Famous Books by State ... a Stay-at-Home Extracurricular?

Pre-College Topics High School Cafe
1

Yesterday I stumbled on this list of “The most famous book that takes place in every state.” The list is a couple years old but it was new … and intriguing … to me. I agreed with many of the entries; I whined about several others; and I abashedly admitted that I hadn’t even heard of a few. See http://www.businessinsider.com/famous-book-set-in-every-state-2016-4?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=auddev-test603/#alabama-to-kill-a-mockingbird-by-harper-lee-1

I also vowed to work my way from Arizona (I’ve already read AL and AK) to Wyoming, and realized that this might also be an interesting, independent activity for high school students, especially during the summer. While completing the entire list isn’t going to be an express lane to Stanford, it could certainly provide interesting essay or interview fodder. In addition, this range of reading suggestions will help all students be better prepared for college, wherever they land and regardless of whether reading this entire roster helps to get them there.

By the way, I’m from Massachusetts and, while I concur that Thoreau might be our state’s most well-known writer, I’m not sure if Walden itself should have beaten out The Scarlet Letter or Little Women as the Bay State’s most renowned book.

How many of you CC members agree with the choice for your state?

2

I love the idea. I don’t think I’ll go in order because there are some long books in the middle, and reading Gone with the Wind (GA) and then Hawaii (HI) could take years. I thought Colorado would be Centennial but then noticed Michener had Hawaii and honestly, if every state had a Michener book we’d never get through the list. I do not think The Shining is representative of Colorado because most of it takes place inside and Colorado is an outdoors place.

I’ve also already read a bunch of them, and may save re-reads until last. I will NOT re-read Washington, Twilight, since it was so awful the first time.

Thanks for the list and idea.

3

@twoinanddone -Good points … especially about The Shining and Twilight. I never actually read Twilight but I’m not sure I could get through it even once. I’m not a vampire fan, which might make Louisiana a challenge for me, too!