Books about Kansas

Kansas: Not my home state, but where I am currently living (until next summer, anyways). Lawrence has been a wonderful place to live for the past four years, and I will surely miss it when I leave.

Some great books about Kansas include:

The Center of Everything by Lawrence, KS author Laura Moriarty. This could be considered a YA novel, but I believe it is marketed as adult fiction. Story centers around a pre-teen girl caught in the middle of her irresponsible single mother and her super conservative Christian grandmother. The story is set in a small fictional Kansas town (which would be the center of America).

Secrets of the Tsil Cafe, by Thomas Fox Averill, who is a professor at Washburn University where I am working on my masters in social work. It is set in Kansas City, MO, so it isn't technically set in KS. A good story about a boy growing up in his families restaurant. Similar to Like Water for Chocolate, it includes recipes within the text and reads as food as metaphor. A good story.

Kansas Poems of William Stafford. Not big into poetry myself, I understand that Stafford is recognized as the great poet of KS. I also had the opportunity to meet his son, another poet, Kim.

Other writers with roots in Kansas include William Burroughs, who lived in Lawrence from 1983 until his death in 1997; Langston Hughes who spent his childhood in Lawrence; and William Inge who was born in Independence and graduated from the University of Kansas.

In Cold Blood for non-fiction, obviously. :)

For nonfiction, a lot of John Brown: Abolitionist by David W. Reynolds takes place in pre-Civil War "Bloody Kansas."

There's the obvious nonfiction book, What's the Matter with Kansas which does provide a fascinating look into Kansas political history.

Good suggestions. If you looking for something random (and nonfiction), try:

Running after antelope by Scott Carrier

Scott Carrier grew up in Lawrence. This book got a lot of play on NPR's This American Life. It deserved it. The book only touches Kansas, however.

I believe that the book Still Life with Crows by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child took place in Kansas

Here's a ton for Kansas, including the Oz books ....

http://avidreader25.blogspot.com/2012/04/reading-states-kansas.html

Just finished The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard. I've never been to Kansas, but the descriptions of a small Kansas town rang true to me. Good mystery as well.