My favorite books set in New Jersey by NJ authors

This groundbreaking book is the reason I wanted to write for teens long before the “young adult” genre existed. Judy Blume, who hails from Elizabeth, New Jersey, inspired me to become the kind of adult and author who never forgot what it was like to be a kid. I first read this coming-of-age story in fifth grade and from the very first sentence,12-year-old Margaret spoke to me. Her worries about growing up and experiencing the mental and physical changes foisted upon her by puberty were also my worries. Her hopes were my hopes. And it didn’t hurt that she lived in a New Jersey suburb, just like me. This book taught me about the intangible quality of voice in writing. All of us YA authors owe Judy Blume a huge debt for showing us the way and arguably inventing an entire genre.

Everything about this book screams New Jersey. The setting, the voice, the colorful cast of characters surrounding the main character, Dave Raymond, a guitarist for a wedding band called The Wishbones with a serious case of arrested development. Musicians and those on the cusp of marrying one (like I was when I first read this novel) will fall in love with this book for all its humor and quirky charms. I’ve read and loved every one of Tom Perrotta’s novels and short story collections, but this is the book that inspired me to proudly embrace my inner Jersey girl when I finally decided to write my first novel.

Set at the Jersey Shore, this book by fellow New Jersey native Robin Constantine, is my book’s soul sister (right down to the cover) and Robin is my kindred author spirit. We both write about our home state, rock bands, and first loves in a way that only Jersey girls can. By chance, I read this book while vacationing in Cape May, the town that formed the template for the backdrop of this wonderful love story, which made both experiences even more memorable. Needless to say, I was thrilled when Robin invited me to do a book signing with her in her hometown of Bayonne, New Jersey at an amazing indie bookstore called The Little Boho Bookshop.

I was honored to read an early draft of this novel by fellow human and Jerseyite, Val Emmich, and was immediately taken with the voice of Joan, a 10-year-old girl with a special condition that gives her the ability to remember everything, but is afraid of being forgotten. To remedy that, she wants to win a prestigious songwriting contest by writing a song that makes people both want to dance and cry (two of the strongest feelings in her opinion). So she strikes a deal with Gavin, an adult songwriter who she believes can help her make that happen. Jersey City is the primary setting for this novel, a city that along with its many other charms, offers spectacular views of the New York City skyline. 

Humor is another intangible and often elusive quality to capture on the page when crafting characters and stories that are truly laugh-out-loud funny, but Janet Evanovich is the master. Born in South River, New Jersey, she draws on her hometown and the area in and around Trenton, the state capital region, to create the world of Stephanie Plumb, a bounty hunter with serious Jersey Girl attitude. Not only is it fun to follow the antics of Plumb and her hilarious Grandma Mazur, I love how Evanovich namedrops familiar New Jersey people and locales like Easter Eggs for only the most Jersey among us to find. With 29 books in the Stephanie Plumb series, I never spend a summer at the beach without one.