Read Across America Day – Charleston Recommendations

By Minta Pavliscsak

“One Fish. Two Fish. Red Fish. Blue Fish.”

There’s no mistaking where that comes from when you hear those words. Even if you do not know what follows, you know those words belong to the one and only, beloved Dr. Seuss. Today, March 2nd, we celebrate his birthday as Read Across America where we encourage our youth to read with their families on this day and every day of the year.
To celebrate, Charleston style, we have compiled a list of books that have been inspired by our great city. It starts with children books and is continued with a list of adult fiction. While this is a through list, I am sure that something has been overlooked. Please leave a comment with any book that is missing so everyone can enjoy! (Note that I did NOT include history books, picture books, cookbooks, and the like. I apologize but while wonderfully done there are simply way too many of them to list!) Consider adding some of these to your personal library. I know I have put many of them on my wish list already! Be sure to find a cozy spot to snuggle up in and read a good book today. Enjoy!

For the little ones:

Goodnight Charleston by Mark Jasper
Everybody Surfs Folly! By Vickie Trippe
Hermy the Hermit Crab series by Andrea Weathers
Charleston A to Z by Rob Hicks
Hey, Charleston!: The True Story of the Jenkins Orphanage Band by Anne Rockwell
Jack the Cat by Russel Horres
Legare the Lowcountry Lizard series by Christi Sanford
A Silver Flyer: A Charleston Christmas by Lawrence Anderson Armstrong
Hungry Mr. Gator series by Julie McLaughlin and Ann Marie McKay
Chestnut by Constance W. McGeorge
Joseph’s Charleston Adventure by Laura Jenkins Thompson
The Story of the H.L. Hunley and Queenie’s Coin by Fran Hawk
Nipper of Drayton Hall by Amey Parsons Lewis
P is for Palmetto A South Carolina Alphabet by Carol Crane
Princess Charleston series by Kelly Sheehy DeGroot
The Springer Spaniel Mysteries series by Nancy T. Lucas
All ‘Bout Charleston by Ruth Paterson Chappell
Rosebud Roams Charleston by Sally Hughes Smith
Let Them Play by Margot Theis Raven
The Adventures of Gia the Giraffe by Hannah E. Salters
Santa is Coming to Charleston by Steve Smallman

For the Not So Little Ones:

The Devil of Charleston by Rebel Sinclair
Tea Shop Mystery series by Laura Childs
Par for the Course by Ray Blackston
Great Mischief by Josephine Pinckney
The Palmetto Connection by M.J. Macie
A Cruel Legacy by M.J. Macie
Charleston by John Jakes
Chrono by Warren Dennihan
Mrs. Whaley and Her Charleston Garden by Emily Whaley
Charleston: A Novel by Margaret Bradham Thornton

Prince of Tides and The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy
Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
Settling Accounts: In at the Death by Harry Turtledove
Porgy by Dubose Heyward
North & South – Love & War – Heaven & Hell by John Jakes
South of Broad by Pat Conroy
Celia Garth: A Story of Charleston in the Revolution by Gwen Bristow
The Fallon Saga by Reagan O’Neal (AKA: Robert Jordan)
Galilee by Clive Barker
Ariel – Classic Crime Library by Lawrence Block
Lawyer for the Dog by Lee Robinson
Done Gone Wrong by Cathy Pickens
So Far Back: A Novel by Pam Durban
Werewolf Smackdown by Mario Acevedo
Four Winds: A Novel of the Old South by Thomas Conway Fishburne
The Cassique of Kiawah: A Colonial Romance by William Gilmore Simms
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
The Matchmaker’s Mark by Regan Black
Katharine Walton; or The Rebel of Dorchester by William Gilmore Simms
Charleston by Alexandra Ripley
On Leaving Charlestson by Alexandra Ripley
Folly Beach Mystery series by Bill Noel
Charleston Mystery series by Karen White
The Trust by Norb Vonnegut
Islands by Anne Rivers Siddons
Mother Please Don’t Die by Lurlene McDaniel
Haunted Charleston by Sara Pitzer
A Wedding to Remember, in Charleston, South Carolina by Annalisa Daughety
Sweetwater Creek by Anne Rivers Siddons
The majority of Dorothea Benton Frank’s books are set on the islands around Charleston, including Sullivan’s Island, Isle of Palms, and Folly Beach, as well as Charleston Proper.
Just about anything by Mary Alice Monroe