Whether you found this list searching for books set in North American countries or you’re participating in our Book Voyage reading challenge, you’ll find a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction book recommendations set in Canada, Mexico, Central America, and the USA.
Even if you call North America home, there’s so much more to learn about this incredibly diverse continent. For example, you might be surprised to learn that while 8 of the 10 largest metropolitan areas in North America are located in the USA, it is actually Mexico City that tops the list with the largest population. And did you know that Greenland is the world’s largest island that isn’t also a continent?
North America has a huge range of climates, including every one of the Earth’s major biomes, from ice and arctic tundra of the far north to the tropical rainforests of Central America. This continent also includes temperate forests, grasslands, savannas, deserts, and coral reefs in between.
The North American continent is also a very important source of information about the Earth’s geologic periods. The Appalachian Mountains, running parallel to the Atlantic coast from Canada to Alabama, are the world’s oldest mountain range. Archeologists have unearthed more dinosaur fossils in the United States than in any other country.
What Kind of Books Are Included on This List?
As always, you are welcome to choose any book set in North America that you’d like. We’ve compiled the recommended reading list below, specifically with the intent to help you explore beyond what you already know. While many readers may automatically think of books set in the USA, we encourage our fellow Americans to armchair travel to one of the continent’s other countries or territories.
In addition to the USA, our list covers books set in Canada, Greenland, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.
Below our book recommendations, we’ve also included a list of additional resources for further North American reading.
Books Set in North America – Grouped by Region
Books Set in Canada
Literary Fiction
Indian Horse
Richard Wagamese
Publication Date:
01/01/2012
Setting:
Northern Ontario, Canada
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
Saul Indian Horse wants peace. After hitting rock bottom with alcohol and entering an inpatient treatment facility, he discovers that healing must come through telling his life story as a member of the Ojibway tribe. Throughout the book, you’ll walk through Saul’s history, which includes being taken from his family and sent to a residential school, which was a common tragedy for many indigenous children. His heritage was again attacked as he got older and experienced harsh racism.
While the book will open your eyes to the challenges faced by indigenous people in Canada, it also shares Saul’s joys along the way and describes the landscape of northern Ontario in detail.
Maryam is on her way to her sister’s impromptu wedding, and Anna is headed to meet her boyfriend’s wealthy family. These two strangers are seatmates on a flight to Toronto when they find themselves in extreme turbulence. The scary flight causes the two women to confess their deepest hopes and fears to each other.
They think they’ll never see each other again, but the rough ride leads to an emergency landing in Ottawa. Instead of making it to Toronto, the duo (along with Maryam’s sister’s entire bridal party and Saif, the love of Maryam’s life) find themselves at the quirky Snow Falls Inn in a picture-perfect town. Could being snowbound in a small town unexpectedly turn into the best holiday ever?
The Book Girls Say…
Author Uzma Jalaluddin also has non-holiday books set in Canada, including a 2023 release, Much Ado About Nada, a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion set in Toronto.
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland
Jim DeFede
Publication Date:
09/30/2002
Setting:
Gander, Newfoundland, Canada
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
100% Would Recommend to a Friend
Book Summary
While this book takes place on September 11, 2001 and the following days, it’s not the constantly devastating story you would expect. Instead, this heartwarming book recounts the experiences of countless passengers from some of the 38 planes that were unexpectedly diverted to Newfoundland – an island in Canada’s easternmost province – when US airspace was closed on 9/11. On that day, the small town of Gander, with a population of just 10,000, received more than 6,600 passengers from 92 countries. Ganderites, along with residents of the surrounding towns, opened the doors to the local churches, schools, and even their own homes.
Throughout this book, you’ll not only learn the personal stories of the passengers, but you’ll also learn a lot about life on this tiny, remote island and about the unexpected hosts who welcomed strangers from around the world with open arms and generous hearts.
The Book Girls Say…
We’ve both seen and loved the musical Come From Away, so we already knew some of the story, but we learned so much more from this book. The selflessness of the residents of Gander and the surrounding towns will warm your heart page after page. It is one of the most uplifting, faith-in-humanity-restoring books we’ve ever read. The audiobook, narrated by Ray Porter, is especially well done.
This is the latest in the popular Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series of crime mysteries set in Quebec. Each book in this series takes place in the fictional village of Three Pines, where the Chief Inspector investigates murders and digs up long-buried secrets that lay below the seemingly idyllic surface of the town.
The first book in this character-driven mystery series, Still Life, was published in 2006, and many of the subsequent novels have topped the New York Times Best-Seller list and have won major crime-writing awards in three countries.
ThisCanadian novel opens in 1950s Quebec, where tensions run high between the French and English. When 15-year-old Maggie’s parents find out that she’s pregnant and the father is a poor French boy, they force her to give her baby girl, Elodie, up for adoption.
As the years go by, we follow the lives of both the mother and daughter. Elodie is a bright and determined young girl growing up in Quebec’s impoverished orphanage system. But when a law is enacted that provides more funding to psychiatric hospitals than to orphanages, Elodie and thousands of other orphans are declared mentally ill. Elodie withstands terrible treatment until she is finally able to gain her freedom at age seventeen.
Maggie marries and is eager to start a family, but she never forgets the daughter that she was forced to give up. Through the years, the lives of the mother and daughter continue to circle around one another, never quite intersecting. Until finally, Maggie decides to go in search of her long-lost daughter.
The Book Girls Say…
This historical fiction book is highly recommended for fans of the Orphan Train.
Greenwood is a multi-generational saga following one family from 1934-2038. However, the book works backward, first introducing you to Jake, an eco-tour guide in one of the world’s last remaining forests in 2038.
Then you’ll meet Liam, a carpenter in 2008, followed by Willow in 1974 as she attempts to make up for the sins of her father and his timber empire. Finally, you’ll be all the way back to 1934, when Everett Greenwood spent his days alone with the trees and their maple syrup. One day, he hears the cries of an abandoned baby in the forest. His life and the life of the following generations are forever changed.
Timber and the environment tie the family together through changing generations.
The Book Girls Say…
This is a longer book at 528 pages, but reviewers say you’ll be so engrossed in the world of the Greenwoods that you won’t even notice.
Written in 1908, Anne of Green Gables has been a charming classic for over a century. The book starts a series of 8 novels, following Anne from childhood to having her own children. In the first book, you’ll meet Anne as an 11-year old orphan being adopted by the Cuthberts – an older man and his stern sister who live on a farm on Prince Edward Island called Green Gables.
The only problem is that the Cuthberts intended to adopt a boy to help run the farm, not a feisty red-headed girl. However, her wild imagination and beautiful yet precocious spirit quickly win them over.
Spanning from 1933 to 1939, and from the streets of Toronto to the shores of Hong Kong, this Canadian historical fiction novel tells the story of a little-known chapter of WWII history.
With the Depression crippling Toronto, 18-year-old Molly puts aside her journalism dreams to work any job she can to help her family get by. But, as the summer of 1933 stretches on, the terrible wave of hate and anti-Semitism sweeping the globe reaches Toronto in the form of “Swastika Clubs” and “No Jews Allowed” signs. On a fateful night in August, tensions reached a boiling point between the local Irish and Jewish communities. The resulting riot has devastating consequences for Molly’s family and that of her best friend, Hannah.
Six years later, Molly is now working as a reporter for the local paper. With the war on the horizon and many people she loves in danger, Molly is forced to confront what happened on that terrible night back in 1933.
The Book Girls Say…
This book was a crowd favorite in 2022 because it combines page-turning fiction with facets of WW2 history that were unknown to those in our group, even those who were very well-read in the subject!
If you’ve ever wanted to learn about Greenland, this book provides the perfect opportunity to explore the icy island alongside Gretel Ehrlich, who spent the better part of a decade taking in its terrain, culture, and beauty. This Cold Heaven is part travelogue, part adventure story, and part cultural anthropology.
The Book Girls Say…
If you’re looking for a fiction book set in Greenland, try Seven Graves One Winter, a Nordic Noir thriller.
In 1846, the Mexican-American war began in the Río Grande Region as the United States tried to seize land along the river. Ximena Salomé is a gifted Mexican healer who dreams of building a family with the man she loves on the coveted land she calls home. However, the Texas Rangers killed her husband after invading their ranch. In order to honor her husband and country, Ximena volunteers as a nurse on the front lines.
John Riley is Irish, but in the Yankee army with a hope of helping his family escape the famine back home. However, he soon becomes upset at the atrocities committed by his officers. Instead of fighting for them, he boldly swims across the Río Grande and forms St. Patrick’s Battalion, a band of Irish soldiers willing to fight to the death for México’s freedom.
It’s here that he meets Ximena, and their passion for each other matches their passion for changing history. These events and characters are based on a true story that still impacts the US-México border today.
The Book Girls Say…
The award-winning author of this book, Reyna Grande, also has a highly-rated memoir, The Distance Between Us. It recounts her experiences as a child left behind in Mexico when her parents emigrated to the U.S. in search of work, along with her own journey to the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant at the age of nine. Its sequel, A Dream Called Home, was published in 2018.
In the mountains of Guerrero, Mexico, women are often on their own as the men leave looking for other work. However, the setting is also surrounded by the drug war, which is even more dangerous than the terrain and abundant poisonous creatures. As a result, resourceful mothers learn to hide the beauty of their daughters as a form of protection – disguising them as boys or making them unattractive in other ways.
Ladydi is one of these daughters, and you’ll quickly fall in love with her fierce intelligence and willingness to make the best of the circumstances in which she was born. When she’s offered a chance to leave Guerrero to become a nanny for a wealthy American family in Acapulco, she jumps at the opportunity to make a better and safer life for herself. However, the cartel still looms and impacts her life in unexpected ways.
The Book Girls Say…
Our readers say that this book is better read than listened to because the narration is a bit distracting. The 2021 film adaptation of this book was short-listed for the Academy Awards and is available for streaming on Netflix.
Author Jennifer Clement was born and raised in Mexico City. She received her undergraduate degrees at NYU and an MFA from the University of Southern Maine. From 2009 to 2012, Clement was president of PEN Mexico, and her work focused on the disappearance and killing of journalists. She now serves as the first female president of PEN International.
When concert pianist Camille has a career-ending hand injury, she retreats to her mother’s home in Santa Barbara. Now, she’s a piano teacher, and her most promising student is Graciela, the daughter of her mother’s Mexican housekeeper.
When Graciela turns 18, she wins a competition that awards her the opportunity to perform with the LA Philharmonic. However, just two weeks before the performance, Graciela disappears to her family’s village in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico. Camille heads to Oaxaca to find Graciela, but a bus accident along the way leaves Camille stranded without her possessions. She doesn’t speak Spanish and must rely on a new friend, Alejandro, to help her explore the rugged terrain and understand the local culture. Alejandro is a Zapotec man who lives in LA but is from the same village as Graciela.
The Book Girls Say…
The author discovered her deep appreciation of Oaxacan culture after marrying her husband, Rene, an indigenous Zapotec man from the highlands of Oaxaca.
Lydia has a comfortable life in Acapulco as the wife of a journalist and the mother of an 8-year-old little boy. However, when her husband publishes a story about the newest drug lord bringing trouble to town, they become targets of a cartel. After hiding while many family members are massacred, they have to get out of the country for any hope for safety.
Lydia and Luca begin a harrowing journey to the US that will leave you on the edge of your seat. You’ll feel their fear along the way, making the book both suspenseful and heartbreaking as they make the journey of their lives.
The Book Girls Say…
When this book was published, it came with understandable criticism because it was not written by an OWN voices author. The author received significantly more money and publicity than books written by authors with Mexican heritage and first-hand experience of the journey.
Much of the criticism was aimed at the publishing industry versus the author’s writing, and the story has deeply impacted many readers. Readers often say their eyes were opened to aspects of immigration they hadn’t previously considered and increased their empathy, so we are including it. However, we recommend combining your reading of the fictional American Dirt with an OWN memoir, such as A Dream Called Home by Reyna Grande.
This modern classic crosses genres from historical fiction and romance to magical realism. Set in 1910-1917 Mexico, Like Water for Chocolate is the story of the all-female De La Garza family. The youngest daughter, Tita, is expected to follow the Mexican tradition of caring for her mother instead of having her own husband and family.
However, she’s fallen in love with Pedro, who has been seduced by Tita’s magical food. So, knowing the tradition, Pedro takes the extreme action of marrying Tita’s sister Rosaura so he can stay close to Tita. And that is just the beginning of Tita’s problems, which include everything from a kidnapped sister to war.
The story is told in monthly installments, with recipes and home remedies mixed into the romance.
The Book Girls Say…
Originally published and translated in 1989, the novel topped the bestseller charts in both Mexico and the US for over two years. If you missed it back then, now is a great time to see what all the excitement was about!
Clara is a modern teenager growing up in Baltimore. She has never met her father’s parents and doesn’t know much about his past other than the fact that he snuck over the US border as a teenager. One day, she receives a letter from her grandparents inviting her to spend the summer with them in their small village of Yucuyoo in southern Mexico.
After her initial culture shock, Clara begins to see the beauty in a simpler life, and as she learns about her father’s past, she also embarks on her own journey of self-discovery.
The Book Girls Say…
While this is a middle grade fiction book, we think it’s an excellent choice if you’re looking for a quick but moving read that will truly transport you to rural Mexico. The landscape and food descriptions will make you long to visit the Oaxaca region.
Inspired by several notebooks discovered at Frida Kahlo’s Mexico City home, this novel provides a fictional account of the famous artist’s life. The author begins with the premise that, after Frida nearly died in a streetcar accident, she received a notebook as a gift from her lover, Tina Modotti, and used the notebook to collect memories, ideas, and recipes.
This reimagined tale of Kahlo’s passionate life and the development of her art also details her relationships with many famous characters, including Georgia O’Keeffe, Nelson Rockefeller, Ernest Hemingway, Henry Miller, Salvador Dali, and more.
Latin American Books Set in Central American Countries
The term Latin America generally refers to the entire region south of the United States in which Spanish, Portuguese, and French (all Latin languages) are officially spoken. The countries of Latin America span both the North and South American continents.
For the purposes of this North American reading list, our Latin American book recommendations cover the Central American countries of Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.
In this 2022 memoir, poet Javier Zamora recounts his 3,000-mile journey from his small town in El Salvador to the US.
When he was just five years old, his mother left for the United States and told Javier that one day he’d “take a trip” to join her and his father there. At the age of nine, Javier left behind his grandparents and aunt and set out to reunite with his parents.
This was no “trip” through – it was a two-month-long treacherous journey with a group of strangers and a coyote hired to lead the way. Javier somehow survived the perilous boat trips, relentless desert treks, and other dangers at every turn. Throughout this life-altering experience, the strangers he traveled with became like family, encircling him, protecting him, and guiding his way with unexpected kindness and love.
The Book Girls Say…
This memoir came highly recommended by members of our group who were among its earliest readers, and since then, many more of our readers have given this book their highest ratings.
Javier is an acclaimed poet, and his memoir reads like a novel. Told with vivid and intimate details, this is Javier’s story, but it’s also the story of millions of others like him who have been forced to leave home.
They called Gabi the tree girl because she was always climbing trees in the Guatemalan forest to watch the eagles and the sunrise. One day, while high in the safety of her trees, she witnesses the sights and sounds of a terrible massacre – part of the ongoing Maya genocide. Also known as the Silent Holocaust, the Guatemalan military government carried out more than 600 massacres, killing tens of thousands of Maya citizens and destroying more than 400 Mayan villages between 1981 and 1983.
Having lost not only her whole family, but her entire village, Gabi joins the masses of refugees struggling to reach the Mexican border. Throughout the long journey, Gabi continues to hold out hope that she might be reunited with her younger sister.
The Book Girls Say…
Although this is a middle-grade book, we included it on the list because it deals with a tragic event that happened during our lifetime that we weren’t even aware of until now. Caminar, by Skila Brown, is another highly-rated middle-grade book about the Mayan genocide.
Tara is a surgeon for a London hospital who travels with her cardiologist boyfriend to the southeast Costa Rican village of Puerto Viejo for a family celebration. In recent years, she has strived to escape the grasp of her controlling, affluent family but agrees to attend an unmissable party in the jungle. However, instead of enjoying a carefree vacation, she encounters a desperately ill local boy.
The boy’s mother is having him treated by the shaman and rejects Tara’s Western medicine approach. However, she is compelled to help however she can and agrees to trek deep into the jungle for days in order to gather the plant that may save his life.
The Book Girls Say…
Reviewers say that this book includes rich descriptions of Costa Rica that enhance the adventure, suspense, and romance aspects of the plot.
For another fictional read set partially in Costa Rica, consider Charming Falls Apart, by Angela Terry. In this women’s fiction pick, Allison’s life begins to fall apart when she loses her job and finds her fiance cheating on her with her maid of honor – all on her 35th birthday. She uses her time away from work for self-reflection and travels to Costa Rica for a meditation retreat.
Maya is seventeen and has a talent for making clothes out of unusual objects. Her fashion design skills have earned her a scholarship to Guatemala City’s most prestigious design school and a finalist spot in the school’s fashion show. Mamá believes in Maya’s talent and even takes on an extra job to make sure Maya has everything she needs at the school.
So when Mamá doesn’t show up at the fashion show, Maya knows something is wrong. The local gangs that terrorize Guatemala City are now too close to home, and Maya and Mamá must flee. Their only hope is to travel through Mexico and to the US. But can they reach the border and asylum?
The Book Girls Say…
Author Jennifer De Leon was born in the Boston area to Guatemalan parents. She is also the editor of Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education, an International Latino Book Award-winning anthology, and a faculty member in the Creative Writing & Literature Master Program at Harvard University.
What began as a terrible vacation for Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Diana Marcum turned into a quest to learn more. When Diana inadvertently came upon a wildlife sanctuary supported by an international live butterfly trade, she was eager to learn more about this first-of-its-kind farm.
Soon, her vacation turned into an extended stay as she and her new partner, Jack, moved into a long-empty jungle house in Belize. Diana becomes acquainted with Clive, a whimsical British millionaire who created an industry of his childhood passion, and Sebastian, the Maya farm manager.
While Diana was chasing blue butterflies, Mayan secrets, and happily ever after in Belize, she couldn’t have expected that she’d also face a hurricane and global pandemic.
The Book Girls Say…
This is both a warm and funny memoir, as well as a heartfelt cry to protect the beauty of the natural world.
Sharon Matola was beloved as “the Zoo Lady” in her adopted land of Belize. This biography chronicles how Matola became one of Central America’s greatest wildlife defenders. The book details her crusade to stop a multinational corporation that sought to build a dam that would have flooded the nesting ground of the last scarlet macaws in Belize.
This novel weaves together the stories of three generations of Nicaraguan women. When Maria, a New York City artist, returns home to Nicaragua to attend her beloved grandfather’s funeral, she steps back into the tensions that have always existed in the relationship with her mother, Ninexin, and grandmother, Isabela.
Maria was largely raised by her doting grandmother because her mother spent Maria’s formative years as a famous revolutionary. Ninexin was instrumental in the fight to create the new Nicaragua and has since become a tireless government employee.
When Maria returns home for the funeral, she brings with her a mysterious package from her grandmother’s past – one that brings back Isabala’s memories of attending boarding school in New Orleans during the 1950s.
Each chapter is told in the first person from the alternating point of view of each woman. This beautifully written novel also provides vivid descriptions of the landscape and history of Nicaragua.
The Book Girls Say…
Some readers say that the alternating first-person POV starts out a bit confusing because of the various character names and nicknames. But once you get the names straight, the character development will suck you into this family drama. Reviewers particularly love the character of Isabela, whom the author based on her Nicaraguan husband’s own grandmother.
If you’d prefer to read a non-fiction set in Nicaragua, we recommend Gioconda Belli’s 2001 memoir, The Country Under My Skin. Belli, an acclaimed Nicaraguan writer, was born in Managua in 1948 and grew up in a world of country clubs and debutante balls, completely sheltered from the poverty outside of her bubble. She was educated abroad and married young. But in 1970, after becoming more aware of the social injustices in her country, she joined the Sandinistas and spent the next two decades as an insider to a revolution.
Margot and Anthony were leading lives filled with stresses that would sound familiar to many parents – long hours at work, carpooling, overscheduled kids, and concerns about money. One day, Margot impulsively suggested the family move to Costa Rica, and a short seven weeks later, they were jobless on top of a remote mountain.
In this witty memoir, Margot provides insight into her family’s struggle to get back on track in a new life. She shares insights on parenting and privilege, loneliness, and connection. Along the way, she discovers that even when everything changes, some things still remain the same.
The title story in this collection of short stories is a 100-page novella, set in 1989 Panama and focused on the month that Manuel Noriega was overthrown. Together, the stories show a range of geography and experiences of everyday citizens as the county began to transition to the new government. With themes of family relationships and generational conflict in many of the stories, you’ll be absorbed by the characters and learn about this period of Panamanian history at the same time.
The Book Girls Say…
The author spent her summers growing up with family in Panama, so she has first-hand experience in the region. She also wrote a great novel, The Book of Unknown Americans, which gives insight into the immigrant experience in America, as well as another book set in Panama titled The World in Half.
Heads Up: The short story “Beautiful” in this book includes child abuse.
Looking for something more along the lines of a YA Romance? In Wanderlove, an 18-year-old sets off to tour Central America. Except she made a mistake and signed up to be a part of middle-aged tourists – not what she had in mind for a summer of love and independence.
When she meets a backpacker and his sister, she quickly ditches her tour and joins the siblings as they travel further off the beaten path to locals like Mayan villages and isolated islands.
The Book Girls Say…
We just wanted to give a shout-out to the other middle-aged tourists like us, who are pretty fun to be around. 🙂
After retiring as a social worker, 60-year-old Ellen Lippman Finn took a two-week trip to Honduras to learn Spanish by immersing herself in a new culture. That single decision radically changed her life and turned into a 7-year stay in Copan Ruinas.
Her work there started with small acts, like asking friends and family back home in the US to send materials for rural schools. As she received more contributions, she expanded into opening new schools, medical clinics, and more. This memoir recaps her journey and focuses on Honduras’s culture and how important it was for her to understand and appreciate the local customs.
The Book Girls Say…
When researching this book, we were impressed to learn that the author stayed in Latin America, moving to Guatemala, even after violence and threats by drug cartels increased. She has now completed her 20th school in the region.
Books That Provide Unique Perspectives on the United States
In addition to the books set in the United States below, we have book recommendations set in every individual state, plus Washington DC and the five inhabited territories. Click here to see the full books by state index.
Deborah was born to Puritan parents in Plympton, Massachusetts, in 1760. However, her father then abandoned the family. When Deborah’s mother is no longer able to support them, Deborah becomes an indentured servant at age 10. She constantly yearns for a life of freedom and adventure.
When the fight for independence from England begins, Deborah is impassioned by the cause. She wants to be part of the action, so she disguises herself as a boy and joins the Continental Army using the name Robert.
The Book Girls Say…
This historical fiction is based on the life of a real woman, Deborah Sampson. Amy Harmon dropped the p from Sampson when naming the main character.
Readers say there is a slow-burn romance as part of the storyline, but the main focus is Deborah and the American Revolution.
In this masterfully written non-fiction, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities in search of a better life. Spanning 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America.
The history of this epic migration is told through the lives of three individuals: Ida Mae Gladney, who left sharecropping in 1937 and relocated from Mississippi to Chicago, where she later proudly cast her vote for Barak Obama when he ran for his Illinois senate seat in the early 2000s; George Starling fled Florida for Harlem in 1945, where he fought for civil rights; and Robert Foster, who left Louisiana in 1953 to pursue a medical career and who later became the personal physician to Ray Charles.
This book not only captures the personal side of each story – including the treacherous and exhausting cross-country and the process of adapting to their new lives, but also addresses how the migration changed these cities with southern food, faith, and culture and improved them with discipline, drive, and hard work.
The Book Girls Say…
In addition to being highly rated by our readers and winning numerous prizes when it was published, TIME Magazine named The Warmth of Other Suns to its list of the 10 best books of the decade in 2019.
If you’ve already read this book, Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 book Caste, is equally highly rated and informative.
PEN Award–winning Native American author Mona Susan Power tells the story of three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women in this highly-rated 2023 release.
Born in 1961 Chicago, Sissy has a volatile relationship with her mother. However, there is also beauty in her life, including her new doll, Ethel, who whispers kindness into Sissy’s ear and even protects her.
Lillian, born in 1925, and her sister Blanche are forced to attend an “Indian School” away from their family. Lillian’s doll, Mae, finds a way to defend the girls after a tragedy.
Cora was born in 1888 in the legacy of the “Indian Wars.” White men move her across the country so she can be civilized, but they are brutal and burn her beloved buckskin and beaded doll, Winona. However, the spirit of Winona may not have perished in the fire.
The Book Girls Say…
This book starts with Sissy and then moves backward through generations, with each woman’s childhood feeling like a different story. Then, you’ll circle back to Sissy as an adult for the final segment as she gathers her family history to tie it together.
Despite being devasting and hard to read at points, the publisher says it’s ultimately hopeful.
Don’t miss the author’s note, where she ties the book to her family history and shares more about the real people who inspired her story.
Florida, New York City, Washington D.C., 1927-1943
Book Summary
This historical fiction novel tells the story of the friendship between two powerful and influential women in American history.
Mary McLeod Bethune, the daughter of formerly enslaved parents, was one of the first black female activists. Through her work as both an activist and an educator, she helped lay a foundation for the civil rights movement. Eleanor Roosevelt shared Mary’s passion for education and women’s rights, and was eager to make her acquaintance. The two became fast friends and confidantes.
After Eleanor’s husband, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was elected president in 1932, the two women began to collaborate even more closely. She became quite a controversial First Lady for pursuing her own agenda, separate from FDR, and particularly for her outspoken stance on civil rights.
When Elanor begins to receive threats as a result of her close relationship with Mary, both women use it as motivation to fight even harder for equality.
The Book Girls Say…
After reading and loving The Personal Librarian, we were so excited to see the writing duo of Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray collaborating again on this novel.
Part travelogue and part history of America’s public lands, you’ll armchair travel across the country to some of America’s most beautiful locations as you read That Wild Country.
The public land trust owned by the citizens of the US is the largest in the world, and the lands serve as havens for wildlife and recreation zones for visitors. However, since the inception of the public land system, there has been controversy. Some want conservation, while others want the vast resources utilized. This book is the perfect primer on the topic.
The Book Girls Say…
This book was a Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best Science read in 2020.
This present-day novel follows 12 different characters from Native communities as they travel to California for the Big Oakland Powwow. All have their own struggles, and through their stories, you’ll gain tremendous insight into the often difficult life of an urban Native American.
From a 14-year-old traveling to perform a traditional dance for the first time to a newly sober woman trying to reconnect with her family, each story eventually interconnects in unexpected ways.
The Book Girls Say…
This is not a light and easy-to-read novel, so be sure you’re in the right frame of mind when you pick it up. This book deals with some challenging and traumatic topics and events, but it also provides amazing insights. Author Tommy Orange is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, and he was born and raised in Oakland, California.
The Night Watchman is another solid choice for Native American fiction. It’s based on the life of the author’s grandfather and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2021.
You are welcome to choose any book that you’d like to read for the Book Voyage Reading Challenge, but we hope that this diverse list of books set throughout North America has given you a good starting point. We also have lots of other reading resources that you may find useful:
Arctic North: Our list of Arctic books covers the northernmost parts of Canada, Greenland, and the US state of Alaska.
Islands: In addition to the countries listed above, there are also many island nations and territories that are considered part of North America. You’ll find many of those covered on our list of books that take place on islands.
Latin America: The book list above includes books set in Mexico and Central America. Check out our list of the best books set in South America for even more Latin American literature and non-fiction.
The Past Century and a Half in the United States: The list above includes just a handful of books set in the United States, with a focus on works that provide a unique perspective. If you’re interested in learning more about life in the US throughout the past century, we encourage you to check out the reading lists that we’ve compiled for the Decades Reading Challenge. Here, you’ll find book recommendations for each decade from the 1880s to the present, many of which are set in the United States.
Children’s Books Set in North America: If you are looking for kids’ books about North American countries, we have a great list with a wide range of picture books, early chapter books, and middle-grade books set in Canada, the US, Mexico, Central America, and the islands of the Caribbean.
You are welcome to choose any book that you’d like to read for the challenge, but we hope that this list of books and resources has given you a good starting point.
Sign Up for the Book Voyage Challenge
Sign up for our email list below to receive a free printable tracker for the Book Voyage Challenge. Our weekly email newsletter helps you stay on track with friendly reminders while still allowing you the flexibility to read at your own pace. Additionally, challenge participants have an opportunity to discuss the books on this list and to provide ratings and reviews via our book logs.
Book Recommendations for Other Regions
Find more recommendations for other regions of the world using the links below.
The Book Girls are best friends who jointly read over 200 books per year. We started Book Girls' Guide in 2019 to help others de-stress and find joy through the power of a great book. We do in-depth research on thousands of novels and non-fiction titles each year to provide curated book lists covering a variety of genres.
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