Our Favorite Books: United States

Is there honor in Honor, Michigan? Or hope in Hope, Mississippi? These are just two of the many questions that the author asks as he and his wife travel around the U.S., searching for lost virtues and unveiling the human stories behind tiny towns with names like “Love,” “Glory,” and “Pride.” More than just a journey through small town U.S.A., it is a journey of the heart.

In 1992, a young history professor led his undergraduate students on an ambitious 6-week journey on a sleeper-bus around the United States. The class traveled through 30 states and 10 national parks, and learned about America by experiencing it.

This excellent book offers plenty of valuable information for those planning a trip to the Grand Canyon. There are maps, historical accounts, wildlife descriptions, geology, and logistical information regarding hotels and activities for visitors. The beautiful photography throughout, however, elevates this book far beyond the status as a mere “guidebook.” Anyone who is even remotely interested in the Grand Canyon will find this book hard to put down.

For anyone who wants to get their kicks on Route 66, this is the book that will show you how. It has everything you need to travel Route 66 from start to finish, with detailed maps, instructions on how to find and stay on the old road, directions on how to locate older versions of the road, and descriptions of many worth-while stops along the way.

An excellent resource if you want to go off-road riding in Moab, this book has detailed trail descriptions, GPS coordinates, difficulty ratings, maps, photos, and helpful hints that cover over 50 backroads and 4-wheel drive trails.

This guide contains everything you need to plan and carry out a wonderful trip to Disney World—ticket information, hotel and restaurant information and reviews, maps, ride descriptions, tips on how to avoid the crowds, and (our favorite part) detailed touring plans to help you experience each park with the maximum joy. We have been to Walt Disney World twice, and we have relied heavily on this book each time. Invaluable for enhancing the fun!

During our budget trip to the Big Island, we relied heavily upon this book to find activities and places that were basically “free.” Every day was full of adventure—snorkeling up-close with colorful fish and sea turtles, hiking to petroglyphs, learning about the Hawaiian culture at national parks and historical sites, exploring a long lava tube, viewing incredible volcanic formations, and having a lot of fun together as a family!

For our 2-month RV trip to Alaska, we relied heavily on this camping guidebook. It has detailed maps showing the location of over 500 campgrounds in Alaska, the Yukon Territory and northern British Columbia, plus it provides related descriptions, contact information, and activity suggestions.

This is a harrowing account of one boy’s journey to the United States from Honduras to find his mother. Riding on top of freight trains through Mexico, he became one of the thousands of children and adults who travel north every year with the hope of slipping through the U.S. border illegally. The author provides new insight into why some people try so desperately to reach the U.S., often suffering violent abuse from those who prey on their vulnerability. Well-researched and very moving, this book was hard for us to put down.

Many of the historical markers, monuments, and other sites across America contain incorrect or misleading “facts.” While this book does a great job of revealing many of these inaccuracies, it also challenges us to look at the way “history” is written—to discern the truth, we must ask who is doing the writing, who is providing the funding for a particular statue/monument/marker, and what motive might be behind the information presented to the public as “truth.”

Our family read this children’s book together before we visited Roanoke Island, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, during our cross-country journey. It provides an in-depth look at the history of the colony and offers a plausible explanation of what might have happened to the colonists. Although intended for older children, the hefty content will also satisfy adults who are curious about the Lost Colony.

We bought this children’s book during a visit to Washington D.C., and our 7-year old son was fascinated with it. The book describes events that occurred before and during the American Revolution, and presents the contrasting viewpoints of both George Washington and King George III. There are also colorful drawings and cartoons to keep the mood lively.

We read this children’s book with our kids before visiting Colonial Williamsburg and were surprised at the wealth of information presented. In question and answer format, the book covers many topics such as housing, clothing, forms of payment, keeping food fresh, the use of tobacco, what children did for fun, punishments for people and children, and why the colonists were angry at the British.

Slavery may be a difficult concept for kids to understand, but the author has done an amazing job of presenting information in a straightforward and honest manner. In question and answer format, this children’s book provides an amazing amount of detail about life as an American slave. Some of the questions covered are: Why did slavery start in America? What if your father belonged to another slave owner? Why weren’t slaves allowed to read and write? Could you be made a slave even if you were free? What happened during the Civil War?

For those curious about the Underground Railroad, this children’s book answers many questions, such as: How did the Underground Railroad get its name? Where would you first go when you ran away? Was everyone in the North against slavery? What happened if you were caught? and What would you do when you became free? This important part of U.S. history is presented in a manner that kids (and adults) can easily understand.

This beautifully written and illustrated children’s book is a suspenseful story of a young man’s nighttime quest for safety on one part of the Underground Railroad. The animals and insects in the forest come to his aid, and the story is told from their perspective. Highly recommended!

This book tells of a girl and her brother Be Be who took an imaginary journey on the Underground Railroad in the Sky. The train conductor was Harriet Tubman, a real hero who escaped from slavery and then led hundreds of others to their freedom. The overnight stops in the book are based upon actual places where slaves found sanctuary on their hard journey north to Canada.

This true children’s story is about a boy named Henry who grew up, fell in love, got married and had two children. But Henry was a slave. One day, his wife’s owner sold her and the children, and Henry is heartbroken. He dreams of being free, and creates a plan under which he mails himself to freedom in a wooden crate.

This children’s book tells the story of a brave, 6-year old girl who became one of the first children to break the color barrier in a formerly all-white elementary school in New Orleans in 1960. In her own words, Ruby tells how she and her family faced the intense hatred day after day, and how she managed to survive the difficult year of first grade.

This children’s story of a teenage girl slave in New York at the beginning of the American Revolution is well-written and riveting.

The sequel to “Chains,” this children’s story is told from a teenage boy’s perspective. He fights for the nation’s freedom as a soldier in the Patriot’s army, and then he has to fight for his own personal freedom after he is recaptured and enslaved by his former owner.

For kids who want to understand what it was like to travel west in a covered wagon along the Oregon Trail, this book covers a wide range of issues, including why people wanted to travel west, what was a wagon train, dangers along the way, how to create a fire without wood, Indian encounters, and more.

This children’s story tells of a lonely man named Alejandro who lived in the desert. He created a garden that attracted a parade of different animals—squirrels, rabbits, birds, rats, and even a desert tortoise. When he realized that they were coming for the garden’s water, Alejandro labored to make a water hole that would serve many more desert animals, including deer, skunk, wild pigs, and coyote. Wonderful watercolor drawings, with a beautiful lesson on giving and receiving.

We read this book with our kids before visiting the Great Salt Lake. It has easy-to-read text and engaging photos that provide basic information about this fascinating body of salt water.

This children’s book presents answers to some of the common questions that rangers hear while working at Yellowstone Park. We read this book before visiting the park, and our kids loved the fact that they knew so much about the park already—such as why the burned tree trunks were not being removed. As an added feature, the illustrations are done in black and white so that children can color them.

This children’s mystery is centered around the controversy between people who support the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone Park, and local ranchers who claim that the wolves will kill their cattle. Well written, with tantalizing suspense that kept us turning the pages!

This gem of a book is told from the perspective of Thomas Blue Eagle, a Sioux boy who leaves the great plains and attends the Carlisle Indian School, an actual school in Pennsylvania that existed from 1879 to 1918. The text and drawings are presented as if they were done by Thomas in a ledgerbook. Our family has read this book over and over. It is a wonderful story, well-researched and beautifully presented.

In the Pacific Northwest, a boy is lost at sea during a storm and winds up in a supernatural world with giant beings, until he finally wishes himself home. This child’s myth of separation, initiation, and return is told with simple text and rich illustrations that are full of symbolism.

This delightful children’s book recounts the Cherokee tale of how the dark side of the world received sunshine, and how the buzzard and the possum suffered from the sun’s burning hot flames during their attempts to steal it.

We read several children’s books about Hawaii’s volcanoes before our journey to the Big Island, and this one was our favorite. With clear text and interesting photographs, it gave our kids a good foundation of knowledge about Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and made our actual visit there much richer.

Using the Exxon Valdez oil spill as an example, this children’s book discusses the harmful impact of the oil on wildlife, and the different methods to clean up the spill.