South Dakota Books: Novels Set in the Mount Rushmore State

Book Summary

Calamity Jane was one of the most infamous American frontierswomen. In this historical fiction, we see her story through the eyes of 12-year-old Jimmy Glass. When Jimmy’s Pa becomes ill with smallpox, Jimmy and his sister, Hour, must travel into lawless Deadwood to get help.

A surprising group of Deadwood inhabitants, including Calamity Jane, surrounds Jimmy & Hour. The kids find a new “family” that protects them from the uncertainty and chaos that define the region.

Book Summary

Iris has been running from bad things for years, and now she knows all the ways to guard herself and her heart. She’s currently house-sitting in South Dakota and is surprised by her rare feelings of safety when she meets neighbor Sawyer, who has a calming presence.

Late one night, she hears a chilling cry from a walkie-talkie buried in a box of toys. As Iris tries to figure out what is going on, the calls get more desperate, then turn menacing. She realizes that the calls aren’t actually for help. They’re trying to terrorize her. The only way out is to confront the past she’s been trying to ignore.

Book Summary

Rachel works in a Chicago boardinghouse, where she falls in love with the owner’s son, Isaac. Isaac agrees to marry Rachel, but only if she signs over her 160 acres from the Homestead Act so he has control of all 320 acres. She agrees, and they claim the property in the South Dakota Badlands.

By 1917, they had been on the land for 14 years, and life had become increasingly difficult. It hasn’t rained in months, making both the cattle and the land thirsty. Supplies have dwindled, and Rachel is pregnant again. Her husband, a fiercely proud former Buffalo Soldier, will never leave the land that puts him on equal footing with the white landowners. But, Rachel knows she must do what is right for her children and herself.

Book Summary

Zo is a former journalist who now runs the Happy Camper gift shop in a small South Dakota town. This Memorial Day, she’s excited to welcome back the tourists and her good friend Beth, who is coming back to run her family’s hotel.

After a power outage during the grand opening of the hotel, a competitor’s dead body was found on the premises. Beth is the prime suspect, but Zo knows she is innocent. It’s time to put her investigative journalist skills to use with the help of Max, the local Forest Ranger and unlikely ally.

Book Summary

While she hasn’t told anyone in the small town of Mitchell, South Dakota, recently divorced teacher Erica is trans. She keeps mostly to herself, teaching by day and directing community theater at night. But then Abigail Hawkes comes along.

Abigail is seventeen, Mitchell High’s resident political dissident, and the “Only Trans Girl” in town. While she is comfortable in this visible role, she also didn’t plan to spend her senior year secretly guiding her English teacher through her transition. Eventually, this unlikely friendship draws scrutiny from their small community.

Book Summary

Based on an actual event and oral history from the survivors, The Children’s Blizzard takes us to the 1888 Great Plains. Just before school was let out for the day, an unexpected and extreme blizzard overtook the Dakota Territory. That morning, it had been warm enough that most went to school without their coats.

Schoolteachers, often as young as 16, had the children’s lives in their hands and were forced to make life-altering decisions. Two of the teachers, sisters Raina and Gerda, came out of the storm with very different outcomes. One was a hero, and one was ostracized. The book tells their stories, along with the story of a young servant girl and her miraculous survival.

Book Summary

Eleven-year-old Cooper wasn’t thrilled to be stuck on his grandparents’ South Dakota ranch for the summer. But his attitude changes after meeting Lil, the girl next door. Each summer, their relationship grows and changes, eventually changing from friendship to romance. But, both are still haunted by the time they discovered the body of a hiker.

Eventually, Lil followed her dream of becoming a wildlife biologist to help protect her family’s land while Coop lives a faster-paced life in New York as an investigator. When he needs to return to South Dakota to care for his aging grandparents, he’s reunited with Lil for the first time in twelve years.

Lil is now trying to open the Chance Wildlife Refuge, but someone seems to be watching and interfering. When Lil’s beloved cougar is killed, Coop knows he needs to stay in the Black Hills and keep Lil safe.

Book Summary

This novel tells the story behind The Wonderful Wizard of Oz through the eyes of Maud, the wife of author L. Frank Baum. The book follows two storylines: one tells the story of Maud’s youth as the rebellious daughter of a leading suffragette and the early years of Maud and Frank’s marriage on the prairie. 

The second storyline takes place in 1930s Hollywood when Maud learns that MGM is adapting The Wonderful Wizard of Oz into a movie. Then 77, Maud finagles her way onto the set in hopes of ensuring the producers stay true to the spirit of the book. She meets Judy Garland and recognizes in the young woman the yearning that defined her own life story.

Book Summary

Carson bought his first horse from Magnus Yarborough, the town’s wealthy landowner, when he was only 14. Years later, Carson is now a respected horse trainer. He reluctantly agrees to train Magnus’ horses and to teach his wife to ride. However, his irritation at power-hungry Magnus increases alongside an increasing attraction to Magnus’ wife.

This attraction sets off an unsettling chain of events that also impacts Earl Walks Alone, an Indian trying to study his way out of the reservation and into college, and Willi, a German exchange student confronting his family’s troubled history.

Book Summary

On the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Virgil Wounded Horse is the local enforcer. He steps in if the American legal system or the tribal council fails to act.

When Virgil’s nephew is impacted by the heroin that has infiltrated the reservation, things get more personal. With the help of his ex-girlfriend, he’s determined to find and stop the flow of drugs. Along the way, he’s forced to reconcile the costs and challenges of being Native American in the twenty-first century.

Book Summary

Journalist Tom Brokaw’s father, Red, left school after only the 2nd grade to work at the family hotel, the Brokaw House, which was established in 1883. As he grew older, Red developed a talent for working with machinery. He met Tom’s mother, Jean, after she was the lead in a high school play.

Jean’s father was a man who lost everything during the Great Depression, and Red and Jean also faced financial struggles as they raised their three young sons. However, Red’s mantra was “Never Give Up’ and his good attitude was soon rewarded with a job for the Army Corps of Engineers building great dams across the Missouri River.

Late in life, Red recorded his memories of his early life, and those reflections helped inspire Tom to write this book.