Camille at Book Moot recently posted about Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. I loved Nancy Drew but was annoyed by Frank & Joe. As a series reader myself, I agree with her statement that series readers become life long readers.
Other series I loved, in no particular order:
The Happy Hollisters by Jerry West
Katie Rose by Lenora Mattingly Weber
The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale by Laura Lee Hope (I also liked other pre-1920 girl series, but it was really hard to track them down so I tended to read only one in series such as The Red Cross Girls.)
Mary Rose at Boarding School by Mary Mabel Wirries (wow, I cannot find anything online about this series!)
Cherry Ames
Yes, I had a lot of hand-me-down, found in attics, or cheap at garage sale reading.
So what series books did you read?
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8 comments:
Hi Liz:
I loved Enid Blyton: "Secret Seven," "Famous Five," and "Malory Towers." I also loved the "Swallows and Amazon" books and all the "Little House" ones.
I have to admit that while I read every Nancy Drew, I never liked Nancy herself. I always felt like she'd be mean to me :)
In the same vein as Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys, I read Cherry Ames - you get many points for mentioning Cherry, The Bobbsey Twins, The Boxcar Children - the original falling-apart red hardcovers from the library, before the modern series, Trixie Belden - though I couldn't find many then; thank goodness they decided to reprint them for a new generation of readers! - and Meg - she rocked, and so did her Siamese cat.
Classic series - The Anne octet by L.M. Montgomery has always been and always will be a favorite.
Post-1900 series - Growing up, I adored the Ramona Quimby books by Beverly Cleary, the Anastasia Krupnik books by Lois Lowry, the All-of-a-Kind-Family books by Sidney Taylor, and the Alice McKinley books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor - which are still being written and published. I absolutely loved, loved, loved The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin.
New(er) series I recommend to kids and customers - OutCast by Christopher Golden and Thomas E. Sniegoski - have you read any of them yet? - Judy Moody by Megan McDonald, The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, the original American Girls six-book series - Molly being my favorite.
Enid Blyton: I discovered them on a trip to Ireland & England with my grandparents, bought many, and as the world's stupidest 18 year old threw them out. Loved them.
Bobbsey Twins: ah yes, especially the really really old ones. It's kind of fun to compare the old books and the new ones.
I heart Anne. Have you read LMM's journals? Fascinating look at creative process and her real life.
All Of A Kind, how could I forget them? And the penny for candy? I swear, most of what this Catholic knows about Jewish holidays & customs come from those books.
The Littles and Little House on the Prairie were my favorites. The Twins of the World series (my favorite was the Cave Twins). And Happy Hollisters! My cousin had 12 and I devoured them the summer I was 11. And to think, there are still 12 titles I haven't read! I read a few Nancy Drew, but wasn't into mysteries, and a few Sweet Valleys in high school.
I also loved books by Noel Streatfield. I know I started with Ballet Shoes but I think my favorites were White Boots and The Painted Garden. I still have my original copies. I re-read them more times than I can count. They were sorta series-ish as the "Fossils" often appeared in the different books. I have always appreciated the movie "You've Got Mail" because of Meg Ryan's comment about those books in the movie.
I loved Swallows and Amazons, Little House, Anne of Green Gables, Nancy Drew, the Happy Hollisters, the Bagthorpes, Arabel's Raven, the Ramona Books, Phyllis Reynold's Naylor's Witch books and Alice books, the Borrowers... and the Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley, secretly, because I was forbidden to read them. My mother was right, they were crap, but it was a thrill none the less, so I've read over 100 of the BSC books.
I loved the Littles and the Borrowers. But I'm not sure if I liked the characters or the plots; I think what I loved was the way they used different things to make their homes. I confess I have never heard of the Twins of the World, and I'm intrigued. And I think I've read a few of the Streatfield books, but I'm not sure. I have to read (reread?) to make sure.
I just reread the entire All of a Kind Family series a couple of summers ago; I bought the books at the NYC Tenement Museum's books and was thrilled at the thought that I was walking where the Charlotte and Gertie had gotten crackers out of the barrel, or Henny had cut school. Even though I know they are imaginary, they're the kind of characters that are so real, they stay with you forever.
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