Have you been wanting a way to let your kids explore Georgia without leaving home? Or are you looking for more books to satisfy the appetite of a budding young history buff? Or is your goal to supplement a unit study on Georgia with living books that put history and geography into the context of a story? Cornerstone Living Library has a small but growing collection of books that will do all of that, including five children’s novels set in Georgia in various regions and periods of time. Those novels are described below, with tips on related activities. Cornerstone also has three novels with Georgia settings by Elizabeth Musser, a native of Atlanta, for teen or adult readers: Searching for Eternity, The Swan House, and The Dwelling Place. If any of you know of other good Georgia novels to recommend, please let the library know.

Turn Homeward, Hannalee, by Patricia Beatty, c. 1984
Where: starts & ends in Roswell, Georgia, but also describes route to and from Indiana
When: July 1864 through June or July 1865 (last year of the Civil War)

Turn Homeward, Hannalee offers a rare and sympathetic glimpse into the lives of Confederate mill workers and their families near the end of the Civil War. When Union soldiers ransacked the mill in Roswell in July 1864, they also captured all the mill workers and sent them by train to Indiana. This story follows one of those workers, a young girl named Hannalee, on her frightening journey north and her daring attempt to return home. The book shines with authentic characters, local color, and historical detail, making it a great addition to studies on the Civil War. Since it does touch on some difficult subjects, it may be better for children age 10 or older. The ruins of the very mill where the story begins can still be visited and would make for an easy day trip to further bring the story to life. Find information about the mill here.

Special note: For a comparison of opposing perspectives on the war, kids can read Hannalee for a Confederate perspective, and A Dangerous Promise (one of the Orphan Train Adventures, by Joan Lowery Nixon; see previous article here), for a Union perspective.

Long Lonesome Train Whistle, by Virginia H. Ormsby, c. 1961
Where: Piedmont/foothills between Atlanta and Chattanooga
When: Uncertain, but after the Civil War

In this light-hearted story, a train-obsessed boy named Lee (yes, named for the Confederate general) wants nothing more than to ride the train that regularly passes his community on its way between Chattanooga and Atlanta. In his pursuit of a ticket, he learns to look past the surface, overcome difficulties, and take the right kinds of risks. Along the way, he experiences true friendship and the value of community. Though it does not cite many specific events or places, Long Lonesome Train Whistle paints a vivid picture of rural northwest Georgia in the heyday of steam engines, when the Civil War was still within living memory. Easy enough for a second-grader to read independently, it’s engaging enough to be a fun read for anyone who enjoys stories about trains, country life, and by-gone eras. It might even spark the desire to see a real steam engine, a desire that could be satisfied by another field trip: the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth.

Guest post by Sara Luchuk, February 2026