Reading about Place

I've always been drawn to reading books set in or about places I've been or lived. I like being able to imagine the landscape, buildings or people. I suppose they also helped me develop from being a struggling reader to a prolific one. I was able to tackle harder to read words by having a context in which to put them.

Here are some of my favorite books about Alaska, my home for the last decade. Some are children's books and some are novels meant for a more mature audience (though they are not graphic or lude in anyway).

• Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights by Debbie Miller, and illustrated by Jon Van Zyle
• My Lead Dog Was A Lesbian: Mushing Across Alaska in the Iditarod--the World's Most Grueling Race by Brian Patrick O'Donoghue
• Recess at 20 Below by Cindy Aillaud
• The Accidental Adventurer by Barbara Washburn, the first woman to Climb Denali
• Tisha: The Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaska Wilderness by Anne Purdy & Robert Specht
• Two in the Far North by Margaret E. Murie
• Up on Denali by Shelly Gill, illustrated by Shannon Cartwright
• Winterdance by Gary Paulsen
• All books written by Debbie Miller
• All books illustrated by Shannon Cartwright