The books are organized in large groups corresponding to the buttons below and then into subgroups by authors. Click a button to go to that particular list. The list is ever-growing, so please let me know if you have a suggestion for a book I should add to the list. If you would like to learn more about a book on this list, check the Book Lists & Reviews page to see if it has been reviewed or featured in a book talk series.
Just a Note
I recognize that there are multiple and various rural realities and experiences and just as many identities. The books on this list are grouped and curated in a way that will hopefully help you find stories and experiences that either reflect the students’ identities in your classrooms or provide an invitation for exploration of a rurality (or reality) different from theirs. Organization: First, major category or identity marker. Then by authors name (alpha order by last name). In the second column I have also provided the state (where possible) in which the stories take places as well as other themes/topics of note for a particular book. Wherever possible, links to authors’ pages have been provided. If you’re searching for a specific genre, theme, or state, you can search using CTRL + F.
New Update: I’ve started an affiliate account with Bookshop.org. I love the work they do to support indie booksellers, so if you’re thinking about purchasing any of the books on the list, it’d be wonderful if you would do so through my affiliate link. Each book that is available through Bookshop is linked in the list, and every book purchased will support Literacy In Place as well as indie booksellers.
YA Fiction
| *Indicate Whippoorwill Award & Honor Winners | |
| Alison Ames To Break a Covenant | #Appalachia #Rural Feminism #Girl Friendships #Ghosts |
| Christopher Barzak The Gone Away Place* | #Ohio #Natural Disaster #Ghosts |
| Joan Bauer Hope Was Here | #Wisconsin #Food #Cancer |
| Tori Bovalino The Gathering Dark: An Anthology of Folk Horror* | #Short Stories #Multiple Locations #Multiple Perspectives #Multiple Genres |
| Kendare Blake All These Bodies | #Minnesota #Thriller #Historic Fiction |
| Nina Berkhout The Mosaic | #Montana #Mental Health #Veterans |
| Amy Jo Burns Shiner | #West Virginia #Mining #Loss |
| Kenneth M. Cado Gather* | #Vermont #Social Class #Loss #Drug Addiction #Love of Land |
| Jimmy Cajoleas The Good Demon* | #American South #Speculative #Religion #Drug Addiction #Loss |
| Nora Shalaway Carpenter Rural Voices: 15 Authors Challenge Assumptions about Small-Town America* The Edge of Anything | #Anthology #Diverse Ruralities #Diverse Genres #North Carolina #Grief #Mental Health #Friendship |
| Adam Cesare Clown in a Cornfield | #Missouri #Horror #Slasher #Political and Class Issues |
| Betty Culley Three Things I Know Are True | #Maine #Gun Violence #Grief |
| Sandra Dallas Someplace to Call Home* | #Dust Bowl #Historical #Great Depression |
| Rebecca Fjelland Davis Slider’s Son | #North Dakota #Historical Fiction #Great Depression #Mystery |
| Sarah Dessen The Rest of the Story | #Lake #Parent Loss #Grief #Class |
| Shannon Dittemore Winter White and Wicked* | #Rural Island #Ice Road Trucking #Class #Equity #Fantasy |
| Kevin Dunn Vicious is My Middle Name | #Appalachia #Punk #Activism |
| Ashley Elston This Is Our Story | #Louisiana #Hunting Accident #Mystery |
| Shea Ernshaw The Wicked Deep Winterwood* | #Oregon #Magic #Fantasy |
| Ann Fraistat What We Harvest | #Northeast #Farming #Blight #Zombies |
| John Green An Abundance of Katherines | #Tennessee #Math #Oral History |
| Rachel Griffin Wild is the Witch | #Washington State #Animal Refuge #Love Story |
| Jenny Han The Summer I Turned Pretty It’s Not Summer Without You We’ll Always Have Summer | #North Carolina #Series #Love Stories |
| Michael Harmon Last Exit to Normal | #Montana #LGBTQIA+ #Relocation |
| Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town | #Alaska #Colorado #Sexual Abuse |
| Peter Brown Hoffmeister Too Shattered For Mending | #Idaho #Mystery #Family |
| Silas House Clay’s Quilt | #Kentucky #Substance Abuse #Loss #Family |
| Kathleen M. Jacobs Betsy Blossom Brown Honeysuckle Holiday | #South Carolina #Appalachia #Neurodivergence #Family Secrets #Tennessee #West Virginia #Civil Rights #Historic Fiction |
| E.K. Johnston Exit, Pursued by a Bear | #Canada #Cheerleading #Rape |
| AS King Me and Marvin Gardens | #Pennsylvania #Farm Loss #Friendship #Magical Realism |
| Daniel Kraus The Monster Variations Rotters Scowler | #A Small Town #Murder Mystery #Horror #Iowa #Relocation #Parent Loss #Horror #Family Farm #Horror #Blood and Gore |
| Claire Legrand Sawkill Girls | #Island Setting #Horse Farms #Speculative |
| Tim Lockette Tell It True* | #Alabama #Journalism #Death Penalty |
| Cynthia Lord Touch Blue | #Maine #Island #Foster Care #Relocation |
| Jennifer Mathieu Moxie | #Texas #Zine #Feminism |
| Mindy McGinnis Not a Drop to Drink The Female of the Species Be Not Far From Me A Long Stretch of Bad Days* | #Ohio #Post Apocalyptic #Grit #Survival #Ohio #Rape Culture #Violence #Tennessee #Single father #Wilderness Survival #Ohio #Podcast #Mystery #Social Class |
| Rhett McLaughlin & Link Neal The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek | #North Carolina #Speculative #Illness |
| Kirsten Miller Don’t Tell a Soul | #New York #Social Class Issues #Horror #Ghosts |
| Emma Mills Famous in a Small Town | #Midwest #Band #Family #Secrets |
| Jean Mills Larkin on the Shore* | #Nova Scotia #Arson #Belonging |
| Jake Mosher The Last Buffalo Hunter | #Montana #Wilderness #Family |
| Catherine Gilbert Murdock Dairy Queen | #Wisconsin #Family Farming #Football |
| Julie Murphy Dumplin’ Puddin’ | #Texas #Beauty Pageant #Body Positivity #Texas #Friendship #Body Positivity |
| Rainbow Rowell Pumpkinheads | #Nebraska #Graphic Novel #Divers Characters |
| Kristin Russell A Sky For Us Alone | #Appalachia #Drug Addiction #Family |
| Julia Rust & David Surface Angel Falls* | #Northeast #Speculative #Mystery |
| Ginny Myers Sain Dark and Shallow Lies* | #Louisiana #Cajun/Creole #Island #Psychics #Mystery #Speculative Fiction |
| Gary D. Schmidt Orbiting Jupiter Trouble | #Maine #Foster Care #Teen Parenthood #Maine #Car Accident #Racial Tension |
| Angie Smibert Bone’s Gift* Lingering Echoes The Truce | #Appalachia #Series #Historical Fiction #Speculative Elements |
| Tim Tharp Knights of Hill Country | #Oklahoma #Football #Blended Family |
| Lillie Vale Small Town Hearts | #Maine #Tourism #Friendship #Love Story |
| Vince Vawter Paperboy Copyboy* | #Tennessee #Historical Fiction #Stutter #Mississippi River #Historical Fiction |
| Sandra Neil Wallace Muckers | #Arizona #Football #Historical Fiction |
| Sara Walters The Violent Season | #Vermont #Thriller #Murder |
| Erica Waters The River Has Teeth The Restless Dark | #Florida #Queer #Spooky #The South #True Crime #Thriller |
| Sara Bennet Wealer Grave Things Like Love | #Ghost Hunting #Love Story #Midwest |
| Suzanne Williams Bull Rider | #Nevada #Rodeo #Impact of War |
| Jennifer Wilson Someday We’ll Find It | #Illinois #Farm Work #Absent Parent #Love Story |
| Alecia Whitaker The Queen of Kentucky | #Kentucky #Farming #Identity |
| Darcy Woods Smoke | #Michigan #PTSD #Marijuana |
| Melissa Wyatt Funny How Things Change | #West Virginia #Leaving for College #Love Story |
| Jeff Zentner Serpent King In the Wild Light* | #Tennessee #Class #Religion #Tennessee #Class #Grief #Drug Abuse |
| Middle Grades Fiction | |
| Ann Braden The Benefits of Being an Octopus | #Vermont #Class #Gun Debate |
| Peggy Brooke Jake’s Orphan | #North Dakota #Farming #Historical Fiction |
| Leslie Connor The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle | #Apple Orchard #Loss #Learning Disability |
| Jean Craighead George My Side of the Mountain On the Far Side of the Mountain Frightful’s Mountain | #New York #Wilderness Survival #Running Away #Sequel #Siblings #Animal Conservation #Human/Animal Relationships |
| Kate DiCamillo Because of Winn Dixie Raymie Nightengale Beverly Right Here Louisian’s Way Home* | #Florida #Series #Friendship #Loneliness #Loss |
| Brandon Hobson The Storyteller | #Oklahoma #Cherokee #Magical Realism |
| Lynda Mullaly Hunt Shouting at the Rain | #Cape Cod #Loss #Family |
| Kathleen M. Jacobs Marble Town Sophie and the Bookmobile Fireflies Dancing in the Night | #Appalachia #Loss #Mystery #West Virginia #Relocation #Mobile Library #Midwest #Vacation #Nature |
| Jennifer Jacobson The Dollar Kids | #A Struggling Small Town #Family #Community #Shooting Death |
| Kekla Magoon The Season of Styx Malone | #Indiana #Foster Care #Entrepreneurship |
| Julie Murphy Dear Sweet Pea | #Texas #Divorce #Friendship |
| Phyllis Reynolds Naylor Blizzard’s Wake | #North Dakota #Historical Fiction #Parent Loss |
| Anne Nesbet The Orphan Band of Springdale* | #Maine #Relocation #Historical Fiction #WWII |
| Wilson Rawls Where the Red Fern Grows | #Oklahoma #Hunting #Dogs |
| Trent Reedy Fishing in Fire | #Idaho #Survival Skills #Fishing |
| Jason Reynolds as brave as you | #Virginia #Disability #Guns #Courage |
| Chris Rylander Codename Zero | #North Dakota #Adventure #Crime-Fighting |
| Gary D. Schmidt Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy | #Maine #Race Relations #Friendship #Historical Fiction |
| Native/Indigenous Rural Experiences | |
| Darcie Little Badger Elatsoe* A Snake Falls to Earth | #Texas #Ancestors #Speculative #Loss #Mystery #Middle Grades #Middle Grades #Speculative #Lipan Apache |
| Angeline Boulley Firekeeper’s Daughter | #Michigan #Anishinaabe #Biracial #Thriller #Drug Addiction |
| Sharon Creech Walk Two Moons Chasing Redbird | #Ohio #Loss #Storytelling #Relationships #Kentucky #Family #Loss |
| Jen Ferguson Those Pink Mountain Nights* | #Canada #Metís #Social Class |
| Eric Gansworth Give Me Some Truth* Apple: Skin to the Core If I Ever Get Out of Here | #New York #Music #Love Story #New York #Memoir #Poetry #New York #Music #Friendship |
| Byron Graves Rez Ball* | #Minnesota #Ojibwe #Basketball |
| Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock The Smell of Other People’s Houses | #Alaska #Class #Teen Pregnancy |
| Michael Hutchison The Case of Windy Lake* The Case of the Rigged Race | #Canada #Environmental Issues #Mystery #Middle Grades |
| Witi Ihimaera The Whale Rider | #New Zealand #Environment #Conservation |
| Kent Meyers The Work of Wolves | #South Dakota #Horse Training #Love Story |
| Dawn Quigley Apple in the Middle | #North Dakota #Race Relations #Relocation |
| Marcie R. Rendon Murder on the Red River Girl Gone Missing Sinister Graves | #NorthDakota #Series #Mystery #New Adult #MMIW #Foster Care #Historical Fiction |
| Andrea L. Rogers Man Made Monsters* | #Georgia #Cherokee #Speculative #Horror |
| Ari Tison Saints of the Household* | #Minnesota #Bribri #Art #Abuse |
| Black Rural Experiences | |
| Kalynn Bayron This Poison Heart* This Wicked Fate | #New York #Magic #Queer #Botany |
| Kacen Callender Hurricane Child* King and the Dragonflies* | #US Virgin Islands #Queer #Speculative #Middle Grades #Louisiana #Loss #Queer #Abuse |
| Tami Charles Muted | #New York #Music #Class #Abuse #Queer |
| Sharon G. Flake Once in a Blue Moon* | #North Carolina #Novel in Verse #Loss #Historical Fiction |
| Tiffany D. Jackson The Weight of Blood* | #Georgia #Horror #Sundown Town |
| Leah Johnson You Should See Me in a Crown | #Midwest #Queer #Class #Prom |
| Varian Johnson The Parker Inheritance | #South Carolina #Mystery #History #Middle Grades |
| T.R. Simon Zora and Me Zora and Me: The Cursed Ground* Zora and Me: The Summoner | #Florida #Series #Mystery #Historical Fiction |
| Latinx Rural Experiences | |
| David Bowles They Call Me Guero* Clockwork Curandera: Volume 1 Witch Owl Parliament* | #Texas #Queer #Borderland Stories #Lyric Novel #Mexico #Graphic Novel #Fantasy #Loss #Latinx #LGBTQ |
| Tehlor Kay Mejia & Anna-Marie McLemore Miss Meteor | #Oregon #Queer #Magical Realism #Beauty Pageant |
| Laura Taylor Namey A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow | #England #Relocation #Food |
| Sergio Troncoso Nobody’s Pilgrims | #Texas #Missouri #Connecticut #Cartel #Thriller #Love Story |
| Asian American Rural Experiences | |
| Marie Myung-Ok Lee Finding My Voice | #Minnesota #Korean-American #Racism #Love Story |
| Linda Sue Park Prairie Lotus | #Dakota Territory #Historical Fiction #Middle Grades |
| Mariko Tamaki Anne of Greenville | #Midwest #Retelling #Queer #Love Story |
| Muslim American Experiences. | |
| Tahereh Mafi A Very Large Expanse of Sea | #A Small Town #9/11 #Islamaphobia |
| Queer Rural Experiences | |
| Moa Backe Astot Fire from the Sky | #Sweden #Indigenous – Sámi #Reindeer Farmer |
| Becky Albertalli Simon Vs. The Homo sapiens Agenda | #Georgia #Blackmail #Love Story |
| Jaye Robin Brown The Key to You and Me | #North Carolina #Horseback Riding #Love Story |
| Emily Danforth The Miseducation of Cameron Post | #Montana #Gay Conversion #Religion #Parent Loss |
| Corinne Duyvis The Art of Saving the World* | #Pennsylvania #Sci-Fi #Multiple Dimensions #LGBTQ #Hero’s Journey |
| Courtney Gould The Dead and the Dark | #Oregon #Ghost Hunters #Horror #Homophobia |
| J.R. Jamison Hillbilly Queer | #Indiana #Missouri #Family #Relationships #Memoir |
| Alexandra Mae Jones The Queen of Junk Island | #Canada #Cottage #Mid 2000s #Bi Identity |
| Erin Entrada Kelly Those Kids from Fawn Creek | #Louisiana #Gender Nonconformity #Middle School |
| Brian D. Kennedy A Little Bit Country* | #Tennessee #Country Music #Love Story |
| Jo Knowles Where the Heart Is* | #Farming #Class #Middle Grade |
| Britta Lundin Like Other Girls* | #Oregon #LGBTQ #Football #Friendship #Realistic Fiction |
| Julie Murphy Pumpkin* Ramona Blue | #Texas #Fat Phobia #Drag #Mississippi #Hurricane Katrina #Friendship |
| Gary Eldon Peter The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen* | #Minnesota #Dairy Farm #Loss |
| Julie Anne Peters Far from Xanadu | #Kansas #Unrequited Love #Suicide #Parent Loss |
| Amber Smith Something like Gravity* | #Trans #Loss #Love Story |
| Phil Stamper Golden Boys* Small Town Pride | #Ohio #Friendship #Big Dreams #Leaving #Ohio #Pride #Politics |
| Courtney Stevens Dress Codes for Small Towns | #Kentucky #Religion #Love Story |
| Aiden Thomas Lost in the Never Woods | #Oregon #Mystery #Fantasy |
| Nita Tyndall Who I Was With Her | #A Small Town #Loss and Grief #Love Story |
| (Dis)Ability in Rural YA | |
| Carly Heath The Reckless Kind* | #Norwegian Island #Historic Fiction #Queer #Amputee #Waardenburg Syndrome #Horses |
| Christina Henry The Girl in Red | #A Small Town #Retelling #Postapocalyptic #Pandemic #Amputee |
| Monica Roe Air* | #South Carolina #Latinx #Wheelchair Motocross #Independence |
| Courtney Summers Sadie | #Colorado #Class #Sexual Abuse #Stutter |
| The Global Rural | |
| Becky Citra Rachel Bird* | #Canada #Ranch #Mystery #Loss |
| Regina M. Hansen The Coming Storm | #Prince Edward Island #Fishing Village #Historic Fiction #Speculative Elements |
| Jerry Mikorenda The Whaler’s Daughter | #Australia #Whaling #Historic Fiction #Speculative Elements |
| VE Schwab Gallant | #England #Speculative Elements #Disability #Mutism |
| Rhiannon Wilde Where You Left Us | #Australia #Depression #Divorce #Mystery |
Adult Fiction
| Louise Erdrich Love Medicine The Beet Queen Tracks The Bingo Palace The Night Watchmen Plague of Doves The Roundhouse | #North Dakota #Series #Indigenous #Family #North Dakota #Historical Fiction #Native Dispossession #North Dakota #Murder #Family #Crime |
| Jim Harrison Dalva The River Swimmer: Novellas | #Nebraska #Adoption #History #Michigan #Love Story #Family |
| Barbara Kingsolver Prodigal Summer The Bean Trees Pigs in Heaven Demon Copperhead | #Appalachia #Farming #Conservation #Love #Loss #Kentucky #Arizona #Relocation #Series #Appalachia #Pulitzer Prize Winner #Institutional Poverty |
| Marie Myung-Ok Lee Evening Hero | #Minnesota #Korean-American #Healthcare |
| Delia Owens Where the Crawdads Sing | #North Carolina #Historical Fiction #Mystery #Fishing |
| Jojo Moyes The Giver of Stars | #Kentucky #Historical Fiction #Love Story #Traveling Library |
| Kim Michele Richardson The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek | #Kentucky #Blue People #Historical Fiction #Traveling Library |
| Rainbow Rowell Landline | #Nebraska #Magical Realism #Marriage |
Nonfiction
| Neema Avashia Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place | #West Virginia #Desi #Memoir |
| Tom Brokaw A Long Way From Home | #South Dakota #Ranching #Memoir #Journalism |
| Willie Edward Taylor Carver, Jr. Gay Poems for Red States | #Kentucky #Queer #Autobiographical #Poetry |
| Carl Hamilton In No Time At All | #Iowa #Autobiography #Historical |
| Linda Hasselstrom Going Over East: Reflections of a Woman Rancher | #South Dakota #Ranching #Essays |
| James Hearst Time Like a Furrow | #Farming #Essays #History |
| Gary Kelley Moon of the Snowblind | #Iowa #Indigenous #History |
| Haven Kimmel A Girl Named Zippy | #Indiana #Memoir |
| Joseph Marshall III The Dance House: Stories from Rosebud | #Rosebud Sioux Reservation #Indigenous #Essays |
| Dolly Parton Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics | #Tennessee #Music #Memoir |
| Sarah Smarsh Heartland She Come By It Natural | #Kansas #Class #Farming #Memoir #Kansas #Tennessee #Rural Feminism #Dolly Parton #Essay |
| Jeanette Walls The Glass Castle Half Broke Horses | #West Virginia #Southwest Desert Towns #Alcoholism #Memoir #Arizona #Historical #Ranching #True-Life Novel |
| Tara Westover Educated | #Idaho #Survivalists #Isolation #Education #Memoir |
Dr. Parton's Literacy In Place 