Lakes and literature: Dive into summer reading with a focus on Michigan waters

The library’s 20 Michigan Notable Books for 2025 also include several with a Michigan natural setting or focus, including:

• “A Cast Away in Montana” by Tim Schultz.
• “Funny Story” by Emily Henry.
• “I Cheerfully Refuse” by Leif Enger.
• “The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry” by Anna Rose Johnson.
• “Recipes from the Cedar Swamp: A Cookbook” by Old Time Hawkey.
• “Sail, Steam, and Diesel: Moving Cargo on the Great Lakes” by Eric Hirsimaki.
• “The Waters” by Bonnie Jo Campbell.
• “What Can the Matter Be” by poet Keith Taylor.

Eileen Boekestein, environmental education manager for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), offered a few more recommendations for young readers:

• “The Legend of Sleeping Bear” by Kathy-jo Wargin.
• “M is for Mitten: A Michigan Alphabet” by Annie Appleford.
• “The Legend of Michigan” by Trinka Hakes Noble.
• “Stepping Stones: Walking Lake Michigan” by Carol Ann Trembath.

“Whether you love adventure, history, science, or storytelling, there’s something for everyone: books about our Great Lakes, incredible wildlife, environmental champions, and the landscapes that make our state special,” Boekestein said.

Here are more recommended reads and resources to suit practically anyone’s taste:

• Great Lakes Great Read – an initiative of the nonprofit Library of the Great Lakes, a virtual resource serving the eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces – launched with two book selections: Joanne Robertson’s 2017 children’s book “The Water Walker,” which tells the story of an Ojibwe grandmother who walks to raise awareness of the need to protect water, and Sally Cole-Misch’s 2020 book “The Best Part of Us,” a book for adults that explores family connections to an island in Canadian waters near Lake Huron. Webinars with the authors of both books are available for viewing.
• The Junior Water Walker Water Box initiative provides school groups or classes with Water Boxes containing “The Water Walker” book, a message from the author, a journal with student-designed covers, the Four Sacred Medicines (tobacco, sage, cedar, and sweetgrass), teaching cards, and a wishing stone.
• Read Michigan's online Biblioboard offers curated lists of Michigan outdoors- and vacation-focused reads, poetry, notable books and authors, field and activity guides, and more.
• The Goodreads website lists more than 590 books set in Michigan and includes reader ratings and reviews.
• The Center for Great Lakes Literacy offers a Select Bibliography of the Great Lakes and a Select Bibliography of the Great Lakes for Young Readers. 
• EGLE’s annual Michigan State of the Great Lakes Report offers multiple magazine-style articles on topics of interest and importance around the Great Lakes and fresh water.

Whether you settle in on a sandy beach, a lakeside hammock, a park bench, or a room with a view, there’s plenty of enrichment to soak up by reading about our matchless Great Lakes and fresh water and the stories surrounding them.