5 Back-To-School Books Set In Midwest

You may not want to think about it but summer will soon be winding down and school starting. With that in mind, we’ve pulled together some Midwestern books set in schools to put you in a studious mood.

“Moo” by Jane Smiley

A satirical look at the devious plots and lusty intrigues of a Midwestern agricultural college, Moo University, as it deals with budget cuts and long simmering hostilities between faculty members.

“The Instructions” by Adam Levin

Four days in the life of Chicago 10-year-old and would-be Messiah Gurion ben-Judah Maccabee intent on waging battle against school authorities.

“On the Banks of Plum Creek” by Laura Ingalls Wilder

The Ingalls family settles in a dugout on the banks of Plum Creek and Laura and her sister Mary go to school for the first time … with all the blizzards and grasshopper plagues you’d expect from the prairie epic.

“The Art of Fielding” by Chad Harbach

Eighteen-year-old Henry Skrimshander is recruited to play baseball at Westish College, a liberal arts school on the shores of Lake Michigan. Skrimshander’s life comes to revolve around the team but he starts to lose his bearings as the team races toward the playoffs.

“Diary of an Isle Royale School Teacher” by Dorothy Peterman Simonson

The journal of Dorothy Simonson, a 29-year-old divorced mother, who spent eight months as a teacher for a fisherman’s family in the winter of 1932-1933 in an isolated community on Isle Royale.