
52 Great Reads
Every year, a list of books representing the literary heritage of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands is distributed by the Library of Congress's Center for the Book during the National Book Festival. Why not read the book suggested for your state or district and then learn, through these books, about the other places that interest you?
Click on a state to view suggested titles. The 2012 selections will be added soon.
Alabama
To Kill A Mockingbird,
Harper Lee
The Well and the Mine,
Gin Phillips
Alaska
A Native Lad: Benny Benson
Tells Alaska's Story,
Sarah Hurst
Seldovia Sam and the Very Large Clam,
Susan Woodward Springer
Sharkabet:
A Sea of Sharks from A to Z,
Ray Troll
Arizona
Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two
,
Joseph Bruchac
Hip, Hip, Hooray, It's Monsoon Day/
¡Ajúa, ya llegó el chubasco!,
Susan Woodward Springer
The Three Little Javelinas /
Los Tres Pequeños Jabalíes,
Susan Lowell
Arkansas
Icon,
Carla Killough McClafferty
Water Steps,
A. LaFaye
So Over My Head,
Jenny B. Jones
California
Calico Dorsey,
Susan Lendroth
Steinbeck's Ghost,
Lewis Buzbee
Operation Redwood,
S. Terrell French
Colorado
Tallgrass,
Sandra Dallas
Down, Down, Down,
Steve Jenkins
M Is for Mischief:
An A to Z of Naughty Children,
Linda Ashman
Connecticut
The Taxing Case of the Cows:
A True Story About Suffrage,
Iris Van Rynback & Pegi Deitz Shea
For the Duration,
Tomie dePaola
Chalk,
Bill Thomson
Delaware

Agent Q, or The Smell of Danger!
M.T. Anderson

The Sweet Life of Stella Madison,
Lara M. Zeises

Jasper Dash and the
Flame Pits of Delaware,
M.T. Anderson
Florida

Hoot,
Carl Hiaasen

Tangerine,
Edward Bloor

I Love You, Stinky Face,
Lisa McCourt
Georgia

The Cheshire Cheese Cat,
Carmen A. Deedy & Randall Wright

14 Cows for America,
Carmen Agra Deedy

A Tree for Emmy,
Mary Ann Rodman
Hawaii

Kohala Kuamo`o: Nae`ole's
Race to Save a King,
Kekauleleanae'ole Kawai'ae'a

A President from Hawaii,
Dr. Carolan

Too Many Mangos,
Tammy Paikai
Idaho

100 Cupboards,
N. D. Wilson

Mudgy and Milly,
Susan Nipp

My Darlin’ Clementine,
Kristiana Gregory
Illinois

Night Flight: Amelia Earhart
Crosses the Atlantic,
Robert Burleigh

Our Abe Lincoln,
Jim Aylesworth

Muddy as a Duck Puddle
and Other American Similes,
Laurie Lawlor
Indiana

Crossing Stones,
Helen Frost

Diamond Willow,
Helen Frost

Paper Towns,
John Green
Iowa

The Buddy Files:
The Case of the Lost Boy,
Dori Hillestad Butler

The Rope Walk,
Carrie Brown

The Flamingo Rising,
Larry Baker
Kansas

Moon Over Manifest,
Clare Vanderpool

Amelia Earhart,
The Legend of the Lost Aviator,
Shelley Tanaka

Up, Down and Around,,
Katherine Ayres
Kentucky

Which Side Are You On?:
The Story of a Song,
George Ella Lyon

A Family for Old Mill Farm,
Shutta Crum

Trouble in Troublesome Creek,
Nancy Kelly Allen
Louisiana

Molly the Pony: A True Story,
Pam Kaster

Two Bobbies: A True Story
of Hurricane Katrina,
Friendship, and Survival,
Kirby Larson & Mary Nethery

Why the Crawfish Lives in the Mud,
Johnette Downing
Maine

The Circus Ship,
Chris VanDusen

The Dump Man's Treasures,
Lynn Plourdey

Hardscrabble Harvest,
Dahlov Ipcar
Maryland

Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters,
Natalie Standiford

Granddaddy's Street Songs,
Monalisa DeGross

Jacob Have I Loved,
Katherine Paterson
Massachusetts

The Serpent Came to Gloucester,
M. T. Anderson

One Hen,
Katie Smith Milway

My Uncle Emily,
Jane Yolen
Michigan

For the Love of the Tigers:
An A-to-Z Primer for Tigers Fans
of All Ages,
Frederick C. Klein

Pocketful of Passage,
Loraine Campbell

January's Sparrow,
Patricia Polacco
Minnesota

Awesiinyensag,
Anton Treuer

Night Driving,
John Coy

Ojibwe in Minnesota,
Anton Treuer
Mississippi

When I Crossed No-Bob,
Margaret McMullan

The Secret Life of Walter Anderson,
Hester Bass

Flying Lessons,
Gilbert Ford
Missouri

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,
Mark Twain

The Feedsack Dress,
Carolyn Mulford

They're Off!:
The Story of the Pony Express,
Cheryl Harness
Montana

The Governor's Dog is Missing,
Sneed B. Collard, III

Bug Feats of Montana,
Deborah Richie Oberbillig

Montana Place Names
from Alzada to Zortman,
Montana Historical Society
Nebraska

Holding Up the Earth,
Dianne Gray

Room One: A Mystery or Two,
Andrew Clements

Luck: The Story of a Sandhill Crane,
Jean Craighead George
Nevada

Freeze Frame,
Heidi Ayarbe

The Orange Slipknot,
Jan Young

Under Open Skies,
Keeli McClintick
New Hampshire

The Messiest Desk,
Marty Kelley

To My Countrywomen:
The Life of Sarah Josepha Hale,
Muriel L. Dubois

Born to Be Giants:
How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to
Rule the World,
Lita Judge
New Jersey

Jazz,
Walter Dean Myers

Mrs. Spitzer's Garden,
Edith Pattou

The New Way Things Work,
David Macaulay
New Mexico

The Day it Snowed Tortillas:
Tales from Spanish New Mexico,
Joe Hayes

Juan the Bear and the Water of Life,
Enrique Lamadrid &
Juan Estevan Arellano

Bad News for Outlaws:
The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves,
Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
New York

Journey into Mohawk Country,
George O'Connor

River of Dreams:
The Story of the Hudson River,
Enrique Lamadrid & Hudson Talbott

When You Reach Me,
Rebecca Stead
North Carolina

Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile,
Gloria Houston

Blackbeard: The Pirate King,
Enrique Lamadrid & J. Patrick Lewis

North Carolina Curiosities,
Jerry Bledsoe
North Dakota

Sakagawea,
Sakagawea Lise Erdrich

Gift Horse,
S. D. Nelson

Sacagawea,
Lise Erdrich
Ohio

B is for Buckeye: An Ohio Alphabet,
Marcia Schonberg

The Goosebump Series,
R. L. Stine

Zombies! Evacuate the School,
Sara Holbrook
Oklahoma

Where the Red Fern Grows,
Wilson Rawls

S Is for Sooner,
Kandy Radzinski

Chicken Dance,
Tammi Sauer
Oregon

Don't Be Silly, Mrs. Millie,
Judy Cox

Apples to Oregon,
Deborah Hopkinson

The Captain’s Dog:
My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe,
Roland Smith
Pennsylvania

The Breaker Boys,
Pat Hughes

Jim Thorpe: Original All-American,
Joseph Bruchac

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie,
Jordan Sonnenblick
Rhode Island

Bella and Stella Come Home,
Anika Denise

Lemonade Mouth,
Mark Peter Hughes

The Wonder of Charlie Anne,
Kimberly Newton Fusco
South Carolina

Mercy Creek,
Matt Matthews

Carolina Clay: The Life and
Legend of the Slave Potter Dave,
Leonard Todd

Mercy Creek,
William P. Matthews
South Dakota

The Enchanted Buffalo,
L. Frank Baum

The Jumping Off Place,
Marian Hurd McNeely

The Raccoon and the Bee Tree,
Charles A. Eastman &
Elaine Goodale Eastman
Tennessee

Penny Dreadful,
Laurel Snyder

Autumn Winifred Oliver
Does Things Different,
Kristin O'Donnell Tubb

On Viney's Mountain,
Joan Donaldson
Texas

Hummingbirds: Facts and Folklore
from the Americas,
Jeanette Larson and Adrienne Yorinks

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate,
Jacqueline Kelly

Librarian On The Roof!
A True Story,
M.G. King
US Territories

Shake It, Morena!:
And Other Folklore from Puerto Rico,
Carmen T. Bernier-Grand

Juan Bobo: Four Folktales
from Puerto Rico,
Carmen T. Bernier-Grand

Hanging with Uncle Billy,
Mervelle A. Sage
Utah

Pingo,
Brandon Mull

Book of a Thousand Days,
Shannon Hale

Rapunzel's Revenge,
Shannon Hale & Dean Hale
Vermont

Return to Sender,
Julia Alvarez

Electra to the Rescue:
Saving a Steamboat and the
Story of Shelburne Museum,
Valerie Biebuyck

Nora’s Ark,
Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
Virginia

Fires of Jubilee,
Alison Hart

Students on Strike,
John A. Stokes

When the Whistle Blows,
Fran Cannon Slayton
Washington

Larry Gets Lost in Seattle,
John Skewes

Jacob Lawrence:
American Scenes, American Struggles,
Nancy Shroyer Howard

Volcano: The Eruption and
Healing of Mount St. Helens,
Patricia Lauber
Washington, D.C.

This is Washington, D.C.,
M. Sasek

Our White House:
Looking In, Looking Out,
Various Authors/National Children's
Book & Literacy Alliance

First Pooch: The Obamas Pick a Pet
Carole Boston Weatherford
West Virginia

Passing the Music Down,
Sarah Sullivan

Golden Delicious:
A Cinderella Apple Story,
Various Authors/National Children's
Book & Anna Eagan Smucker

When the Whistle Blows,
Fran Cannon Slayton
Wisconsin

B is for Badger: A Wisconsin Alphabet,
Kathy-jo Wargin

Old Bear,
Kevin Henkes

Yes Day!,
Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Wyoming

Dee and the Mammoth,
Eugene Gagliano

Friday My Radio Flyer Flew,
Zachary Pullen

Little Wyoming,
Eugene Gagliano
