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Coming of Age in Wisconsin
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These novels and memoirs detail experiences of people growing up in Wisconsin.
Updated April 10, 2023
Milwaukee County Federated Library System
Wauwatosa Public Library
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All this could be different
Mathews, Sarah Thankam
Paper Book
2022 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST ONE OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES' TOP 5 FICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR ONE OF TIME AND SLATE'S TOP 10 BOOKS OF THE YEAR Named one of the BEST BOOKS OF 2022 by NPR, Vogue, Vulture,...
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The art of fielding : a novel
Harbach, Chad.
Paper Book
A disastrous error on the field sends five lives into a tailspin in this widely acclaimed tale about love, life, and baseball, praised by the New York Times as "wonderful...a novel that is every bit as entertaining as it is affecting."
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Beyond the limbo silence
Nunez, Elizabeth.
Paper Book
When Sara Edgehill leaves her home in Trinidad to attend college in Wisconsin,he finds solace and friendship with Courtney, another West Indian whoovertly practices voodoo rituals, and Sam, a charismatic civil rightsctivist.
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The birchbark house
Erdrich, Louise.
Paper Book
For use in schools and libraries only. Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847.
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A brook runs through it
Hubin, Peter J.
Paper Book
A coming of age story about a 14 year old boy who retreats into the wilderness during the summer of 1948. He meets a 14 year old trout fishing girl and they develop a wonderful friendship. The book is fiction but much of it is as things were during that time period in northwestern Wisconsin.
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The cherry harvest
Sanna, Lucy
Paper Book
A memorable coming-of-age story and love story, laced with suspense, which explores a hidden side of the home front during World War II, when German POWs were put to work in a Wisconsin farm community . . . with dark and unexpected consequences. The war has taken a toll on the Christiansen...
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The contradiction : conflicting reflections through a broken mirror
Hampton, Julian Vaughan.
Paper Book
A criminal underworld plagues a Midwestern city and two young boys are caught in the crossfire.In "The Contradiction," Chris Parker and James Johnson each chronicle their life growing up in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The two best friends form a bond, despite the differences between their...
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Dark Dude
Hijuelos, Oscar.
Paper Book
He didn't say good-bye. He didn't leave a phone number. And he didn't plan on coming back - ever. In Wisconsin, Rico could blend in. His light hair and lighter skin wouldn't make him the "dark dude" or the punching bag for the whole neighborhood. The Midwest is...
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The dive from Clausen's pier
Packer, Ann
Paper Book
A New York Times BestsellerSuffocated by her unexceptional life, Carrie Bell longs for a chance to begin again, and is granted that chance, terribly, when her fiancé is injured in an accident. This is a riveting novel about self-knowledge and the conflict between who we want to be to others and who...
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Every now and then : a novel
Kagen, Lesley
Paper Book
The summer of 1960 was the hottest ever for Summit, Wisconsin. For kids seeking relief from the heat, there was a creek, sprinklers, and ice cream. But for Frankie, Viv, and Biz, it would be remembered as the summer evil paid a visit to their small town. With a to-do list in hand, the girls set...
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Farm girl : a Wisconsin memoir
Carlson, Beuna Coburn
Paper Book
When Bunny Coburn was growing up, neighbors came together in times of hardship. No matter the trouble, they faced it with determination, camaraderie, and resourcefulness. In the midst of the Great Depression, despite record-breaking heat and crop failure, growing up on the family farm was...
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The grandmothers : a family portrait
Wescott, Glenway
Paper Book
Glenway Wescott's poignant story of nineteenth-century Wisconsin was first published in 1927 as the winner of the prestigious Harper Prize. Like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, Wescott left the Midwest behind to live as a writer in 1920s Paris. In this novel, based on Wescott's own...
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The hearts of men : a novel
Butler, Nickolas
Paper Book
"[A] tender, insightful book... Perfectly paced and leavened with humor, it's a wonderful read." -- People *SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 WILLIAM SAROYAN INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR WRITING* An epic novel of intertwining friendships and families set in the Northwoods of Wisconsin at a...
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Limping through life : a farm boy's polio memoir
Apps, Jerold W.
Paper Book
Limping through Life A Farm Boy's Polio Memoir Jerry Apps "Families throughout the United States lived in fear of polio throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, and now the disease had come to our farm. I can still remember that short winter day and the chilly...
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Margaret's War
Stokes, Bill
Paper Book
Margaret's War uses 15-year-old narrator Billy to juggle the broken heart, the trampled soul, and the fragile sanity of a beautiful young woman when male egos grab and grope at her with the absurd hands of war. The isolated small town where Billy and Margaret live...
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Now is not the time to panic : a novel
Wilson, Kevin
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER Named a Best Book of the Year by: Time * Kirkus Reviews * USA Today * Entertainment Weekly * Garden & Gun * Vox * Atlanta Journal-Constitution A Most Anticipated Book of Fall from: Associated Press * Atlanta Journal-Constitution * BookPage * Book Riot * The...
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Raft of stars : a novel
Graff, Andrew J.
Paper Book
"A rousing adventure yarn full of danger and heart and humor." --Richard Russo An instant classic for fans of Jane Smiley and Kitchens of the Great Midwest: when two hardscrabble young boys think they've committed a crime, they flee into the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Will the...
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Rainey's lament
Ridley, Elizabeth.
Paper Book
Rainey McBride finds the love and affection that has been missing from her life following a dramatic encounter with her exotic second cousin, Ambrose--who embodies all the grace and glamor missing from her stolid small-town life.
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Red weather : a novel
Toutonghi, Pauls.
Paper Book
The setting is Milwaukee, Wisconsin—if not America’s heart, then at least its liver—home to an array of breweries and abandoned factories and down-on-their-luck Eastern European immigrants. The year is 1989. Revolutions are sweeping through the nations of the Eastern Bloc....
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Secret waltz : a novel
Boren, Karen Lee
Paper Book
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The seven torments of Amy and Craig (a love story)
Zolidis, Don
Paper Book
The worst thing that's ever happened to Craig is also the best: Amy. Craig and Amy should never have gotten together - Craig is a Dungeons and Dragons master with no life skills and Amy is the beautiful, fiercely intelligent student body president of their high school. Yet somehow they did until Amy...
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The short history of a prince : a novel
Hamilton, Jane
Paper Book
"Jane Hamilton has removed all doubt that she belongs among the major writers of our time." --San Francisco Chronicle Set in Jane Hamilton's signature Midwest,The Short History of a Princeis the story of Walter McCloud and his ambition to become a great ballet dancer. With compassion and humor,...
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Shotgun lovesongs
Butler, Nickolas
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER "Impressively original." --The New York Times "Sparkles in every way. A love letter to the open lonely American heartland...A must-read." --People "The kind of book that restores your faith in humanity." --Toronto Star
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Shoulder season
Clancy, Christina
Paper Book
Named a Best Book of Summer by Good Morning America * CNN * Parade * EW * Travel & Leisure * PopSugar * New York Post * BuzzFeed * Brit & Co * SheReads * Women.com ...
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The story of Edgar Sawtelle : a novel
Wroblewski, David.
Paper Book
An Oprah's Book Club Pick #1 New York Times Bestseller "A mystery, a thriller, a ghost story, and a literary tour de force . . . an authentic epic, long and lush, full of back story and observed detail . . . the author exercises a certain magic that catches and holds our attention,...
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The turtle warrior
Ellis, Mary Relindes
Paper Book
Once every now and again a new voice emerges to astonish and Mary Relindes Elliss is one such voice. Lyrical, assured and deeply felt, Elliss debut novel is the story of two brothers, their parents, and their neighbors, who farm in the gloriously beautiful, isolated country of northern Wisconsin,...
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Whistling in the dark
Kagen, Lesley.
Paper Book
Funny, wise and uplifting, Whistling in the Dark is the story of two tough and endearing little girls...and of a time not so long ago, when life was not as innocent as it appeared. It was the summer on Vliet Street when we all started locking our doors...
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Wingshooters
Revoyr, Nina
Paper Book
Michelle LeBeau, the child of a white American father and a Japanese mother, lives with her grandparents in Deerfield, Wisconsin - a small town that had been entirely white before her arrival. Rejected and bullied, Michelle spends her time reading, avoiding fights and roaming the countryside with...
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