CurriConnects Book List - Indiana
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Indiana
Explore the rich history, local culture, and landmark stories of the Hoosier State through this curated collection of fiction and nonfiction titles. Spanning three reading levels, each entry provides a concise plot summary and target interest level, alongside Lexile measures where available.
Picture Books
Blue's Road Trip Through Indiana - Trey Mock, (978-1631773365), Fiction
Interest level: K-2
Blue is the Indianapolis Colts' biggest fan, and when the season ends, he hits the road to explore the state he loves. Hop in the van and join Blue on an A to Z adventure through everything that makes Indiana worth discovering.
H is for Hoosier: An Indiana Alphabet - Cynthia Furlong Reynolds, (978-1585360413), Non-fiction
Interest level: 1-3, Lexile: 980
Why are the people of Indiana called Hoosiers? Historians have theories, but no definitive answer — and that mystery is just the beginning of what young readers will discover in this A to Z celebration of the Hoosier State, packed with facts, stories, and the quirks that make Indiana one of a kind.
Josef’s Big Dream: The Indy 500 Story of Josef Newgarden for Kids - Josef Newgarden, (979-8350729696), Non-fiction
Interest level: PreK-2
From a childhood consumed by a love of racing to back-to-back victories at the Indianapolis 500, two-time INDYCAR Champion Josef Newgarden shares the inspiring journey that carried him from wide-eyed young dreamer to one of motorsport's most celebrated competitors. This is a beautifully illustrated introduction to one of racing's biggest stages.
Major Taylor, Champion Cyclist - Lesa Cline-Ransome, (978-0689831591), Non-fiction
Interest level: 1-5, Lexile: 570
At thirteen, Marshall Taylor was already turning heads with his bicycle tricks at a famous Indiana bike shop — riding backward, balancing on the handlebars, leaving onlookers speechless. Fueled by raw talent, fierce dedication, and relentless speed, he turned professional at eighteen, claimed the world championship title just three years later, and faced down racism at every turn to cement his place as a true American legend.
Miss Colfax's Light - Aimee Bissonette, (978-1585369553), Non-fiction
Interest level: 1-4, Lexile: 760
In 1861, at thirty-seven years old, Harriet Colfax took on the role of lighthouse keeper at Michigan City on Lake Michigan — a bold choice in an era when female lighthouse keepers were nearly unheard of. Through fierce winters, raging storms, and decades of change, she kept her light burning until the age of eighty, living entirely on her own terms. Excerpts from her actual logbook bring her remarkable story to life.
Sweet Dreams, Northwest Indiana - Joey B Lax Salinas, (978-1467196116), Fiction
Interest level: K-3
As the sun dips below the horizon, Northwest Indiana settles into a peaceful night. From the shores of Lake Michigan through stretches of farmland and the towns of Hammond, La Porte, and Rensselaer to the beauty of Indiana Dunes, this gentle bedtime story bids goodnight to all the places that make the region feel like home.
Swinging Into History: Toni Stone: Big-League Baseball's First Woman Player - Karen L. Swanson, (978-1635928136), Non-fiction
Interest level: 2-5, Lexile: 770
Toni "Tomboy" Stone refused to let anyone — including her own parents — keep her away from baseball. She pushed through mockery from male players, earned a spot at a summer baseball school run by a former major leaguer, and eventually persuaded the pros that fans would pay to watch a woman play. Despite being benched early in every game regardless of her performance, her talent couldn't be ignored — and she was signed by the Indianapolis Clowns, becoming the first woman to break into professional baseball.
Trick or Treat in Indiana: A Halloween Adventure In The Hoosier State - Eric James, (978-1492686941), Fiction
Interest level: K-3
A mysterious visitor has arrived in town — but no one quite knows who, or what, he is. As he journeys through familiar Indiana landscapes, young readers will follow along on a Halloween adventure full of surprises, discovering the answers one spooky page at a time.
Middle Grade Books
Alone: The Journey of the Boy Sims - Alan K. Garinger, (978-0871952677), Fiction
Interest level: 3-6
Orphaned at thirteen on the Indiana frontier, Joshua Sims joins a surveying crew to pay for his family's homestead — until a mishap on the Tippecanoe River sends him on a solo journey to Detroit for supplies. Traveling by foot, horseback, and boat, he crosses paths with runaway slaves, Native Americans, and frontier settlers, and each encounter challenges what he thought he knew about the changing world around him.
Captured! A Boy Trapped in the Civil War - Mary Blair Immel, (978-0871951885), Fiction
Interest level: 6-8, Lexile: 860
Fourteen-year-old Johnny Ables is pressed into Confederate service, thrust into the chaos of a major Civil War battle, and eventually held prisoner in an Indiana camp. Based on the true story of a real boy caught on the wrong side of a war he never chose.
Double Jeopardy (The Hardy Boys #181) - Franklin W. Dixon, (978-0689857805), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 825
Frank and Joe Hardy arrive in Indianapolis with press passes to cover a Formula One championship — only to find that the rivalry between the top two racers has turned dangerous. With one driver hospitalized and another's garage in ashes, the brothers dive into the investigation. But when the culprit sets their sights on Frank and Joe as well, the race to solve the case becomes a race for their own survival.
Running out of Time - Margaret Peterson Haddix, (978-0063306585), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 730
Jessie Keyser believes she lives in a small Indiana village in 1840 — until a diphtheria outbreak threatens the children around her and her mother reveals a world-shattering truth about Clifton and the outside world beyond it. With sick children's lives hanging in the balance, Jessie must escape into a reality nothing could have prepared her for, and find help before time runs out entirely.
The Beef Princess of Practical County - Michelle Houts, (978-0440422709), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 810
After years of waiting, it's finally Libby Ryan's turn to enter the steer competition at the Practical County Fair. She picks out two calves with her grandfather, ignores her father's advice, and names them both — which turns out to be a problem she didn't anticipate. As the fair approaches and the bond between Libby and her steers deepens, the knowledge that they will be auctioned off becomes harder and harder to bear.
The Ghostly Tales of Indiana's Haunted Cemeteries - Julie Rathsack, (978-1467196192), Non-fiction
Interest level: 3-7
Indiana is home to thousands of cemeteries — and more than a few of them have stories that refuse to stay buried. Ghostly children echoing through Ewald Cemetery near Bremen, silent uniformed figures patrolling Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, and a phantom undertaker waiting at the top of the infamous staircase at One Hundred Steps Cemetery — Indiana's most haunted grounds have plenty of chilling tales to tell.
The School at Crooked Creek - Laurie Lawlor, (978-0823418121), Fiction
Interest level: 1-2, Lexile: 660
Six-year-old Beansie is dreading his very first day of school on the nineteenth-century Indiana frontier — but when the day finally arrives, he surprises everyone, including his perpetually exasperated older sister Louise, with an unexpected reserve of courage.
The Season of Styx Malone - Kekla Magoon, (978-1524715984)), Fiction
Interest level: 3-7, Lexile: 510
Caleb Franklin and his big brother Bobby Gene have always made do with the woods behind their house — but Caleb wants something bigger. When the effortlessly cool sixteen-year-old Styx Malone moves in nearby and proposes the Great Escalator Trade, the brothers are all in. But as the stakes climb higher, Styx's hidden secrets begin threatening to unravel everything they've worked toward.
Young Adult and Adult Books
A Guide to the Dark - Meriam Metoui, (978-1250863201), Fiction
Interest level: 10-12, Lexile: 780
Stranded during a spring break college tour road trip, best friends Mira and Layla check into the Wildwood Motel in the middle of nowhere, Indiana. Mira is immediately unsettled — her dead brother keeps appearing in her nightmares, and then outside of them. Layla, distracted by her own tangled feelings for Mira, notices nothing strange about Room 9 — until they discover that eight people have already died there. Featuring more than thirty black-and-white photographs by the author, this tender thriller builds to a breathless conclusion.
After Dark with Roxie Clark - Brooke Lauren Davis, (978-1547606146), Fiction
Interest level: 8-12
Roxie Clark has grown up surrounded by tragedy — her family is supposedly cursed, and the evidence is hard to argue with. Rather than live in fear of it, she's turned her grim family history into a thriving ghost tour business. But when she agrees to help her sister uncover a killer, Roxie discovers that the secrets buried in Whistler, Indiana run far deeper than any ghost story she's ever told.
All the Bright Places - Jennifer Niven, (978-0385755917), Fiction
Interest level: 9-12, Lexile: 830
Theodore Finch and Violet Markey meet on the ledge of their school's bell tower, both dangerously close to the edge. What begins in that terrifying moment grows into an unlikely relationship and a shared journey through Indiana's natural wonders — two teenagers desperately trying to pull each other back from the brink. Told in alternating voices.
Our Wayward Fate - Gloria Chao, (978-1534427617), Fiction
Interest level: 7-12, Lexile: 830
Ali Chu has learned to make herself invisible at her predominantly white Indiana school — swapping her congee for peanut butter sandwiches, letting people mispronounce her name, absorbing the casual racism without comment. The arrival of Chase Yu, another Taiwanese student, disrupts everything. Despite resisting the assumptions others project onto them, Ali and Chase find genuine connection through martial arts, bilingual humor, and a shared refusal to be erased. But when Ali's mother discovers the relationship and forces it to end, Ali starts digging for the reason why — and unearths secrets about her family and Chase that shake everything she thought she understood about her own story.
Surface Tension - Mike Mullin, (978-0142424179), Fiction
Interest level: 7-9, Lexile: 720
While out training on his bike, Jake witnesses an act of domestic terrorism — and nearly dies for it, waking in a hospital with a serious head injury and no memory of what he saw. When a terrorist's teenage daughter is sent to silence him for good, and his own mother dismisses his account as the product of brain injury, Jake has only his girlfriend Laurissa standing between him and those determined to make sure he never testifies.
The Fault in Our Stars - John Green, (978-0142424179), Fiction
Interest level: 9-12, Lexile: 850
Hazel has always known her story is terminal — until Augustus Waters walks into her Cancer Kid Support Group and rewrites everything she thought she knew about what her remaining chapters could hold.
Turtles All the Way Down - John Green, (978-0525555377), Fiction
Interest level: 9-12, Lexile: 840
Aza Holmes didn't set out to investigate the disappearance of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett — but a hundred-thousand-dollar reward and a relentlessly enthusiastic best friend have a way of changing things. Navigating the distance and the divides between herself and Pickett's son Davis, Aza tries to be good at all the things that matter to her, while the spiral of her own thoughts keeps pulling tighter.
You Should See Me in a Crown - Leah Johnson, (978-1338503296), Fiction
Interest level: 7-12, Lexile: 880
Liz Lighty has always felt like she doesn't quite fit in her small, wealthy, prom-obsessed Indiana town — too Black, too poor, too awkward for the spotlight. Her plan has always been to escape to the elite Pennington College on a music scholarship. When that financial aid evaporates, her only remaining path runs straight through the school's prom royalty competition — a gauntlet of social media cruelty, cutthroat rivals, and public humiliation. The one thing making it remotely survivable is Mack, the sharp and funny new girl who also happens to be her competition.