Series For Kids and Teens Part 1

Lately I've found that more people are interested in books that are part of a series.  I understand the reasoning behind this because a favorite series or author is found then its much easier to pick out books based on that information. I like series books and admit that as a kid I had favorite series some are still in print and others come in and out of print.  Below are some series titles that you may want to take a look at for a child in your life.

The 39 Clues series are 10 books written by different authors with a story arc created by Rick Riordan.  The series follows the adventures of Amy and Dan Cahill and their au pair Nellie as they travel around the world on a scavenger hunt of sorts to become the head of the world's most powerful family.  As Amy and Dan try to find each clue they face danger and adventure as they learn more about the family they belong to. The books are not long and a great read aloud .  I have a book club based around this series at the school I teach at and some of the kids have commented that they have discovered new things hearing me read it aloud that they missed when they read it. The books do get darker and the danger more intense as the series goes along.  This series is also great for introducing readers to a variety of authors including Gordon Korman, Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson,  Patrick Carman, among others.  The final book in this series will be in September of 2010.  This series also features trading cards and an online game.  I generally recommend it for kids 8 and older.

The next series is the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan (and yes it is the same Rick Riordan who wrote book 1 of the 39 Clues series).  Many of you will be familiar with the first title in this five book series The Lightning Thief from the movie that was recently in theaters.   This series is filled with action, adventure and Greek Gods who are now in a more modern setting.  It is a great way to introduce mythology and get kids interested in wanting to know more about the gods and goddesses.  The adventure will keep reluctant readers involved and the story set up that more advanced readers will find themselves caught up in the story as well. This book is great for kids who have finished Harry Potter and are looking for another series with that feel.

Reluctant readers are discovering  a couple of series that I loved as a kids.  Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol and the Choose Your Own Adventure series.  I grouped these two together because of their appeal to kids who may find the idea of a typical chapter book to be a little intimidating.


Encyclopedia Brown is the name of a boy who solves mysteries with the help of his friend Sally.  The book is set up that each chapter is a short mystery that ends with Encyclopedia solving the mystery.  The final sentence in each chapter is a question directed to the reader to come up with how Encyclopedia solved the mystery and the answer in the back of the book.  I can say from my own childhood that I devoured these books and reread them often.  I can also tell you that my 10 year old nephew has become a fan of these books as well.  A great one to begin with in this series is Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective.


The Choose Your Own Adventure series has the distinct place in my mind of the series of books most adults of a certain age remember from their own childhood and want the children in their lives to read.  For a long time these books were out of print but fortunately not only are they back but their popularity has created a series of these titles for emerging readers as well.  The great thing about these titles is the fun in being told that you shouldn't read this book from cover to cover.  The idea that you help decide what the character does and ultimately decides the characters fate helps give any reader regardless of reading ability the feeling of power over the written word.  These books are so popular that a few years ago a grown up version called Pretty Little Mistakes: A Do-Over Novel  (and this one is definitely for adults and not children) was released and many adult women who were fans of  the Choose Your Own Adventures growning up had fun discovering this title.

For teens there is a new trend of trilogies.  Two outstanding ones that are out there are The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (2 of the 3 in this trilogy are available with the third available in August) and The Last Survivors series by Susan Beth Pfeffer.  Both are stories of survival that test the characters to the limits. 


In the The Hunger Games you have a story of a futuristic America that is no longer broken into states but into 12 districts and the Capital.  There was once a 13th district  but when it tried to revolt it was destroyed.   The Hunger Games are a "celebration" of the destruction of this district.  The ultimate reality show, the Hunger Games require the competitors to use all that they have make it to the end.  If they win they will never want for anything again and those that don't win pay the ultimate price. 


The Last Survivors series looks at what happens to two families when the moon is knocked out of its orbit around the earth.  Life As We Knew It  tells the story of Miranda who lives in a rural Pennsylvania town with her mother and brothers and how she and her family try and keep their lives as normal as possible when the moon is knocked out of its orbit.  The Dead and the Gone (The Last Survivors, Book 2) tells the story of Alex Morales and his two sisters, living in New York City.  His parents are missing and he assumes the role of the authority figure trying to keep his family safe, healthy and alive while trying to do normal things such as go to school and church.  In the third book of the trilogy This World We Live In (The Last Survivors, Book 3) Miranda and her family and Alex and his family are brought together in a world that has changed dramtically for both of them.

There are so many series out there that this topic will become an ongoing one.  Please feel free to add your own series suggestions in the comment box and I'll continue highlight more in the upcoming weeks.

Keep reading!

Why Why Why must they try to make movies out of beloved children's books???

In the interest of fairness this tirade...I mean blog posting...has been roaming around in my head since Friday.  You all have been warned so continue on at your own risk.

Over the years Hollywood has turned children's stories into movies with mixed results.  Disney has made a major corporation using this technique (even when they say its an original idea-Lion King=Hamlet...I'm just saying.)  Now some I can separate book from movie (Harry Potter, Twilight series are just two examples).  Then there are others that are ok and can be looked at as good but not the book....(the early 90's version of Harriet the Spy) and then there are the horrific versions that have no explanation or defense (The nothing like the book...I don't care if the director says she's a huge fan...even the author slammed it on CNN...ABC version of A Wrinkle in Time -and yes I have a huge bias about this book as anyone who knows me understands.  A Wrinkle in Time is my all time favorite book.)  There are of course countless others including the following currently in theaters:  Diary of A Wimpy Kid, How to Train Your Dragon.  This past Friday night, however, I was home and flipping the channels on the television and came across Disney's latest addition to the mix Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars. Harriet is now a teenager competing  to write the school blog.  All of the names you remember from Louise Fitzgerald's book are there including "Ole" Golly who looks all of 22 (which seems very strange considering Harriet looks about 16).  At least they didn't call her "Ole Golly" just Golly.  Now granted Disney did not play this up to be a remaking of the book but I would hope (and perhaps this is where my disappointment stems from in a majority of these movies) is that if the author has written what the characters look like in his or her books that perhaps a movie company should not feel the need to ignore that and cast anyone they want in those roles whether they look like the characters as described in the book or not.  Ole Golly is the perfect example in both of these movies...the visually sketch in the book Harriet the Spy is of an older woman with a bun on her head, on the thin side and very prim and proper...this, in my humble opinion, does not translate into Rosie O'Donnell (the first movie) or Kristin Booth (the current movie).  Unfortunately I feel lately that I may be in a minority about this but I would just like to think that if a movie studio options a book to turn it into a movie or even take a beloved character and come up with an original story at least stay true to descriptions in the book that the story or characters come from. 

I realize that this rant is based more on one television movie and that there are examples where there has been outstanding casting and development for a movie based on a children's book but they appear to be harder and harder to come by.   I'd love to read your examples of the good, the bad and the ugly.  I'm sure there are plenty more out there.

Until next time...happy reading!

Award time

Everybody has reasons for liking the winter...for most people it has something to do with being outside.  Other people appreciate the idea of winter being a good time for being inside by a roaring fire, drinking warm things and wearing bulky sweaters.  Then there's me...I like winter because it means that the American Library Association Awards are announced.   Today was that day and I was up bright and early (like when I was a kid and got up early to watch cartoons on a Saturday) to get the computer set to go and listen to the award announcements live from Boston.

This past year there were so many amazing books that were released that I don't envy anyone on the committee trying to make such a tough decision.  I had my favorites from this past year and some of them made the list and others did not but that's the way awards go.  I'll be curious to hear the buzz from others about what they think about today's honorees.  Anyway...enough of my babble here are the winners for today's ALA awards.

First the Andrew Carnegie Medal which is for an outstanding Children's Video.  This year the winner is Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus done by Weston Woods Studios.  If you've ever seen the Scholastic DVD Box set in stores....those are Weston Wood DVDs and they do wonderful work.  They are well worth the investment and a great way for kids to get a different view of a favorite story.

Next up the Alex award which is presented to 10 books that are written for adults but have appeal to 12-18 year olds.  These are the 10 books that recieved the honor this year: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff, Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr., The Good Soldiers by David Finkel,
The Kid's Are All Right: A Memoir by Diana Welch and Liz Welch with Amanda Welch and Dan Welch, The Magicians by Lev Grossman, My Abandonment by Peter Rock, Soulless: An Alexia Tarabotti Novel by Gail Carriger, Stitches: A Memoir by David Small, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth by Kevin Wilson

Next is the Mildred L. Batchelder award which is given to a  children's book originally printed in a foreign language in a foreign country and subsequentally published in the United States in English.  (I have found some great books this way including Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe).  This year's winner is A Faraway Island  by Annika Thor. 

The Excellence In Non Fiction for Young Adults award is given to non fiction books geared towards young adults (12-18) published during a November 1-October 31 publishing year.  This year the award was given to Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman. (This years finalists were outstanding as well.  If you go to http://www.ala.org/ and click on awards, grants and scholarships you can find a full list of the awards).

The Theodore Seuss Geisel award is awarded to the best beginning reader books.  This year the ALA awarded 4 honor titles as well as a winner.  The honor titles are I Spy Fly Guy! by Tedd Arnold, Little Mouse Gets Ready by Jeff Smith, Mouse and Mole: Fine Feathered Friends by Wong Herbert Yee,
Pearl and Wagner: One Funny Day by Kate McMullan.  The winner is Benny and Penny in the Big No-No! by Geoffrey Hayes.

Coretta Scott King Book Awards were designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace, the Coretta Scott King Book Awards annually recognize outstanding books for young adults and children by African American authors and illustrators that reflect the African American experience. Further, the Award encourages the artistic expression of the black experience via literature and the graphic arts in biographical, social, and historical treatments by African American authors and illustrators. (Thank you to the ALA for this description where this was taken from-they describe it much better than I could!)  This year's honor title for writing is Mare's Ware by Tanita S. Davis.  This year's winner for writing is Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshall by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie.  The honor for illustration went to The Negro Speaks of Rivers illustrated by E.B. Lewis, written by Langston Hughes and the winner for illustration is My People illustrated by Charles R. Smith Jr., written by Langston Hughes.

The Michael L. Printz award is awarded to an outstanding book in young adult literature.   This year there were four honor titles as well as the winner.  The four honor titles are Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman, The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey, Punkzilla by Adam Rapp and Tales from the Madman Underground: An Historical Romance, 1973 by John Barnes.  This year's Printz award winner is Going Bovine by Libba Bray.

The Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal is awarded to a distinguished children's informational book.  This year's winner is Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone.

The John Newbery Award is awarded to the author of the book that is considered to be the most distinguished for the the past publishing year.  This year in adition to the winner there were four honor titles named.  The honor titles for 2010 are Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice written by Phillip Hoose,
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate written by Jacqueline Kelly, The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg written by Rodman Philbrick, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin.  This year's winner is When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.

The Randolph Caldecott Medal is awarded to the illustrator of a book considered to be the most distinguished for the past publishing year.  This year the committee named 2 honor titles as well as a winner.  The honor titles are All the World illustrated by Marla Frazee, written by Liz Garton Scanlon, and Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Joyce Sidman.  The Caldecott Medal winner for 2010 is The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney.

This year has been a great year for books and I can tell you that both the Newbery and Caldecott winners are outstanding.  It couldn't have been easy to choose, especially for the Newbery award.  If you get a chance pick up some of these books and give them a try and then drop a comment to tell me what you thought of them.  

Happy Reading!
Melinda