Top Ten Tuesday (88)

Top Ten Favorite Books That Take Place in New England

As you all likely know–or, maybe this is your first visit (HIII!!!) and you have no idea–but I’m not from New England. I’m from New Jersey. But I’ve been to New England a few times and I kind of dig the whole J. Crew preppy vibe there, even if everyone is a Red Sox fan. One of my must-visit places is Maine. In fact, learning that a book takes place there puts it immediately on my radar. So for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, I decided to pop the color on my polo shirt, drop my “r”s, and shout out my favorite books set in New England.

I’ve never been to Maine, but I imagine that Amy McNamara captures winter there pretty perfectly, and she makes it sound so peaceful and solitary and clean with snow. But even the setting cannot take a back seat to the story of Wren, which I found to be gorgeous and sad and hopeful.

Get ready for the Penderwicks to be all up in this list, friends, because my favorite middle grade family of sisters live in Massachusetts, which is where we first meet them, and then they vacation in Maine in book 3. I wish I could convey the tone of these books in a way that does it the justice it deserves. Alas, Jeanne Birdsall is the writer and I am not, so words escape me.

Maine is, obviously, a real place, but I doubt very much that the town of Promise actually exists like Wendy Wunder says it does. In fact, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t. There’s some weird things going on there, not the least of which is the purported healing properties that bring Cam Cooper and her family there in the hopes of curing her incurable cancer. I cried like a freaking baby when I read this one, guys.

Alternate history Maine with WITCHES? HAVE MERCY. This series keeps getting better, and Jessica Spotswood KILLS ME with those CLIFFHANGERS!!

Even though I was less than thrilled with the conclusion to this series, the first book remains solid. In the first book, the setting takes a back seat to the story, which is cool, but it still counts!

This contemp is just super adorable, and it has one of the better YA couples I’ve read in Jase and Samantha. To be honest, it could be set anywhere, but it’s in Connecticut, and so it’s on this list.

This is one of those middle grade series that I wish more people would read. It’s so much fun, and the fairy creatures in it seem so real, not to mention the fairy POLITICS. I KNOW. The idea that, hidden away in Connecticut somewhere is one of only five fairy preserves in the WHOLE WORLD, and it is the home to such amazing, dangerous creatures is so excellent.

That’s right, I went all adult on you. But trust me: This book, set in Salem, MA, about witchy business is just too legit to quit. I will always love books about witches, friends, and I just LOVE that this one is set in Salem, one of the coolest, quirkiest towns ever.

I read this book before I even started blogging, but I LOVED the way Frankie fights the power at her elite Massachusetts prep school by playing against the old boys club vibe on campus.

Hey, Penderwicks! Guys, seriously. If contemporary middle grades–or just middle grades in general–are your thing, give these a shot. In book 1, the Penderwicks are on vacation in the Berkshires, and in book 2, we see them on their home turf in a Cambridge, MA-esque college town.

Cape Cod! I LOVE Cape Cod! Such a different kind of beach town than I’m used to here in Jersey. Cousins Beach doesn’t actually exist, but it’s supposed to be a beach in Cape Cod, MA, and those Fisher boys are AMAZING.

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted byThe Broke and the Bookish. It’s awesome. Every week, the lovely ladies over there post a topic so that book lovers like you and me can pour over our shelves and MAKE A LIST. WORD.