to go west with her father who JUST PLAIN FANCY by Polacca. An Amish
girl is horrifies when a hen egg hatches into a fancy bird. The Cabin
Faced West by Jean Fritz; Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (set in the
Philadelphia area); I am Regina by Sally Keehn (settler taken captive
by Native Americans); Maggie Among the Seneca by Robin Moore (same
idea); The Bread Sister of Sinking Creek by Robin Moore (Pennslyvania
settlers); The Cherry Tree Buck by Robin Moore (animal stories from
Central PA); The story of Punxsutawney Phil by Julia S. Moutran=20
(Groundhog Day)=20
South Dakota - You can get a feel for our state's history by reading
Laura Ingalls Wilder's book "Little town on the prairie". The little
town referred to in the title is De Smet, SD, which is 9 miles from my
own home town of Lake Preston. De Smet holds an outdoor pageant every
summer based on incidents from one of Laura's books. There is also a
museum and a walking tour of places in the town which are referred to in
her book. Be sure to stop and visit us if you come to our part of the
midwest! By the Shores of Silver Lake, LONG WINTER, HAPPY GOLDEN YEARS,
THE FIRST FOUR YEARS by Wilder; THE CAVE by Karr; Black-eyed Susan by
Jennifer Armstrong; My prairie year, by Brett Harvey; the Addie stories
by Laurie Lawlor; Hugh Glass, Mountain Man, by Robert McClung
Texas - Don't scream by Joan Lowery Nixon--Another excellent mystery
that takes place in Texas - quite a lot of setting description.
Utah - THE GREAT BRAIN series by Fitzgerald
West Virginia - MISSING MAY by Rylant; SLOPES OF WAR by Perez; SHILOH by
Naylor; Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars
Wyoming - My Friend Flicka_ and _The Green Grass of Wyoming_by Mary
O'Hara; Dangerous Ground_ by Gloria Skurzynski; Red Dog_ by Bill
Wallace; Jenny of the Tetons_ by Kristiana Gregory; The Absolutely True
Story of How I Visited Yellowstone...."_by Willow Davis
Roberts =20
The Virginian_ by Owen Wister; And, much of _Little Big Man_ by Thomas
Berger
***
Here are a few delightful picture books aboout the southwest and New
Mexico:
Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport
by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, Byron Barton
Reading level: Ages 4-8
School & Library Binding - 32 pages (April 1983)
Simon & Schuster (J); ISBN: 0027824500 ; Dimensions
(in inches): 0.33 x 8.21 x 10.20
The Farolitos of Christmas
by Rudolfo Anaya, Edward Gonzales (Illustrator)
Library Binding Reprint edition (December 1995)
Hyperion (J); ISBN: 0786820470
Reviews
From Booklist , 09/15/95
Ages 5^-9. Richly colored full-page paintings show
a lovingly individualized Chicano family that is
part of a New Mexico community in the open
landscape under the starlit winter sky. Anaya's upbeat
story, first published in a magazine in 1987,
focuses on Luz, a young girl whose father, wounded in
World War II, hasn't come home yet. Her sick
grandfather is not strong enough to cut the logs for
the traditional luminarias (small bonfires), so Luz
and her Indian friend Reina from a nearby pueblo
find a way to make farolitos (lighted candles in
paper bags weighted with sand) to light the way for
the Christmas pilgrims. The Spanish words are a
natural part of the narrative (they're explained in a
glossary at the back), and if the plot's contrived
(Dad returns home just in time), the image of the
path of light is touching and beautiful. Hazel
Rochman
Grandmother's Adobe Dollhouse
by Ann Blackstone
Our Price: $8.95 + $0.84 special surcharge
Hardcover - 32 pages 1 edition (February 1, 1998)
Route 66 Publishing Ltd.; ISBN: 0964429349
***
Here's a title about Texas:
A Paradise Called Texas by Janice Jordan Shefelman (125 pp.) (4-5th gr.
level)
Historical fiction set in 1845 about immigration from Germany to Texas. We
have many German communities in Texas. This book is required reading in
many 4th grade classrooms around the state. Historically accurate and well
written. Short glossary of German words included. Available from Follett.
(Great book about immigration in the 1800s, irregarless of the state.)
Audrey Glick, LMS
ON HIATUS
Worthington, Ohio
aglick@columbus.rr.com
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