It’s probably no secret by now that I am a beloved West Coast native and I LIVE for books set in California. I’m thrilled to see that a golden state setting is becoming more and more common, and will 100% prioritize books set in California on my TBR. I’ve decided to start compiling lists of the top YA books set in California and chronicling them on my blog. Today’s post features all books set in Northern California, and it’s completely coincidental that they are all beautiful shades of sunset orange.
Have you read any of the above books? Do you find that you gravitate toward books set in certain parts of the world or US? Do you find your home state or country to be the setting for YA books? What’s your favorite YA book that’s set in California or your home location? Let me know in the comments!
hahaha I love how all of these covers have the same color scheme!! I’ve heard awesome things about When Dimple Met Rishi.
Right? It’s hilarious that it was such a coincidence with the covers- I wonder if the covers were influenced at all by the California setting!
I like books set in my area, it gives me a better point of reference.
Definitely, it always makes it easier to picture the setting and just makes for a more interesting read overall!
I am definitely bookmarking this page. I love California. It’s so beautiful. Great list!
Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian
Thanks Krystianna, glad you liked the post! 🙂
LOVE this! You’re making me miss all my Cali book blogger friends! 🙂
Thank you, Krysti! It was really fun to put together, I think I’ll be doing more! 🙂
I LOVE this! I’m a born and raised Cali girl, so this speaks to me. And what awesome covers 🙂
Thanks Cheryl! It’s no coincidence the covers are so gorgeous- California definitely inspires beauty 😉
I had no idea When Dimple Met Rishi took place in San Francisco! Now I’m ten times more excited to read it. I never remember the location of the books I read, so thank you for putting this together! Will you be doing so for other states? 🙂
Hi Amaris! I had no idea Dimple was set in SF either, it was such a pleasant surprise when I started reading it! I am definitely going to put together more recs for California (there seem to be so many lately!) and I’d love to do it for other states too! I will need to start a running list of all of the books I read and where they take place 🙂
I love books set in California, even though it obviously inspires some wanderlust in me 😉 I do absolutely gravitate toward East Coast books too – Connecticut especially, but also other books in Cape Cod or Nantucket or beachy places.
I loved Dimple and Alex, Approximately! I still have to read the other two but they’re on my TBR!
Alex was so so good! I was honestly surprised at how much I loved it!
Also, COME TO CALIFORNIA ASAP PLEASE.
I’m hoping the more I scream this into the internet void the more likely it is to happen lol
I didn’t know WDMR was set in SF! How fun! And I loved Alex Approximately. Funny how these four are all Bay Area settings! I love California settings too, especially beachy ones. Have you read The Anatomical Shape of a Heart? That’s set in SF also!
I haven’t yet! Is that by the author of Alex, Approximately? I wonder if she is local to the area since her books so far have both have had NorCal settings!
I haven’t read any of these but YES! CALIFORNIA! I’m from Southern California and I always love reading books based in this area. Especially when I recognize the freeways or landmarks mentioned!
It’s so fun, isn’t it? I didn’t realize when I was doing the round up for these books that they’re pretty much all set in NorCal, so now I’m determined to find more SoCal ones too!
[…] The California setting was on point. Coronado Cove is based on Santa Cruz, and I think Jenn conveyed the vibe really, really well. It made me want to visit a coast I already live on, haha. I loved reading scenes in all of the settings from the cold and calm beaches to the boardwalk to the quirky museum (California is full of them, it seems- I was getting major Winchester Mystery House vibes from the museum they work in). The spot on California setting is why the novel made my list of notable reads set in the golden state post before I had even finished the book. […]