Road Trip U.S.A. Level Up Your Reading Suggestions

Kids Summer Reading Challenge 2022

Northeast      Southeast      Great Lakes      Southwest      Great Plains      Rocky Mountains      Far West

NORTHEAST: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania 

1. Windcatcher by Avi (CT)
2. The Moffats by Eleanor Estes (CT)
3. Anybody Here Seen Frenchie? by Leslie Connor (ME)
4. A Handful of Stars by Cynthia Lord (ME)
5. Young Man and the Sea by W. R. Philbrick (ME)
6. Moo by Sharon Creech (ME)
7. Listening for Lucca by Suzanne LaFleur (ME)
8. Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool (ME)
9. Paper Things by Jennifer Jacobson (ME)
10. Because of the Rabbit by Cynthia Lord (ME)
11. Just Like That by Gary Schmidt (ME)
12. Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk (ME)
13. Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord (ME)
14. The Dragon and the Iron Factory by Leah Kaminski (ME)
15. Salt Water Taffy: The Seaside Adventures of Jack and Benny by Matthew Loux (ME)
16. Beyond the Bright Sea by Lauren Wolk (MA)
17. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (MA)
18. Johnny Tremain by Esther Hoskins Forbes (MA)
19. I Survived: The Great Molasses Flood by Lauren Tarshis (MA)
20. Leah Braves the Flood by Julie Gilbert (MA)
21. What Were the Salem Witch Trials by Joan Holub (MA)
22. Mumbet's Declaration of Independence by Gretchen Woelfle (MA)
23. Nest by Esther Ehrlich (MA)
24. The Wonder of Charlie Anne by Kimberly Newton Fusco (MA)
25. Witches!: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem by Rosalyn Schanzer (MA)
26. Arrested for Witchcraft!: Nicholas Flux and the Salem Witch Trials by Mari Bolte (MA)
27. Road to Revolution by Stanley Mack (MA)
28. Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey (NH)
29. Something Upstairs by Avi (RI)
30. Kitty and Mr. Kipling: Neighbors in Vermont by Lenore Blegvad (VT)
31. The Story of the Green Mountain Boys by Susan Clinton (VT)
32. The Canada Geese Quilt by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock (VT)
33. Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter (VT)
34. Soup by Robert Newton Peck (VT)
35. The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. by Kate Messner (VT)
36. The Crossing: How George Washington Saved the American Revolution by Jim Murphy (DE)
37. A Light in the storm: The Civil War Diary of Amelia Martin by Karen Hesse (DE)
38. Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson (MD)
39. Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry (MD)
40. Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt (MD)
41. Promises to the Dead by Mary Hahn Dowd (MD)
42. The Boxcar Children: The Boardwalk Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner (NJ)
43. The Book of One Hundred Truths by Julie Schumacher (NJ)
44. I Survived: The Shark Attacks of 1916 by Lauren Tarshis (NJ)
45. Penny from Heaven by Jenifer Holm (NJ)
46. The Fighting Ground by Avi (NJ)
47. My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George (NY)
48. Stuart Little by E. B. White
49. The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden (NY)
50. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg (NY)
51. The Vanderbeeks of 141st by Karina yan Glaser (NY)
52. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright (NY)
53. Ben and Me by Robert Lawson (PA)
54. The Bears on Hemlock Mountain by Alice Dalgliesh (PA)
55. The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz (PA)
56. Dear America: The Winter of Red Snow by Kristiana Gregory (PA)
57. Knots in My Yo-Yo String by Jerry Spinelli (PA)
58. Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson (PA)

SOUTHEAST: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia 

1. Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia
2. Tristan Strong Punches a Hole on the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
3. Wonderland by Barbara O'Connor
4. The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
5. The Land of Forgotten Girls by Erin Entrada Kelly
6. Those Kids From Fawn Creek by Erin Entrada Kelly
7. Cuba in My Pocket by Adrianna Cuevas
8. Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina
9. Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo 
10. Strange Birds: A Guide to Ruffling Feathers by Celia C. Pérez
11. Sunny Side Up by Jennifer Holm
12. More to the Story by Hena Kahn
13. The Ethan I Was Before by Ali Standish
14. Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata 
15. Unsettled by Reem Faruqi 
16. Coop Knows the Scoop by Taryn Souders
17. The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine
18.  Stella by Starlight by Sharon Draper
19. Wish by Barbara O'Connor
20. Greetings from Nowhere by Barbara O'Connor
21. Storm Blown by Nick Courage
22. A Good Night for Ghosts by Mary Pope Osborne 
23. Things Too Huge to Fix by Saying Sorry by Susan Vaught
24. Every Missing Piece by Melanie Conklin 
25. Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn 
26. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson 
27. Root Magic by Eden Royce
28. Faith, Hope, and Ivy June by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
29. The Last Black King of the Kentucky Derby: The Story of Jimmy Winkfield by Crystal Hubbard 
30. The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage
31. Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
32. Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan
33. Zora and Me by Victoria Bond
34. Turtle in Paradise: The Graphic Novel by Jennifer L. Holm 
35. Hoot by Carl Hiaasen 
36. Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March by Lynda Blackmon Lowery 

GREAT LAKES: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin 

1.  Princess for a Week by Betty Ren Wright (WI)
2. Wisconsin Forest Tales by Julia Pferdehirt (WI)
3. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (WI)
4. Caddie Woodlawn by Carolyn Ryrie Brink (WI)
5. Rascal by Sterling North (WI)
6. The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes (WI)
7. Ida B by Katherin Hannigan (WI)
8. One Came Home by Amy timberlake (WI)
9. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (WI)
10. Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright (WI)
11. A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck (IL)
12. A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck (IL)
13. Project Mulberry by Linda Sue Park (IL)
14. Extra Credit by Andrew Clement (IL)
15. Stella Diz has Something to Say by Angela Dominguez (IL)
16. The Great Fire by Jim Murphy (IL)
17. Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett (IL)
18. Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman (IL)
19. Rosetown by Cynthia Rylant (IN)
20. Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix (IN)
21. The School at Crooked Creek by Laurie Lawlor (IN)
22. The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon (IN)
23. The Teacher's Funeral: a Comedy in Three Parts by Richard Peck (IN)
24. Ruthie's Gift by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (IN)
25. Honey by Sarah Weeks (IN)
26. Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck (IN)
27. Henry Ford: Building Cars for Everyone by Pat McCarthy (MI)
28. Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (MI)
29. The Danger Box by Blue Balliett (MI)
30. Willow Run by Patricia Reilly Giff (MI)
31. Once on This Island by Gloria Whelan (MI)
32. The Batboy by Mike Lupica (MI)
33. Lost and Found by Andrew Clements (OH)
34. Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech (OH)
35. North by Night by Katherine Ayres (OH)
36. Homer Price by Robert McCloskey (OH)
37. Paddle-to-the-Sea by Clancy Holling
38. The Boy Who Saved Cleveland: Based on a True Story by James Giblin (OH)

SOUTHWEST: Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas

1. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling (AZ)
2. Bright of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry (AZ)
3. Saving Lucas Briggs by Marisa Delos Santos (AZ)
4. A Diamond in the Desert by Kathryn Fitzmaurice (AZ)
5. The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman (AZ)
6. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (AZ)
7. 24 House in Nowhere by Dusti Bowling (AZ)
8. Cesar Chavez: Fighting for Farmworkers by Eric Braun (AZ)
9. Major Impossible by Nathan Hale (AZ)
10. And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold (NM)
11. The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages (NM)
12. Masterminds by Gordon Korman (NM)
13. Sing Down the Moon by Scott O'Dell (NM)
14. Pecos Bill, Colossal Cowboy by Sean Tulien (NM)
15. Pecos Bill, Monster Wrangler by Benjamin Harper
16. Red Dirt Jessie by Anna Myers (OK)
17. Stop the Train by Geraldine McCaughrean (OK)
18. Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (OK)
19. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls (OK)
20. Summer of the Monkeys by Wilson Rawls (OK)
21. The Underneath by Kathi Appelt (TX)
22. The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly (TX)
23. Holes by Louis Sachar (TX)
24. Keeper by Kathi Appelt (TX)
25. The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt (TX)
26. The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog by John Erickson (TX)
27. Old Yeller by Fred Gipson (TX)
28. They Call Me Guero by David Bowles (TX)

GREAT PLAINS: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota 

1. Cora Frear: a True Story by Susan Goodman (IA)
2. Dewey the Library Cat by Vicki Myron (IA)
3. The Mostly True Story of Jack by Kelly Barnhill (IA)
4. Bird by Crystal Chan (IA)
5. Blue Jasmine by Kashmira Sheth (IA)
6. Here Lies Linc by Delia Ray (IA)
7. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum (KS)
8. The Adventures of Beanboy by Lisa Harkradar (KS)
9. Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool (KS)
10. 100 Cupboards by Nathan Wilson (KS)
11. The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata (KS)
12. The Van Gogh Café by Cynthia Rylant (KS)
13. The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich (MN)
14. The Porcupine Year by Louise Erdrich (MN) Sequel to The Birchbark House
15. Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace (MN)
16. The Quilt by Gary Paulsen
17. Summer of the Wolves by Polly Carlson-Voiles (MN)
18. On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder (MN)
19. Tracker by Gary Paulsen (MN)
20. Grounded by Kate Klise (MO)
21. The Actual and Truthful Adventures of Becky Thatcher by Jessica Lawson (MO)
22. Little Town in the Ozarks by Roger Lea MacBride (MO)
23. Night of the Twisters by Ivy Ruckman (NE)
24. Room One by Andrew Clements (NE)
25. My Face to the Wind: Diary of Sarah Janr Price, A Prairie Teacher, Broken Bow, Nebraska, 1881
26. All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor (NE)
27. The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez (NE)
28. A Boy called Slow by Joseph Bruchac (ND)
29. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Cheech 
30. Where is Mount Rushmore? by True Kelly (SD)
31. Crazy Horse: Sioux Warrior by Brenda Haugen (SD)

ROCKY MOUNTAINS: Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming 

1.  Bearstone by Will Hobbs (CO)
2. Hard Gold by Avi (CO)
3. The Great Turkey Walk by Katherine Karr (CO)
4. Katerina's Wish by Jeannie Mobley (CO)
5. The Secret School by Avi (CO)
6. The Good Dog by Avi (CO)
7. The Leanin' Dog by K. A. Nazum (CO)
8. The Quilt Walk by Sandra Dallas (CO)
9. Hardscrabble by Sandra Dallas (CO)
10. The Mystery in the Rocky Mountais by Carole Marsh (CO)
11. The Legend of the Howling Werewolf by Gertrude Chandler Warner (CO)
12. Shane by Jack Schaefer (WY)
13. Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner (WY)
14. Eye of the Grizzly by Mike Graf (WY)
15. Bear Bottom by Stuart Gibbs (WY)
16. Attack of the Killer Komodos by Summer Rachel Short (WY)
17. Who was Sitting Bull? by Stephanie Spinner (WY)
18. Yellowstone National Park by Cecilia Pinto McCarthy (WY)
19. Charlie's Raven by Jean Craighead George (WY)
20. Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan (WY)
21. My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara (WY)
22. Scumble by Ingrid Law (WY)
23. Red Dog by Bill Wallace (WY)
24. Danger in the Narrows by Mike Graf (UT)
25. The Great Brain by John Dennis Fitzgerald (UT)
26. Ghost Horses by Gloria Skurzynsk (UT)
27. Journey to Topaz by Yoshiko Uchida (UT)
28. Palace Beautiful by Sarah DeFord Williams (UT)
29. Charlotte's Rose by A. E. Cannon (UT)
30. Remember Little Bighorn by Paul Robert Walker (MO)
31. Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson (MO)
32. Counting Coup: Becoming a Crow Chief on the Reservation and Beyond by Josephy Medicine Crow (MO)
33. Max the Mighty by W. R. Philbrick (MO)
34. Out in Left Field by Don Lemna (MO)
35. When the Circus Came to Town by Laurence Yep (MO)
36. Firstborn by Tor Seidler (MO)
37. Sacagawea by Liselotte Erdrich (ID)
38. Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (ID)
39. Dust of Eden by Mariko Nagai (ID)
40. Dear America: The Fences Between Us by Kirby Lawson (ID)
41. The Reinvention of Bessica Lefter by Kristen Tracy (ID)
42. Dear America: West to a Land of Plenty by Jim Murphy (ID)
43. Meet Kaya: An American Girl by Janet Beeler Shaw (ID)
44. Sacagawea: Crossing the Continent with Lewis & Clark by Emma Carlson Berne
45. Mountain Men: True Grit and Tall Tales by Andrew Glass

FAR WEST: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington 

1. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia 
2. The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor 
3. Any Day with You by Mae Respicio 
4. Breathing Underwater by Sarah Allen 
5. Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan 
6. Golden Gate (City Spies #2) by James Ponti 
7. North Shore by Jennifer Camiccia 
8. Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman 
9. Book Scavenger: The Unbreakable Code by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman 
10. Book Scavenger: the Alcatraz Escape by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman 
11. Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate 
12. High Tide in Hawaii by Mary Pope Osborne 
13. The Unforgettable Logan Foster by Shawn Peters 
14. Freddie vs. The Family Curse by Tracy Badua 
15. When Winter Robeson Came by Brenda Woods 
16. Gold Rush Girl by Avi 
17. It Ain’t So Awful Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas 
18. The Babysitter’s Club: California Girls! by Ann M. Martin 
19. Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh by Uma Krishnaswami 
20. The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert 
21. American Horse Tales: Hollywood by Samantha M. Clark 
22. Linked by Gordon Korman 
23. Sisters by Raina Telgemeier 
24. One Kid’s Trash by Jamie Sumner 
25. What Was the San Francisco Earthquake? by Dorothy Hoobler 
26. Worse Than Weird by Jody J. Little 
27. I Can Make this Promise by Christine Day 
28. Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference by Joanne Oppenheim 
29. The True West by Mifflin Lowe 
30. What Was Pearl Harbor? by Patricia Demuth
31. Operation Orca by Ron Roy
32. Nancy Drew Diaries: Curse of the Arctic Star by Carolyn Keene
33. Nancy Drew Diaries: Strangers On a Train by Carolyn Keene
34. Surviving the Iditarod: an Interactive Extreme Sports Adventure by Nicki Jacobsmeyer
35. Calvin Coconut: Hero of Hawaii by Graham Salisbury
36. I Survived the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941 by Lauren Tarshis
37. Prints in the Sand: My Journey with Nanea by Erin Falligant
38. Growing Up With Aloha by Kirby Larson
39. Hula for the Home Front by Kirby Larson
40. The Legend of the Shark Goddess: a Nanea Mystery by Erin Falligant