Hello, everyone! I’m currently on vacation in Disney World, but I set up some posts before I left. This is one of them (shocking). I won’t see your comments right away, as I’ll be away from the internet and unable to check my email. Horrors! I’ll be back May 26-ish, and I’ll be sure to catch up with all of your when I do!

There’s only a few books actually set in Disney World (or Land) that aren’t part of the Disney canon. Or guide books, for that matter. I’ve listed the ones I’ve managed to think of below; do you know of any others?

1. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom – Cory Doctorow (ebook available for free here)

Jules is a young man barely a century old. He’s lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies…and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World.

Disney World! The greatest artistic achievement of the long-ago twentieth century. Now in the keeping of a network of “ad-hocs” who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches.

Now, though, the “ad hocs” are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents, and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself.

Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It’s only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it’s war….

Anastasia says: The first Cory Doctorow book I ever read, and it got me hooked on him ever since. It’s a little confusing at first, but stick with it– it’s worth it.

2. Baby-Sitters on Board! (Baby-Sitters Club Super Special, 1) – Ann M. Martin

The baby-sitters have a million adventures during their fabulous summer vacation which includes several days in Disneyland.

Anastasia says: Don’t judge me. This book was totally what got me interested in cruises, plus Mallory was being Harriet the Spy! Just like I did when I was a kid! I knew I liked her for a reason.

3. Kingdom Keepers – Ridley Pearson

When Disney comes looking for five teenagers to serve as actors for a new technology-Daylight Hologram Images, or DHIs-there is more to it than meets the eye. Strange things have been happening inside the Florida park: parts from one ride are found mysteriously moved to another; in the Fantasmic! show, the dragon unexplainably triumphs over Mickey; little blips in story lines and “offstage” antics by characters trouble managers. Finn Whitman, a middle-schooler, goes to sleep one night and has the dream of a lifetime: he “wakes up” inside Disney World as his DHI character, a glowing hologram. He meets an old man there, Wayne, who claims to be one of the original Imagineers and explains to Finn that he “and your friends” have a mission to save the park from forces that humans can neither see nor hear. Not believing his dream, but not totally discounting it, Finn, back in real life, sets out to find the four other kids who were chosen to be DHIs and in doing so he learns an eerie fact: he is not alone in this “dream.” The others have had similar experiences. What if this is for real?

Anastasia says: A really cute and exciting YA adventure book set in, of course, Disney World. Mr. Pearson also writes the Starcatchers books with Dave Barry.

4. Disney War – James B. Stewart

DisneyWar is the breathtaking, dramatic inside story of what drove America’s best-known entertainment company to civil war, told by one of our most acclaimed writers and reporters.

Anastasia say: So, okay, it’s not a fiction book. And it’s not technically set in a Disney park. But! Anything you wanted to know about Disney when Eisner was running it, this is the book to get. It tends to be a bit OMG LOOK! but it’s actually quite interesting.

Have you read any of these books? Which ones are your favorites?