Summer Challenge 2026: A Real Place You've Never Heard Of

Looking for help completing your Summer Challenge Bingo Card? Here are some suggestions for books that are set in real places you might never have heard of!

Updated June 27, 2026
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The mercies : a novel
Hargrave, Kiran Millwood
Paper Book
After the men in an Arctic Norwegian town are wiped out, the women must survive a sinister threat in this "perfectly told" 1600s parable of "a world gone mad" (Adriana Trigiani).   Finnmark, Norway, 1617. Twenty-year-old Maren Magnusdatter stands on...
The lightkeepers : a novel
Geni, Abby
Paper Book
A nature photographer's residency among the harsh natural beauty of the Farallon Islands takes a startlingly violent turn in this debut eco-thriller with echoes of Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer. CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED BY- People Magazine, Marie Claire...
Moloka'i
Brennert, Alan.
Paper Book
This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai'i more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place---and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit. Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off...
The island of sea women
See, Lisa
Paper Book
A #1 New York Times Bestselling AuthorMi-ja and Young-sook, two girls living on the Korean island of Jeju, are best friends that come from very different backgrounds. When they are old enough, they begin working in the sea with their village's all-female diving collective, led by Young-sook's mother...
We do not part : a novel
Han, Kang
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD IN FICTION NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR ONE OF THE ATLANTIC'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR ONE OF THE...
A Far-Flung Life
Stedman, M L
Paper Book
From the mega bestselling and acclaimed author of The Light Between Oceans, a global phenomenon, comes a magnificent and spectacularly moving new novel about family secrets that must never be revealed, and what the heart can endure for the sake of love. When we do...
Watch us dance
Slimani, Leďla 1981-
Paper Book
Cantoras
De Robertis, Carolina
Paper Book
"Cantoras is a stunning lullaby to revolution--and each woman in this novel sings it with a deep ferocity. Again and again, I was lifted, then gently set down again--either through tears, rage, or laughter. Days later, I am still inside this song of a story." --Jacqueline Woodson, National...

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