Fifty States - Fifty Books  
     See the USA without leaving home!
     ~Books for older readers ~

Alabama

King Shoes and Clown Pockets
Faye Gibbons
Two ten year old Alabama boys become friends. (Grades 4+)

Alaska

The Year of Miss Agnes
Kirkpatrick Hill
In 1948, Miss Agnes comes to a small Alaska village as the new teacher. (Grades 4+)

Arizona

Stargirl
Jerry Spinelli
An unusual girl changes the other kids she meets at her new high school. (Grades 5+)

Arkansas

Summer of My German Soldier
Bette Green
A 12 year old girl helps an escaped German prisoner of war in World War II Arkansas. (Grades 6+)

California

Al Capone Does My Shirts
Gennifer Choldenko
A young boy and his family accompany his father to a new job on Alcatraz Island in 1935. (Grades 5 +)

Colorado

The secret school 
Avi
A 14 year old girl assumes the teacher's responsibilities when her one room school closes in 1925. (Grades 3 - 6)

Connecticut

The witch of Blackbird Pond 
Elizabeth George Speare
In Puritan Connecticut, a young girl befriends an old woman thought to be a witch.  (Grades 5+)

Delaware

A Light in the Storm: The Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin
Karen Hesse
The diary of a 15 year old girl who works in her father's lighthouse off the coast of Delaware at the beginning of the Civil War. (Grades 4 - 8)

Florida

Hoot
Carl Hiaasen
Two boys try to save some endangered owls from a construction site. (Grades 5+)

Georgia

Numbering all the bones 
Ann Rinaldi
At the end of the Civil War, a young house slave faces the future and fear of freedom. (Grades 6+)

Hawaii

Lord of the deep 
Graham Salisbury
A boy learns some lessons about life when he works on his stepfather's fishing boat. (Grades 5+)

Idaho

Jenny of the Tetons
Kristiana Gregory
After an Indian attacks their wagon train, a young orphaned girl is befriended by a trapper and taken to live with his Indian wife and their children. (Grades 4+)

Illinois

A Long Way from Chicago
Richard Peck
A brother and sister from Chicago visit their larger than life grandmother every summer during the Depression. (Grades 5+)

Indiana

Bernie Magruder & the bats in the belfry 
Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Church bells and an unusual bat are driving the residents of Bernie's hometown crazy. (Grades 4+)

Iowa

Squashed 
Joan Bauer
A 16 year old girl attempts to grow a prize winning pumpkin and win in love at the same time. (Grades 6+)

Kansas

Little House on the Prairie
Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Ingalls family travels from the Wisconsin big woods to their new home on the prairie.  (Grades 3+)

Kentucky

Tadpole
Ruth White
In 1950s Appalachia, the visit of their abused, yet upbeat and charismatic cousin changes the lives of 4 sisters and their single mother.  (Grades 4+)

Louisiana

My Louisiana Sky
Kimberly Willis Holt
In the 1950s, a 12 year old girl grows up in a loving family with mentally disabled parents, but she longs to live with her glamorous aunt in Baton Rouge. (Grades 6+)

Maine

Tree by Leaf
Cynthia Voigt
In the 1920s, a young girl struggles to support her family emotionally and physically when a mysterious voice in the woods offers to grant her wishes, but at an unsuspected price. (Grades 6+)

Maryland

Anna on the farm  
Mary Downing Hahn
After being called a "city slicker" a young girl attempts to prove that she is a clever and brave farm girl. (Grades 3 - 5)

Massachusetts

Guests
Michael Dorris
An Algonquin boy and girl grow up in Massachusetts at the time of the first Thanksgiving. (Grades 3 - 6)

Michigan

Bud, Not Buddy
Christopher Paul Curtis
During the Great Depression, a motherless boy goes in search of a renowned band leader who he believes to be his father. (Grades 4+)

Minnesota

The quilt 
Gary Paulsen
During World War II a young boy goes to live with his Norwegian grandmother in Minnesota. (Grades 5+)

Mississippi

Love, Ruby Lavender
Ruby Wiles
When her grandmother takes a trip to Hawaii, a young girl learns to live on her own- with chickens and new friends- in Mississippi. (Grades 4+)

Missouri

The legacy of Gloria Russell  
Sheri L. Gilbert
A young boy learns about himself and his family's history after the death of his best friend. (Grades 5+)

Montana

When the circus came to town  Laurence Yep
Visiting Chinese acrobats help a girl scarred from smallpox learn to embrace life again.  (Grades 3+)

Nebraska

Prairie songs 
Pam Conrad
Two children see that the harsh life on the prairie is difficult for a frail doctor's wife to accept.  (Grades 5+)

Nevada

Alice Rose & Sam : a novel  
Kathryn Lasky
Twelve year old Alice Rose befriends the still-unknown Mark Twain, and together they set out to solve a murder mystery.  (Grades 4+)

New Hampshire

A gathering of days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-32
Joan W. Blos
A fourteen year old girl's journal of a change-filled year in her life. (Grades 5+)

New Jersey

Henry Reed's baby-sitting service  
Keith Robertson
Henry spends an adventure-filled summer working in his baby-sitting service. 
(Grades 4+)

New Mexico

... and now Miguel  
Joseph Krumgold
A young boy longs to accompany the family sheepherders to their summer pasture, but must prove himself a man first. (Grades 5+)

New York

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
E. L. Konigsburg
A young girl and her brother run away from home and hide in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  (Grades 4+)

North Carolina

Dovey Coe
Frances O'Roark Dowell
In 1928, a 12 year old girl is wrongly accused of murder.  (Grades 5+)

North Dakota

Jakarta missing 
Jane Kurtz
Twelve year old Dakar has difficulty adjusting to life with her family in North Dakota after having spent her childhood growing up in Africa. (Grades 5+)

Ohio

Double Dutch 
Sharon M. Draper
Three friends cope with life's problems  as well as preparations for the International Double Dutch Championship Jump Rope Competition.  (Grades 6+)

Oklahoma

Stop the train! : a novel  
Geraldine McCaughrean
In this exciting and fun novel, settlers are determined to make the train stop at their new western town. (Grades 5+)

Oregon

Bat 6 
Virginia Euwer Wolff
Tragedy occurs during an annual girl's softball game in post World War II Oregon.  (Grades 6+)

Pennsylvania

Macaroni Boy
Katherine Ayres
A boy grows up in the Strip District in Pittsburgh during the Great Depression and discovers a mystery involving disappearing rats and his grandfather's illness.  
(Grades 5+)

Rhode Island

The Art of Keeping Cool
Janet  Taylor Lisle
A teenager lives with his Rhode Island relatives during World War II and discovers the hidden prejudices within his community and family.  (Grades 6+)

South Carolina

The Glory Field 
Walter Dean Myers
Two hundred fifty years in the life of an African-American family, beginning in 1753.  (Grades 6+)

South Dakota

Grasshopper Summer
Ann Turner
After the Civil War, a family starts a new life in the Dakota territory, where their first crop is plagued by grasshoppers.  (Grades 5+)

Tennessee

Harmony 
Rita Murphy
A teenager with special gifts feels strongly connected to the natural world around her, but longs to be ordinary.  (Grades 5+) 

Texas

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town
Kimberly Willis Holt
During the Vietnam War, two Texas boys befriend the "fattest boy in the world" and are changed because of that friendship.  (Grades 6+)

Utah

The Maze
Will Hobbs
Forced to flee a corrupt detention center, 14 year Rick old finds refuge near the Maze, where condors are being reintroduced into the wild. (Grades 6+)

Vermont

A Day No Pigs Would Die Day No Pigs Would Die
Robert Newton Peck
A 13 year old Vermont boy comes of age during the early part of the century in this moving book.   (Grades 5+)

Virginia

Sarah's ground 
Ann Rinaldi
During the Civil War, a young girl begins working at Mt. Vernon, the historic home of George Washington. (Grades 5+)

Washington

Our Only May Amelia
Jennifer L. Holm
In her Finnish American family of 7 brothers, young May resents being expected to act like a lady in 1899. (Grades 4+)

West Virginia

A Blue-Eyed Daisy
Cynthia Rylant
Tales from the life of a young girl and her family and their West Virginia coal mining town.  (Grades 4+)

Wisconsin

Caddie Woodlawn
Carol Ryrie Brink
In the 1800s, 11 year old tomboy Caddie grows up in a large family on the Wisconsin frontier.  (Grades 4+)

Wyoming

Stone Fox
John Reynolds Gardiner
A boy enters a dog sled race and hopes the winnings will save his grandfather's farm. (Grades 4+)

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Look for these and other great books in
The Children's Library
Mt. Lebanon Public Library
16 Castle Shannon Blvd.
Pittsburgh, PA 15228
412/531-1913      3.02
www.mtlebanonlibrary.org