<p>All of Sterling North (Rascal, So Dear to My Heart, The Wolfling), they take place in Wisconsin (Janesville to be exact), but Rascal is really a wonderful book. When S2 was in 4th grade he read Rascal and when he found out it was a true story he made us take a road trip to Janesville to visit North’s boyhood home – the ladder he built for Rascal to get in and out of the house is still there, but there is no canoe in the living room. It is really evocative of the midwest in the early 20th century, but I warn you, your son will want a raccoon.</p>
<p>He might also like Booth Trakington’s Penrod books 9 (set in Indiana)-- a little harder read, but still good.</p>
<p>I was going to recommend the Great Brain series, but ILoveLA beat me to it. Fantastic series. Also agree that Bud Not Buddy, By the Great Horn Spoon and Gary Paulsen’s books are good reads.</p>
<p>The Boxcar series is hard to pin down geographically, but I think it is really Northeast. Great Brain is great, too bad it is Utah.</p>
<p>It might be a stretch to call it midwest, but The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is set in Oklahoma.</p>
<p>This might be more of a girl book (I haven’t actually read it), but Once On This Island by Gloria Whelan is set on Mackinac Island. It is about two sisters who outsmart British soldiers to protect their farm and make it through two winters without their parents.</p>
<p>Lololu, I had forgotten about Penrod. I loved Penrod…</p>
<p>I agree with those who suggested books by Richard Peck. Also would recommend Incident at Hawk’s Hill (Newberry Winner), my son at that age just loved this book. (Bud not Buddy is great too!)</p>
<p>How could I forget Homer Price by Robert McCloskey! I hope it’s still in print.</p>
<p>“In six preposterous tales , Robert McCloskey takes a good look at mid-western America with humourous and affectionate eyes.” </p>
<p>Has Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury already been suggested? May be too much for a 4th grader, although I first encountered that book as an excerpt in an elementary school reader. (“Gazelles…”)</p>
<p>My sons actually liked the Little House books. (Try the “Rose Years”–early 20th century–Little Farm in the Ozarks, Little Town in the Ozarks, etc. by Roger Lea McBride–IMO he’s a better writer than Laura.)</p>
<p>Richard Peck–The River Between Us (Missouri/Illinois/Louisiana–some mature themes, racial issues).<br>
Anyone mentioned Where the Red Fern Grows? Takes place in eastern Oklahoma. (Maybe more of a middle school book. . .)
On a similar level (more advanced elementary/middle school):
Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith. It was a Newberry winner. Deals with civil war in Kansas/Missouri/Oklahoma/Arkansas. (Adults would enjoy it, too.)</p>
<p>More of a “Southern Novel” (people think it is a “Western”) and for a more advanced reader–True Grit by Charles Portis–Takes place in Eastern Oklahoma/Western Arkansas. Hugely entertaining. One of my all-time favorites.</p>
<p>Loved “Homer Price” as a kid. My S does, too.</p>
<p>“On My Honor” by Marion Dane Bauer is set in Illinois, but the plot has to do with a terrible accident and I don’t know how your 4th grader would be with that.</p>
<p>I love Rifles for Watie, but it’s HUGE! I think it’s probably also more of a middle school book in terms of themes though I’m pretty sure at least my younger son was in elementary school when we listened to it on tape.</p>
<p>Huckleberry Finn - hmm, idk. How about Tom Sawyer instead? Tom Sawyer seems a bit more age-accessible for a 4th grade boy.</p>
<p>I immediately thought of Homer Price, but didn’t know if the fictitious location ruled it out. Keep it in mind anyway - for pleasure reading. :)</p>
<p>I tried reading Huckleberry Finn at that age and I was too young for it, even though I finished it; I got bored eventually, and don’t think I was old enough to understand the racial issues that well. Tom Sawyer, on the other hand, is great for that age. My son liked it a lot. </p>
<p>Homer Price is a good suggestion.</p>
<p>Ha, Penrod. I read those books, and loved them. But does anyone still read Booth Tarkington?</p>
<p>I agree that Tom Sawyer is probably better. I read both around then, and liked Tom Sawyer more. But I haven’t re-read Tom Sawyer since.</p>
<p>Fourth grade, for me, was the Year of James Bond, just as third grade had been the Year of Landmark Books and second grade the Year of The Hardy Boys. I read almost the complete works of Ian Fleming, a few other spy books, and a bunch more Landmark Books. Relatives who were a young married couple lived half way between school and home, and they had all the James Bond books. So I would stop off on the way home from school and trade the book I had finished for the next one. They also subscribed to Playboy, and showed me the centerfold every month! It was a more innocent age, but not in a simple way!</p>
<p>My mother still has the four-page first chapter draft of the spy novel I wanted to write in fourth grade. It’s pretty funny – sophistication with absolutely no basis in experience.</p>
<p>Gary Paulson gets my vote too. After raising 3 boys, they all especially enjoyed the Tucket series. Many a dinner was late because whoever was reading it couldn’t put it down.</p>
<p>Okay, as a midwestern scholar, (my grad degree is actually in Midwestern Studies)let me clarify. Utah is not midwest, Arkansas is not midwest, Oklahoma is not midwest, Colorado is not midwest. Although the definition of the midwest is fairly loose, most scholars agree that the midwest includes Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, and for most scholars Missouri. Missouri is interesting because some people argue that it is more Southern then Midwestern, but Kansas is almost always clearly considered Midwestern. This has more to do with their relative positions during the Civil War. For the most part it is the area west of Pennsylvania to the foot hills of the Rockies and north of the Ohio River. There is some spillover of culture of course, because these things are never able to be strictly defined. Western Pennsylvania is more midwestern then western Nebraska which is really more western in culture. But if you want midwest at its height, then focus on the above states. </p>
<p>While some people on the coasts tend to think of the middle of the county as one big glob, there really are some very real and very distinct differences within the middle of the country.</p>
<p>^^^ I grew up in upstate New York and I remember in college all these kids from Long Island referring to upstate New York as the Midwest. Now I live in Illinois, now that is Midwest.</p>