Popular Series for Kids and Tweens

* The series are not in a specific order, however, we tried to list some of the series for younger readers first, ending with series that would be appreciated by readers first starting to get into young adult fiction*

**The underlined titles are those that we do not have in our system, however, if you would like to read these books, or any others you cannot find, ask at the circulation desk and we will do our best to find them for you**

Cam Jansen
by David A. Adler

Containing 27 books (not including the "special" mysteries), The Cam Jansen series follows Cam, a young girl with a special talent.  She puts her photographic memory to good use as she uses it to solve countless mysteries.  The Cam Jansen books are great for young readers making the transition into chapter books.

The Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds
The Mystery of the U.F.O.
The Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones
The Mystery of the Television Dog
and many more...

Marvin Redpost
by Louis Sachar

Marvin Redpost is a normal boy with a very active imagination.  In the first book of the series, he becomes convinced that he is the long lost son of the King of Shampoon who was switched at birth.  After all, no one else in his family has red hair or blue eyes, he is left handed (and as his teacher says, lefties have royal blood), and his grandmother says that he doesn't remind her of anyone else in the family.

Kindnapped at Birth?
Why Pick on Me?
Is He a Girl?
Alone in his Teacher's House
and more...

Junie B. Jones
by Barbara Park

Junie B. Jones is just a regular girl with a sense of adventure.  Kids everywhere will be able to relate with some of the situations she gets herself into at home and at school. Great for young readers who are looking for their first chapter books.

Junie B. Jones and Some Sneaky Peeky Spying
Junie B. Jones and her Big Fat Mouth
Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business
Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus
and more...

Amber Brown
by Paula Danziger

Amber Brown is a clever young girl who deals with many of the same issues plaguing our young people today.  She must learn to deal with her parents divorce, school, homework, having her best friend move away and many other things.  Kids everywhere will be able to relate to Amber, and will get a kick out of the situations she gets herself into.

Amber Brown is not a Crayon
You Can't Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown
Amber Brown Wants Extra Credit
Amber Brown Sees Red
and more...

Wayside School
by Louis Sachar

Wayside School was originally meant to be a one story building with thirty classrooms side by side, but someone got the blueprints wrong and ended up building a thirty story school with one classroom on each story.  The odd setup of the school, however, is the least of its oddities.  Each chapter is a new story about a different odd character or unusual event at Wayside School.  The worst of all is the classroom on the thirtieth floor.  This classroom is run by Mrs. Gorf, who is very mean and turns her students into apples. Then there is Tom, who always gets sent home by noon, Bebe, who loves to draw but isn't very good, and what is up with the new kid?

Sideways Stories From Wayside School
Wayside School is Falling Down
Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger
Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School
More Sideways Arithmetic From Wayside School

Bunnicula
by Deborah Howe

Told from the point of view of a dog named Harold, Bunnicula is the story of his human family, the Monroe's, and the bunny they acquire and name Bunnicula.  When they bring the bunny home, just after seeing the movie Dracula, Harold and the cat, Chester begin to notice odd things happening with regards to Bunnicula.  Could he really be a vampire?

Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery
Howliday Inn
The Celery Stalks at Midnight
and more...

Dragon Slayer's Academy
by Kate McMullen

When a strolling minstrel tells Wiglaf that he was born to be a hero, he takes off with his pig Daisy toward the Dragon Slayer's Academy to become a dragon slayer. There is just one problem with this plan; Wiglaf can't stand the sight of blood.  These books are great for young readers who want something with a bit of a fantasy feel to it.

The New Kid at School
Revenge of the Dragon Lady
Class Trip to the Cave of Doom
A Wedding for Wiglaf
Knight for a Day
and many more...

Magic Tree House
by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie discover that their tree house is a mode of time travel when they get whisked away to prehistoric times and must find a way to get home for their own dinner before becoming dinner for a dinosaur.  In each book, the kids travel to a different time period, each of which holds an adventure.

Dinosaurs Before Dark
The Knight at Dawn
Mummies in the Morning
Pirates Past Noon
Night of the Ninjas
and many more...

The Borrowers
by Mary Norton

Pod, Homily, and Arriety Clock are a family of "little people" who live under the floorboards in a country house in England. Over the years, they have arranged quite a nice setup for their home gathered out of things that have been "borrowed" from the people upstairs, such as matchboxes, postage stamps, thimbles, and other trinkets. 

The Borrowers
The Borrowers Afield
The Borrowers Aloft
The Borrowers Afloat
The Borrowers Avenged
and more...

Bailey School Kids
by Debbie Dadey and Marcia T. Jones

Bailey City has always been a little odd, but nothing is stranger than the people encountered by Eddie, Howie, Lisa and Melody who are students at Bailey Elementary School. Each book is about an individual that the children meet in their everyday lives, each of which seems to have a scary resemblance to a different famous creature, or character.  

Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots
Werewolves Don't Go To Summer Camp
Santa Clause Doesn't Mop Floors
Leprechauns Don't Play Basketball
Ghosts Don't Eat Potato Chips
and more...

Hank the Cowdog
by John R. Erickson

Hank the Cowdog, head of ranch security must overcome trials and solve crimes that happen on the ranch that it is his job to protect.  Join Hank and his friends on the many adventures that they share.

Hank the Cowdog
Further Adventures of Hank the Cowdog
It's a Dog's Life
Murder in the Middle Pasture
and more...

Diary of a Wimpy Kid
by Jeff Kinney

Greg Heffley is what you would call... well... a wimpy kid.  To make matters worse, his mother has asked him to keep a diary.  He's not too happy about that at all, especially when she buys him a book that says "diary" on the cover, even though he specifically asked her not to.  Based on his web comic, Jeff Kinney has turned the drama and trials of Greg Heffley into an illustrated novel that is quickly becoming popular with kids everywhere.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Roderick Rules
The Last Straw (Available January 17, 2009)

American Girl
by Various Authors

First introduced in 1986, the American Girl corporation, or the Pleasant company as it was called at the time, has produced a number of popular books about young girls from different eras.  Since then, the books have spawned the American Girl Magazine, American Girl dolls, a cosmetic line, and the list goes on.  Each series is written by a different author, and tells several stories about regular girls living in historically significant times.

The Felicity series
The Kirsten series
The Addy series
The Samantha series
The Molly series
The Josephina series
The Kit series
The Kaya series
The Julie series
and more...

Babysitter's Club
and
Babysitter's Little Sister
by Ann M. Martin

Young girls have enjoyed reading the Babysitters Club books since the introduction of Kristy's Great Idea in 1986.  Each book is about a group of friends who are all babysitters, and focuses on a different girl and her story.  In 1988, Martin began writing the Babysitter's Little Sister books for younger readers.  These follow the life of Kristy's little sister Karen, and her friends.

Kristy's Great Idea
Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls
The Truth about Stacey
Dawn and the Impossible Three
and more...
Karen's Witch
Karen's Roller Skates
Karen's Worst Day
Karen's Kittycat Club
and more...

A Series of Unfortunate Events
by Lemony Snicket

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire have led a wonderful life thus far.  They live with their parents in a large house where they can each indulge in their favorite pastimes.  Violet likes to invent things, Klaus likes to read, and Sunny is a baby who likes to bite things.  This is all before the first book though.  Sadly, their lives take a turn for the worst.  It all begins one fateful day when they are standing on Briny Beach.  This is when they receive the awful news that their parents have been killed in a fire that has engulfed their whole house.  They are then forced to move in with a relative they have never even heard of; the villainous Count Olaf.  He only takes them in to find a way to get his hands on the Baudelaire fortune.  Once his evil plot is unveiled, the children are moved from one place to the next as Count Olaf follows them, destroying any hope that they have for happiness.

The Bad Beginning
The Reptile Room
The Wide Window
The Miserable Mill
The Austere Academy
The Ersatz Elevator
The Vile Village
The Hostile Hospital
The Carnivorous Carnival
The Slippery Slope
The Grim Grotto
The Penultimate Peril
The End

Harry Potter
by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter has lived with his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and cousin Dudley Dursley for as long as he can remember.  His parents were killed in a car crash when he was just a baby, that left him with a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead.  The Dursleys have been anything but kind to Harry.  They basically treat him like a servant.  It is just before his 11th birthday that the letters begin to arrive.  Mysterious letters addressed to him, that his Uncle Vernon will not allow him to see.  Eventually, so many letters arrive, that Vernon takes the whole family, and the begin moving from hotel to hotel, but everywhere they go, the letters find them.  One the eve of his birthday, a special visitor arrives.  Rubeus Hagrid is the keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where Harry has been accepted.  It turns out that not only is Harry a wizard, but his parents were really killed by the dark wizard Voldemort, and Harry survived with only his scar.  No one had heard from Voldemort since.  The books follow Harry and his friends as they attend school at Hogwarts, each year coming up against some sort of dangerous situation somehow tied to the dark lord.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The Children of the Red King
by Jenny Nimmo

When he is 10 years old, Charlie Bone makes a rather disconcerting discovery.  He can hear the conversations or thoughts of the people in photographs at the time the picture was taken. He finds that this is due to the fact that he is one of the descendants of the Red King, all of whom have different magical abilities.  He discovers a photograph of a girl who has been missing for years, and goes on a quest to find her.  At around the same time, he is also enrolled in Bloors Academy where he encounters more odd and dangerous situations.

Midnight for Charlie Bone
Charlie Bone and the Time Twister
Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy
Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors
Charlie Bone and the Hidden King
Charlie Bone and the Beast

Redwall
by Brian Jacques

Follow Matthias the mouse on his quest to recover the lost sword of Martin the Warrior in order to save Redwall Abbey from the evil intentions of the villain, a rat named Cluny the Scourge, with the help of his friends, a badger named Constance, a mute squirrel named Silent Sam, his mother Jess, and many others.

Redwall
Mossflower
Mattimeo
Mariel of Redwall
Salamandastron
Martin the Warrior
The Bellmaker
Outcast of Redwall
The Pearls of Lutra
The Long Patrol
Marlfox
The Legend of Luke
Lord Brocktree
Taggerung
Triss
Loamhedge
Rakkety Tam
High Rhulain

*Note: The Redwall books were not published in chronological order, so if you want to read about the books in the order that the events happened, the correct order is as follows:  Lord Brocktree, Martin The Warrior, Mossflower, The Legend of Luke, Outcast of Redwall, Mariel of Redwall, The Bellmaker, Salamandastron, Redwall, Mattimeo, The Pearls of Lutra, The Long Patrol, Marlfox, Taggerung, Triss, Loamhedge, Rakkety Tam, High Rhulain.

The Chronicles of Narnia
by C.S. Lewis

Simply put, the Chronicles of Narnia is a classic tale of good and evil.  It is about a group of children who repeatedly travel to the magical world of Narnia where they fulfill a prophecy and must continuously bring down the evil forces threatening the happiness of the creatures who reside there.

The Magician's Nephew
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle

The Spiderwick Chronicles
by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi

Jared, Simon and Mallory Grace have just moved into the run down Spiderwick estate, and they are none too happy about it.  Things start to look up, however, when they discover the secret study of their great-great uncle, Arthur Spiderwick.  Once they read his journal, the field guide, weird things begin to happen.  Suddenly, the world around them isn't the same.  It is filled with creatures they never even knew existed.  All of a sudden, they are cast into a new world where they must defend the secrets contained in the field guide from the evil Mulgrath.

The Field Guide
The Seeing Stone
Lucinda's Secret
The Ironwood Tree
The Wrath of Mulgrath

The Edge Chronicles
by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

Twig always knew he was different.  First of all, although he has been raised by woodtrolls, he is obviously not the same as them.  He is a human.  He finds out that he has been abandoned in the Deepwoods, and becomes determined to find where he came from.  On his quest he befriends many other odd creatures, and makes enemies out of others.

Beyond the Deep Woods
Stormchaser
Midnight Over Sanctaphrax
The Curse of Gloamglozer
The Last of the Sky Pirates
Vox
Freeglader
The Winter Knights
Clash of the Sky Galleons

The Boxcar Children
by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Since the first book was published in 1942, The Boxcar Children series has been a favorite of young readers.  Now with 115 title in the series the books are just as popular as ever.  The stories are about a group of siblings, Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny, who have just been orphaned, and have run away.  With nowhere to go, they discover an abandoned boxcar in the woods and make it their new residence.  They live there for a while until they find a more permanent residence, after which, they begin solving mysteries.

The Boxcar Children
Surprise Island
The Yellow House Mystery
Mystery Ranch
and many more...

Encyclopedia Brown
by Donald J. Sobol

You get to help solve the mysteries in these detective books.  Each chapter is a different story about Encyclopedia Brown, the boy detective, and his assistant Sally.  Each short story is a mystery, in which you are given clues and background, and the story ends without revealing the answer.  Each answer is in the back of the book so that you can see if you deduced correctly.

Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Secret Pitch
Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues
Encyclopedia Brown Gets His Man
Encyclopedia Brown Solves Them All
and many more...

The Bobbsey Twins
by Laura Lee Hope

Centered around the two sets of twins in the Bobbsey family, Nan and Bert, and Freddie and Flossie; the Bobbsey Twins series are a series of mysteries that were first introduced in 1904.  They have been a favorite ever since.  Similar to Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys, the Bobbsey Twins books are a little less "sensational" making them more appropriate for kids at a lower reading level.  They are great books for kids reading their first chapter books.

The Bobbsey Twins' of Lakeport
The Bobbsey Twins' Adventure in the Country
The Bobbsey Twins' Secret at the Seashore
The Bobbsey Twins' and the Mystery at Snow Lodge
The Bobbsey Twins' Mystery at School
and more...

Nancy Drew
by Caroline Keene

Since Caroline Keene wrote the first book in 1930, the Nancy Drew series has been a phenomenon with young girls around the world. Girls everywhere fall in love with the books as they follow Nancy, the teenage daughter of a prominent lawyer, through mystery after mystery.  Nancy has a good eye for picking out wrongdoers, and she and her friends help track down criminals so well that even the River Heights police department starts coming to Nancy for help.

The Secret of the Old Clock
The Hidden Staircase
The Bungalow Mystery
The Mystery at Lilac Inn
The Secret of Shadow Ranch
and many more...

Hardy Boys
by Franklin W. Dixon

The sons of a world-renowned private detective, Frank and Joe Hardy have inherited their fathers love of bringing criminals to justice. Starting in 1927, young boys have been captivated by the exciting adventures of the young, crime fighting sleuths, leading to over 300 titles that are still popular today.

The Tower Treasure
The House on the Cliff
The Secret of the Old Mill
The Missing Chums
Hunting for Hidden Gold
and many more...

Dear America
by Various Authors

Written by several different authors, the Dear America books chronicle the lives of young women and girls who lived through historic times and events.  Read about the struggles of young girls as they must fight to survive during a war, witness their neighbors being accused of witchcraft and killed, watching as the Titanic sinks into the ocean, and many other events in history.

I Walk in Dread: The Diary of Deliverance Trembly, Witness to the Salem Witch Trials, Massachusetts Bay Colony 1691 by Lisa Rowe
Voyage on the Great Titanic: The Diary of Margaret Ann Brady, R.M.S. Titanic 1912 by Ellen Emerson White
Early Sunday Morning: The Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows, Hawaii 1941 by Barry Denenberg
My Heart is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl by Ann Rinaldi
 
and more...

Royal Diaries
by Various Authors

Like the Dear America Series, the Royal Diaries are written by many different authors.  Each one chronicles the life and trials of different young ladies of royal birth from all over the world, in many different time periods.  The books give girls a semi-fictional view of the lives of famous princesses and other royalty when they were young girls.

Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile, Egypt, 57 B.C. by Kristiana Gregory
Marie Antoinette: Princess of Versailles, Austria-France, 1769 by Kathryn Lasky
Sondok: Princess of the Moon and Stars, Korea, A.D. 595 by Sheri Holman
Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa, 1595 by Patricia McKissack
Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, Russia, 1914 by Carolyn Meyer

Warriors
by Erin Hunter

Rusty is a young house cat who dreams of a life of adventure.  These dreams are answered when he is offered the chance to join the Thunderclan; one of a group of gangs of feral cats in the area.  Soon he finds himself in the middle of the gang wars going on all around the area. The series follows young Rusty, renamed Firepaw, as he take on new adventures in his new life.

Into the Wild
Fire and Ice
Forest of Secrets
Rising Storm
A Dangerous Path
The Darkest Hour

Anne of Green Gables
by Lucy Maud Montgomery

11-year old Anne Shirley is an orphan who has just been sent to her new foster parents Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, only to find that they are disappointed in her because they had asked for a boy to help them with their farm.  They allow her to stay and are soon glad that they did.  Anne is very imaginative, and has a fiery spirit, and soon changes, not only the way that Marilla and Matthew view the world, but the rest of the town as well.  The series follows Anne as she grows up in Avonlea and thrives well into adulthood.

Anne of Green Gables
Anne of Avonlea
Anne of the Island
Anne of Windy Poplars
Anne's House of Dreams
Rainbow Valley
Rilla of Ingleside

Little House on the Prairie
by Laura Ingles Wilder

The Little House series is actually autobiographical, written by Laura Ingles Wilder about her life growing up on the prairie.  She was born in 1867 in the log cabin in the first book.  The rest of the books chronicle her life with her family as they must overcome the trials of living on the prairie in what was then the new frontier.  The books follow her through her entire childhood, as well as her adult years, and the later books are about her daughter Rose.

Little House in the Big Woods
Little House on the Prairie
Farmer Boy
On the Banks of Plum Creek
By the Shores of Silver Lake
The Long Winter
Little Town on the Prairie
These Happy Golden Years
The First Four Years

Animorphs
by K.A. Applegate

The Animorphs series is the story of six young people, five humans and one alien, who have the ability to transform into animals.  The kids must use their special abilities to fight a top secret guerilla war against an alien infiltration against Earth.

The Invasion
The Visitor
The Encounter
The Message
The Predator
and many more...

Indian in the Cupboard
by Lynne Reid Banks

When he is unable to find a Birthday present for him, Omri's older brother gives him an old medicine cabinet that he has found.  One night, Omri puts an Indian figurine into it just before he falls asleep.  It is then that he learns that there is more to the gift than any of them thought.  If you turn the key once, the toy will come to life, and if you turn it again, the toy will be a toy again.

The Indian in the Cupboard
The Return of the Indian
The Secret of the Indian
The Mystery of the Cupboard
The Key to the Indian

Shadow Children
by Margaret Peterson Haddix

The Shadow Children series takes place in a world where families are only allowed to have two children.  The illegal third-born children are called shadow children and must go into hiding lest the population police find them, in which case, they will be put to death.  The series follows some of these children as they live, hidden away from the world, in constant fear for their lives.

Among the Hidden
Among the Impostors
Among the Betrayed
Among the Barons
and more...

Books of Ember
Jeanne Duprau

The City of Ember is the only light place in the world.  If people leave Ember they will roam around the world in darkness forever.  Everyone in Ember graduates school at the age of 12, when they must go into the workforce.  Each new graduate draws the job that they will be expected to do.  Lina is disappointed when she draws the role of pipeworks laborer which will have her down in the tunnels, until her friend Doon offers to switch and give her the role of Messenger, as he wants to be in the tunnels to try and fix the generator.  When the lights begin to flicker, Lina and Doon must find a way to fix them before they are cast into a world of darkness.

The City of Ember
The People of Sparks
The Prophet of Yonwood

Chronicles of Prydain
by Lloyd Alexander

The Chronicles of Prydain are about a young man named Taran who is an assistant pig keeper in the land of Prydain.  Although his life is mundane, he has always dreamed of becoming a hero just like Prince Gwydion.  His must go on a quest to become the hero he knows he is and battle the Horned King in defense of his homeland.

The Book of Three
The Black Cauldron
The Castle of Llyr
Taran Wanderer
The High King
The Foundling

Fablehaven
by Brandon Mull

For centuries, Fablehaven has served as a sanctuary for mystical creatures that most humans do not believe exist.  It is a safe place for them to live, and to avoid extinction. Kendra and her brother, Seth are going to stay with their grandfather while their parents are away on a cruise.  Little do they know, he is the caretaker of a magical world full of creatures that they believed to only exist in fairy tales. Once they figure out the secret, their lives become full of adventure with fairies, satyrs, imps, trolls, and all other manner of creatures.

Fablehaven
Rise of the Evening Star
Grip of the Shadow Plague
Secret of the Dragon Sanctuary (coming in April 2009)

 The Bartimaeus Trilogy
by Jonathan Stroud

It is modern day London, and eleven year old Nathaniel is a magician's apprentice learning the art of magic.  When he is publicly humiliated by Simon Lovelace, a ruthless and ambitious magician, he decides to take his revenge.  To help him out with this, he summons Bartimaeus, a five-thousand-year old djinni, but he soon finds that while he was the one who summoned him, he still cannot control him.

The Amulet of Samarkand
The Golem's Eye
Ptolemy's Gate

 

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