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Travel Reads: Selecting Books for Family Vacations

Author: Jacquelyn E. Siminitus 

Before you head off on your next vacation, remember to pack a book. Whether you're headed for the beach or a national landmark, your family can read books related to your itinerary. Here are some great books—organized by setting—that your family can read before your trip, while traveling, or even once you arrive.  Enjoy!

American Regions

Middle Atlantic States (New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania)

• New Jersey – This Time, Tempe Wick? by Patricia Lee Gauch. This story is based on a spunky, real-life girl named Tempe Wick who hid her horse in her bedroom from both the Americans and the British during the Revolutionary War.
• New Jersey – Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen. Molly immigrates with her mother from Russia to New Jersey and learns about birthday parties and friends. "Molly's Pilgrim" refers to Molly being asked to make a doll like a pilgrim for the Thanksgiving display at school. Molly is embarrassed when her Jewish mother dresses the doll as she herself dressed before leaving Russia for religious freedom.
• New Jersey – Make a Wish, Molly by Barbara Cohen
• New York – The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden. Harry Cat and Tucker Mouse, buddies since birth, befriend a talented country cricket who comes to New York City's Times Square train station by accident (in a picnic basket). Once you've read this story, you'll want to read the other books available about these characters. 
• New York – From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg (Newbery Award Winner). Claudia goes with her brother to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City where they hide for a week. To pass the time, they try to determine if a marble statue was actually scultped by Michaleangelo. 
• New York – In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord. Shirley Temple Wong sails from China to her new home in Brooklyn, New York. She finds America to be a land of wonders, but she doesn't know English or understand American customs. By listening to the radio as the Brooklyn Dodgers try to win the baseball pennant, she begins to learn English and win friends. 
• New York – The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (Classic)
• New York – Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving (Classic)
• New York – Leatherstocking Tales such as The Last of the Mohicans and The Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper. These are stories about pioneers in the Sesquehanna River area. 
• New York – Anastasia series by Lois Lowery
• New York – Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile series by Bernard Waber
• New York – The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
• New York – Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold. A story about a young girl who dreams of flying above her Harlem home. 
• New York – The Adventures of Taxi Dog by Debra Barracca. A story about the adventures of a stray dog in New York City who is adopted by a taxi driver.
• New York – Pamela's First Musical by Wendy Wasserstein. Pamela has the best birthday ever when her glamorous Aunt Louise takes her to a Broadway musical. 
• Pennsylvania – Just Plain Fancy by Patricia Polacco. Naomi, an Amish girl finds an unusual egg that hatches into a fancy bird (a peacock). A fun story about Amish life.
• Pennsylvania – Night Journeys by Avi. Set in the late 1770s, this story is about two young indentured servants who make their escape with the help of Quakers in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
• Pennsylvania – Trouble at the Mines by Donna Rappaport. Rosie and her family are caught up in the Arnot, Pennsylvania mining strike of 1899-1900 led by union organizer Mother Jones. 
• Pennsylvania – Beyond the Divide by Kathryn Lasky. This story begins in Pennsylvania in 1849, with a 14-year-old Amish girl who leaves behind the rest of her family to go west by wagon train with her father.
• Pennsylvania – The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz
• Pennsylvania – Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (Newbery Award Winner). After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary as he accomplishes athletic and other feats. Set in the Philadelphia area.
• Pennsylvania – I am Regina by Sally Keehn. A story about a 10-year-old girl named Regina who is taken captive by Native American Indians in Western Pennsylvania. She struggles to hold on to memories of her earlier life as she grows up under her new name of Tskinnak. 
• Pennsylvania – Maggie Among the Seneca by Robin Moore
• Pennsylvania – The Bread Sister of Sinking Creek by Robin Moore
• Pennsylvania – The Cherry Tree Buck by Robin Moore
• Pennsylvania – The Story of Punxsutawney Phil by Julia S. Moutran. This story is about Groundhog Day. After helping his family prepare their burrow for the winter and joining them for a long nap beneath the cold Pennsylvania snow, Punxsutawney Phil emerges on Groundhog Day to predict the weather. 

Midwestern States (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin)

• Illinois – Running for Our Lives by Glennette Tilley Turner. This story is about escaping slaves and the Underground Railroad.
• Illinois – Cassie's Journey by Brett Harvey. This story begins in Illinois, where Cassie's family joins a wagon train.
• Illinois – On My Honor by Marion Bauer. Two boys take off beyond their parents' limits. One boy dies in an Illinois river, and his friend deals with the guilt of his loss.
• Illinois – Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt. Historical fiction set during the Civil War. 
• Illinois – Abe Lincoln Grows Up by Carl Sandburg 
• Illinois – Prairie Town Boy by Carl Sandburg
• Michigan – Next Spring an Oriole by Gloria Whelan. In 1837,
  10-year-old Libby and her parents journey by covered wagon to the Michigan frontier where they build a new home near friendly Indians and other pioneers. 
• Minnesota – The Winter Room by Gary Paulsen. A young boy grows up on a northern Minnesota farm.
• Minnesota – Kirsten series by Janet Beeler Shaw (American Girls Collection)
• Minnesota – On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Laura Ingalls and her family move to Minnesota.
• Minnesota – Six Miles to Pinecone by Jon Hassler
• Minnesota – Grand Opening and anything else by Jon Hassler (Adult Fiction)
• Minnesota – A Cry in the Night by Mary Higgins Clark (Adult Fiction)
• Minnesota – Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace. These books, and the author's Tacy and Tib books, are set in a small town in the early 20th century.
• Minnesota – A Taste of Smoke by Marion Dane Bauer
• Minnesota – Courage at Indian Deep by Jane Resh Thomas
• Minnesota – Antler, Bear, Canoe by Betsy Bowen  
• Minnesota – Ladder to the Sky: How the Gift of Healing Came to the Ojibway Nation by Barbara Esbensen
• Minnesota – Under This Roof by Borghild Dahl; E.P. Dutton Publishers. Set in Minnesota during the turn of the 20th century. A young girl tries to keep her family together after the death of her parents.
• Minnesota – Striking Out by Will Weaver. A good book set in northern Minnesota. Thirteen-year-old Billy Baggs starts to overcome the grief of loosing his brother once he starts playing baseball.
• Nebraska – My Antonia by Willa Cather. A young man tells a story about a Bohemian woman named Antonia, his childhood friend and neighbor on the Nebraska prairie. She survives poverty and other adversities, triumphing in the end. (Young Adult Fiction, Adult, Classic)
• North Dakota – By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Laura and her family travel to the Dakota Territory, hoping to own their own land. 
• North Dakota – Sacagawea: Indian Guide by Wyatt Blassingame
• North Dakota – The Snowbird by Patricia Culvert. Set in the Dakota Territory in 1883, the story involves the relationship between an orphaned teenager and her silverwhite foal, Snowbird. (One of 1980's Best Books for Young Adults chosen by the American Library Association.)
• North Dakota – Boots and Saddles by Mrs. Elizabeth Custer. This is a pro-Custer account of life in the Dakota Territory by General Custer's wife who describes life at Fort Abraham Lincoln.
• North Dakota – Marquis de Mores: Emperor of the Bad Lands by Donald Dresden
• North Dakota – Medora by Zdena Trinka (First Award Books; 1948). A story about the Marquis de Mores, a Badlands rancher, adventurer, and gunslinger who challenged Theodore Roosevelt to a duel.
• North Dakota – Teddy, The Saga of the Badlands by Zdena Trinka; International Books;1958. A story about a period in Theodore Roosevelt's life spent in North Dakota.
• North Dakota – Out Where the West Begins by Zdena Trinka. An early romantic history of North Dakota.
• North Dakota – The Lawrence Welk Story by Albert Govani; Simon & Schuster Publishers; 1966. (Young Adult Nonfiction)
• North Dakota – Wings Over Alaska by Edward Herron; Englewood Cliffs Publishers; 1959. A biography of Carl Ben Eielson, a pioneer of Alaskan aviation and air mail service.
• North Dakota – White Buffalo by Lyla Hoffine. A story about the Teton Sioux Indians. 
• North Dakota – The Bones of Plenty by Lois Phillips Hudson; Minnesota Historical Society Press; 1984. An absorbing novel about the members of a proud, independent North Dakota wheat-farming family and their struggles during the Depression.
• North Dakota – Reapers of the Dust: A Prairie Chronicle by Lois Phillips Hudson; Little, Brown Publishers; 1964. (Short Stories)
• North Dakota – Prairie School by Lois Lenski; J.B. Lippincott Co; 1951. A story about the Great Blizzard of 1949.
• North Dakota – Gopher Tails for Papa by Erling Rolfsrud; Lantern Books Publishers; Alexandria, MN
• North Dakota – Lanterns Over the Prairies Books I and II, by Erling Rolfsrud; Lantern Books Publishers; Alexandria, MN
• North Dakota – Boy From Johnny Butte by Erling Rolfsrud; Lantern Books Publishers; Alexandria, MN
• North Dakota – Stone Johnny School by Erling Rolfsrud; Lantern Books Publishers; Alexandria, MN
• North Dakota – The Tiger-Lily Years by Erling Rolfsrud; Lantern Books Publishers; Alexandria, MN
• North Dakota – Beyond the Bedroom Wall by Larry Woiwode; Farrar Publishers; 1975. A novel about the lives of three generations of the Neumiller family in North Dakota and Illinois.
• North Dakota – The Checkered Years by Mary Dodge Woodward. Diaries of the bonanza farms of early North Dakota.
• North Dakota – American Daughter by Era Bell Thompson; Chicago Press; 1946. An autobiography about the experiences of an African-American woman in North Dakota.
• Ohio – Weasel by Cynthia De Felice. While his father recovers from an injury, 12-year-old Nathan is alone in the frontier wilderness in the winter of 1839. He runs afoul of renegade killer "Weasel."
• Ohio – The Borning Room by Paul Fleischman. At the end of her life, lying in bed in the room in which she was born in 1851, Georgina remembers what it was like growing up on the Ohio frontier. 
• Ohio – Bells of Christmas by Virginia Hamilton
• Ohio – M.C. Higgins the Great by Virginia Hamilton (Newbery Award Winner). An African-American boy learns about his family, heritage, and himself when a mudslide threatens his family and home. 
• Ohio – Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This is the first book in a series about the adventures of Laura Ingalls and her family, who were among the early pioneers of the American West. (Classic)
• Ohio – Dr. Gravity by Dennis Haseley (Science Fiction) 
• South Dakota – Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The little town referred to in the title is De Smet, South Dakota, which is nine miles from Lake Preston.
• South Dakota – The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• South Dakota – Hugh Glass, Mountain Man by Robert McClung
• South Dakota – The Cave by Kathleen Karr
• South Dakota – Black-Eyed Susan by Jennifer Armstrong
• South Dakota – My Prairie Year by Brett Harvey
• South Dakota – Any of the Addie stories by Laurie Lawlor

New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont)

• Connecticut – Any of the Baby-Sitters Club books by Ann Martin 
• Maine – Winter Barn by Peter Parnall. A dilapidated old barn shelters a wide variety of animals while they await the first signs of spring. 
• Maine – Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare. Left alone to guard his family's wilderness home in 18th-century Maine, a boy struggles to survive until befriended by local Indians. 
• Maine – The Worry Week by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
• Maine – Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. The author is also known for writing Make Way for Ducklings.
• Maine – Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey
• Maine – Burt Dow: Deep-Water Man by Robert McCloskey
• Maine – One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
• Maine – Donn Fendler: Lost on a Mountain in Maine as told to Joseph B. Egan. This is a true story of a boy who was lost for nine days on Katahdin Mountain in 1939. 
• Maine – Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. A little girl named Alice Rumphius grows into an old woman. She recalls advice her grandfather gave her about how to live a good and meaningful life.
• Maine – Island Boy by Barbara Cooney. "Island Boy" Matthais grows from a small boy to a grandfather on a small island off New England.
• Maine – Wild Fox by Cherie Mason (Winner of the annual Lupine Award, which was created in honor of Barbara Cooney's Miss Rumphius.)
• Maine – Andre by Lew Dietz and Harry Goodridge
• Maine – A Seal Called Andre by Lew Dietz and Harry Goodridge
• Maine – A Penny For a Hundred by Ethel Pochocki
• Maine – Grass and Sky by Lisa Fraustino. This story, set at a camp on a lake in northern Maine, deals with environmental issues as well as family communication between generations. Eleven-year-old Timmi misses a big baseball tournament to spend her summer in Maine with her grandfather. She discovers another side of this seemingly aloof man. 
• Maine – The Original Freddie Ackerman by Hadley Irwin. Twelve-year-old Trevor Frederick Ackerman refuses to spend another summer with his extended family. Instead, he goes to Maine to stay with two eccentric great aunts, and he gets involved in a mystery.
• Maine – Look for Me by Moonlight by Mary Downing Hahn. This is a great story about 16-year-old Cynda who moves to Maine to live with her father and stepmother where they run a reputedly haunted inn. It is winter, desolate, and there are no visitors at the inn—until a dark, entrancing, and mysterious stranger arrives. Of course, he turns out to be a vampire!
• New Hampshire – Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey (Newbery Award Winner) 
• New Hampshire – A Gathering of Days by Joan Blos (Newbery Award Winner). The journal of a 14-year-old New England girl. She writes about the last year she lived on her family's farm and the events in her small New Hampshire town.
• New Hampshire – Old Home Day by Donald Hall. This story records the growth of a New Hampshire village from pre-history to the bicentennial celebration of its founding. (Art work by Emily McCully who illustrated the Caldecott-winning Mirette series.)
• New Hampshire – Lucy's Summer by Donald Hall. This story is about the childhood of the author's grandmother in Danbury.
• New Hampshire – Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall. A picture book about the author's boyhood summers in the early 1940s on his grandmother's New Hampshire farm.
• New Hampshire – Lucy's Christmas by Donald Hall
• New Hampshire – Pianna by Mary Lyn Ray. In this historical fiction picture book, Ana learns to play the piano and continues to play all her life.
• New Hampshire – Hannah's Fancy Notions by Pat Ross

Northwest and Alaska (Oregon, Washington, Alaska)

• Alaska – Prince William by Gloria Rand. Denny rescues a baby seal from an oil spill. 
• Alaska – Alaska's Three Bears by Shelley Gill 
• Alaska – Raven and River by Nancy White Carlstrom. Raven and other animals awaken the frozen river for the coming of spring.
• Alaska – Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (Newbery Award Winner). Julie, a 13-year-old Eskimo girl runs away from an unwanted marriage. On her journey across the Alaskan tundra, she befriends a pack of wolves. Finally, she must decide whether to return to civilization or remain on her own. Julie and Julie's Wolf Pack complete the three-book series.
• Alaska – Water Sky by Jean Craighead George. A boy goes to Barrow, Alaska, to live with friends of his father. While there, he learns the importance of whaling to the native people.
• Alaska – The Secret Moose by Jean Rogers. A young boy living in Alaska secretly helps care for an injured moose.
• Alaska – Gentle Ben by Walt Morey. A friendship develops between a boy and a bear in the rugged Alaskan Territory. 
• Alaska – A Polar Bear Journey by Debbie Miller
• Alaska – Caribou Journey by Debbie Miller
• Alaska – The Sleeping Lady by Ann Dixon. A folk-legend about Alaska's first snowfall and the origins of Mount Susitna.
• Alaska – Call of the Wild by Jack London. The adventures of an unusual dog, part St. Bernard and part Scotch Sheperd, that is kidnapped, winds up in the Yukon Territory, and becomes the leader of a wolf pack.
• Alaska – Going for the Big One by P.J. Petersen. Left penniless, three young siblings set out on a dangerous trek over the mountains to a town where they once lived.
• Oregon – Ramona by Beverly Cleary. This book is part of a beloved series. Other books include: Ramona the Pest, Ramona the Brave, and Henry and the Paper Route.
• Oregon – The Barn by Avi. In an effort to fulfill their dying father's last request, 9-year-old Ben, his brother, and sister build a barn on their land in Oregon Territory.
• Oregon – Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey. A logging family struggles against a union strike. (Adult Fiction)
• Washington – Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. A  mystery about Japanese-Americans before, during, and after World War II. (Adult Fiction)

Rocky Mountain States (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming)

• Colorado – Centennial by James Michener. Frontier and pioneer life. (Adult Fiction)
• Nevada – Dragon's Gate by Laurence Yep. A sequel to Mountain Light, this story is about a Chinese immigrant who works on the transcontinental railroad in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
• Utah – The Great Brain series by John Dennis Fitzgerald
• Wyoming – The Green Grass of Wyoming by Mary O'Hara
• Wyoming – My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
• Wyoming – Dangerous Ground by Gloria Skurzynski. Twelve-year-old Angela accompanies her beloved 78-year-old great aunt Hilda to Yellowstone National Park, where Hilda begins to exhibit some strange behavior.
• Wyoming – Jenny of the Tetons by Kristiana Gregory. Orpahned by an Indian raid while traveling West in a wagon train, 15-year-old Carrie Hill is befriended by English trapper, Beaver Dick, who takes her to live with his Indian wife and their six children. 
• Wyoming – The Absolutely True Story of How I Visited Yellowstone Park with the Terrible Rupes by Willo Davis Roberts. Twelve-year-old Lewis and his twin sister Alison accompany their irresponsible new neighbors on a trip to Yellowstone and are chased by two mysterious men.
• Wyoming – The Virginian by Owen Wister (Adult Western)
• Wyoming – Little Big Man by Thomas Berger. An 111-year-old man reflects on his adventurous life among the pioneers and the Cheyenne Indians of the Old West. (Adult Fiction)

Southern States and Caribbean Islands (Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Caribbean Islands)

• Alabama – Wiley and the Hairy Man by Judy Sierra. With his mother's help, Wiley outwits the conjuring hairy man that lives in the swamp near their home. The illustrations by Brian Pinkney are beautiful. Molly Bang has done another version of the story.
• Alabama – 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey by Kathryn Tucker Windham
• Alabama – Ikwa of the Mound-Builder Indians and The Charm of the Bear Claw Necklace by Margaret Searcy. These are books about prehistoric Alabama Indians.
• Alabama – The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (Newbery Honor Book). In the midst of the civil rights movement, members of an African-American family from Michigan visit their grandmother in Alabama during the violent summer of 1963. 
• Alabama – The Alabama Angels by Mary Barwick
• Alabama – The Alabama Angels in Anywhere, L.A. by Mary Barwick
• Alabama – Alabama: One Big Front Porch by Katherine Tucker Windham 
• Alabama – Mighty Close To Heaven by Faye Gibbons
• Caribbean – The Cay by Theodore Taylor. Twelve-year-old Phillip and an elderly West Indian man named Timothy survive a fatal shipwreck during World War II. They learn to live on a small island, or Cay, while they wait and hope for rescue. An exciting, moving adventure. 
• Delaware – Come Morning by Leslie Davis Guccione. The story is set in Wilmington and the nearby Pennsylvania countryside during the Civil War. The plot revolves around the free blacks and Quakers who helped runaway slaves. When 12-year-old Free's father is captured by bountyhunters, he must help ferry the runaways across the border to freedom, a job much more challenging than he had anticipated.
• Florida – The Missing 'Gator of Gumbo Limbo by Jean Craighead George. Until her mother can get a better paying job and buy a house, Liza and her mother set up home temporarily in Gumbo Limbo Hammock. Liza goes to school nearby and fishes in Gumbo Limbo Hole, where an old, peaceful alligator protects the swampland. One day a government official appears with a gun, intending to kill the alligator. An environmental mystery by the author of Julie of the Wolves.
• Florida – The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. A young boy raises an orphaned fawn in the Florida backwoods.
• Georgia – Turn Homeward, Hannalee by Patricia Beatty. Twelve-year-old Hannalee Reed must leave Georgia during the Civil War to work in a Northern mill.
• Georgia – Ida Early series by Robert Burch. Tough times in rural Georgia during the Depression take a lively turn when spirited Ida Early arrives to keep house for the Sutton family. The author also wrote Queenie Peavy.
• Georgia – Blackberry Summer by Doris Buchanan Smith
• Georgia – A Month Of Seven Days by Shirley Climo
• Georgia – Georgia Music by Helen Griffith. A little girl and her grandfather spend the summer together. At night, he plays the mouth organ.
• Louisiana – Blackwater Swamp by Bill Wallace. Having discovered the true nature of the old woman known as the bayou's Witch of Blackwater Swamp, 5th-grader Ted must decide whether to come to her rescue when she is accussed of thefts in town. Students love this book.
• Louisiana – The Ghost of Bayou Tigre by Mary Alice Fontenot. A story about a young girl in South Louisiana who visits relatives in the country and learns many of the area's customs.
• Louisiana – The Talking Eggs by Robert San Souci. A Southern folktale in which kind Blanche, following the instructions of an old witch, gains riches while her greedy sister gets her just reward for making fun of the old woman.
• Louisiana – Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells (Adult Fiction)
• Maryland – Crazy Lady! by Jane Leslie Conly. Vernon comes to terms with his mother's death and finds peace in his friendship with neighborhood outcasts.
• Maryland – Hey-Ey-Ey, Lock! Adventure on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal by Morris Fradin
• Maryland – Cassie: The Girl with the Hero's Heart by Myrtle Long Haldeman. Historical fiction about a Maryland farm girl living near Antietam battlelfield during the Civil War. The author is the girl's distant relative.
• Maryland – Chesapeake by James Michener. (Adult Fiction)
• Mississippi – Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor. An African-American family living in the South in the 1930s face prejudice and discrimination.
• Mississippi – Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred Taylor. In this story, a sequel to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, four children grow up in rural Mississippi during the Depression. The third book in the series is The Road to Memphis.
• Mississippi – Mississippi Possum by Miska Miles
• Mississippi – Good Old Boy by Willie Morris
• Mississippi – Good Bye My Lady by James Street
• North Carolina/Virgina – The Weirdo by Theodore Taylor (Edgar Award Winner). A girl who lives by an eerie swamp on the border of North Carolina and Virginia meets a boy known as "the Weirdo."
• West Virgina – The Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars. A teenage girl gains new insights when her mentally retarded brother becomes lost.
• West Virginia – Missing May by Cynthia Rylant. After the death of a beloved aunt who raised her, 12-year-old Summer and Uncle Ob leave their West Virginia trailer in search of the strength to go on living.
• West Virginia – Slopes of War by Norah Perez. Buck Summerhill, a young West Virginia soldier, faces the horrors of the Battle of Gettysburg knowing that his two cousins may be fighting on the opposite side against him. 
• West Virginia – Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Newbery Award Winner). Marty finds a lost beagle and tries to hide it from its cruel owner.  

Southwest (Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas) 

• Arizona – Maybe Next Summer by Don Schellie. Matt, a 17-year-old boy, stumbles into an illegal smuggling operation while working for a small town newspaper.
• Arizona – Me, Cholay, & Co.: Apache Warriors by Don Schellie
• Arizona – Sing Down the Rain by Judi Moreillon. Indians who live in the Sonoran Desert prepare for the rains. Set on the Tohono O'Odam reservation outside Tucson.
• Arizona – The Righteous Revenge of Artemis Bonner by Walter Dean Myers. A witty spoof about a 15-year-old who journeys from New York City to Tombstone, Arizona to avenge the murder of his uncle.
• Arizona – Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and Byron Barton. A boy from New York City worries about what life will be like when he and his family move to the West.  (Ages 4-8)
• Any Tony Hillerman murder mystery. Stories take place in Navajo country. (Young Adult and Adult)
• California – The Case of the Goblin Pearls by Laurence Yep. The first of a series of mysteries that take place in modern day Chinatown in San Francisco, with young Lily Lew and her outlandish, loveable Great Auntie Tiger Lil.
• California – Cat Running by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. Eleven-year-old Cat Kinsey builds a secret hideout to escape her unhappy homelife. She gets to know a poor family who have come to California after losing their Texas home to the dust storms of the 1930s.
• California – Dragonwings by Laurence Yep (Newbery Honor Book). An 8-year-old boy is sent from his small Chinese village to join his father in America. The story takes place in the early days of San Francisco and Oakland Hills, around the time of the 1906 earthquake. It is a grand adventure seen through the eyes of a young boy learning about a new country and his father's dreams. 
• California – Tikvah Means Hope by Patricia Polacco. The devastating Oakland fire and how a Jewish family and their neighbors find hope amidst the ashes.
• California – Eight Mules From Monterey by Patricia Beatty. During the summer of 1916, 13-year-old Fayette and her brother accompany their widowed mother on a mule trip into the California mountains, where she is to establish library outposts in isolated communities.
• New Mexico – The Farolitos of Christmas by Rudolfo Anaya. Luz is a member of a Chicano family in New Mexico. Her father, wounded in World War II, hasn't come home yet. Luz and her Indian friend Reina make farolitos (lighted candles in paper bags weighted with sand) to light the way for Christmas pilgrims. Spanish words are a natural part of the narrative. (Ages 5-9)
• New Mexico – Grandmother's Adobe Dollhouse by Marylou Smith. A young boy describes his grandmother's adobe dollhouse and relates information about Southwestern art, architecture, food, and culture.
• New Mexico – ...And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold (Newbery Award Winner). Twelve-year-old Miguel wishes to join the men when they take the sheep to summer pastures. He works hard to learn about the sheep and learns about himself in the process.
• New Mexico – Billy by Laura Roybal. A teenager named Billy lives in New Mexico with his father. Billy discovers he was actually kidnapped by his father from his adoptive parents. 
• New Mexico – The One Who Came Back by Joann Mazzio. Two best friends go hiking in the mountains of New Mexico but only one of them returns. People speculate about happened to the other boy and they blame the boy who comes back for his friend's disappearance.
• New Mexico – Kokopelli's Flute by Will Hobbs. Thirteen-year-old Tepary discovers an old flute in a cliff dwelling. Through its power, he discovers ancient Native American magic.
• Oklahoma – Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. Set during the Depression, a young boy saves money for two years to buy two hound dogs. The boy and his dogs hunt cagey raccoons in the woods of the Ozark Mountains. This is a heartbreaking yet wonderful read-aloud story for the whole family.
• Texas – A Paradise Called Texas by Janice Jordan Shefelman. Historical fiction set in 1845 about immigration from Germany to Texas. Numerous German communities exist 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. Great book about immigration in the 1800s, regardless of the state.
• Texas – Don't Scream by Joan Lowery Nixon. A mystery that takes place in Texas. When two boys come to her school, Jess thinks things are really looking up, but she realizes she doesn't know their true identities or if she can trust them.

International Regions

Africa

• Mozambique – A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer. A coming-of-age novel based in Mozambique, where an unwanted girl named Disaster sets out alone to find her long-lost father. A great adventure.
• South Africa – No Turning Back by Beverley Naidoo. When abuse at home becomes too much for 12-year-old Sipho, he runs away to the streets of Johannesburg and learns to survive in the post-apartheid world.
• Zimbabwe – The Ear, the Eye and the Arm by Nancy Farmer. A futuristic adventure that takes place in Zimbabwe.
• The Warm Place by Nancy Farmer. Ruva, a young female giraffe, is kidnapped and shipped to a poorly kept zoo in America. She is determined to return to Africa and find her mother. Some reviewers have compared this story with James and the Giant Peach. 

Asia

• China – Homesick: My Own Story by Jean Fritz. A coming-of-age story about a young girl born and raised in China until the age of 12.
• China – The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. This book was required high school reading in the 1960s and a key book for America's women's movement.
• Japan – The Cat Who Went to Heaven by Elizabeth Coatsworth (Newbery Award Winner). A special cat visits a poor Japanese artist, who paints a great picture with all sorts of animals blessed by Buddha. He also paints in his cat and is rewarded with a miracle.

Canada

• Canada – The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
• Canada – The River by Gary Paulsen

England and the British Isles

• England – The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
• England – Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (Classic)
• England – Tales of King Arthur by James Riordan
• England – The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman (Newbery Award Winner)
• England – Treasure Island by Robert Lousis Stevenson (Classic)
• England – The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
• England – The Witches by Roald Dahl
• England – The BFG and others by Roald Dahl

Europe

• France – Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans. This book is a classic and the first of a series. A wonderful story poem about 12 little girls who live in an old Parisian house covered with vines. The smallest girl is Madeline, who always gets into trouble. 
• Spain – Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska (Newbery Award Winner)
• Spain – Iberia by James Michener. The author's Spanish travels and reflections. (Adult Fiction)

Mexico, Central and South America

• Mexico – Secrets in the Mayan Ruins by P.J. Stray. Here's a fun adventure to prepare you for a tour of Chichen Itza. It heightens your imagination and familiarizes you with the layout of the ancient city, thanks to a map.
• Peru – Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark (Newbery Award Winner). An Incan boy learns his cultural history and the skill of tending llamas. Discontented, he leaves his valley, but returns to take a sacred vow to guard the Inca's gold and to keep the llama herd intact.

Middle East

• Middle East – The Source by James Michener. This historical novel is set in Israel, from 70 A.D. to the 1960s. Excavations of a tel (mound) reveal the generations of the area's inhabitants. (Adult Fiction)