August KiddyCAT: Series

When I was a kid, I adored series books. Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, The Happy Hollisters--you name it, I probably read it. (I never read Tom Swift, though.) For the month of August, we are focusing on kids' and YA series. You can get nostalgic, as I tend to do, or you can go with something a little more current.

For ideas on the more current end of things, I recommend a couple of helpful Book Riot lists:

100 Must-Read YA Book Series (seriously, 100!)
50 Must-Read Children’s Book Series

Or, you can check out the thread from the March SeriesCAT on kids' and YA series.

And don't forget the wiki!

I have tons of options for this, but I think I will continue with my Narnia reread.

And I loved The Happy Hollisters too - I don't think I have ever seen anyone else mention them before!

I used to read The Happy Hollisters too. I thought I was the only one. I'm thinking I might continue with the Flavia de Luce series with Thrice the Brindled Cat Hath Mew'd by Alan Bradley.

I can heartily recommend the Mr Lemoncello series by Chris Grabenstein. I forgot and read the newest one earlier this year.

A couple of long-term books on the tbr that fit this one for me include:

Horseradish / Lemony Snicket
Auggie and Me / R.J. Palacio

I will re-read one of the Bobbsey Twins books that has been on my shelf since I was 6 years old. Time for another re-read!......... or maybe a Miss Read book...........have read the first two........so many choices!

I loved all those early series as well and I am thrilled to see that Trixie Belden books are still available! I have decided to read The Sisters of Reckoning the second book in Charlotte Nicole Davis' fantasy series entitled "The Good Luck Girls".

I am thinking of reading another in the Wells and Wong series or the Aggie Morton series.

When I was a child, we all devoured The Bobbsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, Donna Parker, and so on, and passed the books around and traded them. And of course the nurse series like Cherry Ames and Sue Barton (my sister tells me those books and the doctor shows on TV are what prompted her to become a nurse). I also read the Happy Hollisters!

I will either read the next book in the Theodore Boone series or the first book in the Percy Jackson series. I am still deciding.

I loved the Beany Malone series by Lenora Mattingly Weber. I'm going to read the first in the series, Meet the Malones. It will be the first reread since about 1960. I hope I'm not disappointed.

My favourite series of more recent times (not including fantasy, of which I have many!) are The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street and The Penderwicks. I also highly recommend an Australian series, which starts with The Naming of Tishkin Silk.

My sisters and I all loved and read Beany Malone, until the book actually fell apart! I also enjoy the Penderwicks series.

oooooooo, I was just cleaning off a shelf and came across The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. It's been at least 60 years. I think I will read that one!

>10 JayneCM: I've recently discovered The Penderwicks. I wonder if the library has The Penderwicks in Spring, which is the next one that I've not read.

The Suck Fairy got me for The Bobbsey Twins and Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.

ETA: yes! The Penderwicks in Spring is available, and I've put in a hold!!!

I am just finishing Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens.

I started my August read a few days ago, then put it down so I could finish it for August's challenge:


The Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall

Five years have passed since the last time we visited with the Penderwicks. There have been some changes, additions and subtractions from the family, but they're still all Penderwicks! This book is told mostly from Batty's perspective, who is almost eleven years old and growing up quickly.

This book is a little more serious than I recall the previous books were, but still a delightful read and a fun visit with an unusual family.

Murder Most Unladylike or Murder is Bad Manners is not my fave book in this series. I read them out of order and this one is early on in the series. Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong attend a girls' school in England and have their own Detective Society of two members. In this novel, they work on solving the disappearances of two teachers at their school. I thought the story went on way too long and Daisy was most insufferable and annoying. I preferred the novel in this series that is set in Hong Kong and Hazel plays a starring role.

I'm planning Al Capone Shines my Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko. I've read one from this series set on Alcatraz and really enjoyed it.

>16 LadyoftheLodge: I also was not fussed on Murder Most Unladylike. It is the only one in the series I have read and was unsure what all the excitement was about with this series as, like you, I found Daisy to be insufferable. I was assuming that Hazel would come into her own later in the series and show Daisy a thing or two! :)

>18 JayneCM: That is exactly what happens in the book in which they visit Hong Kong A Spoonful of Murder. Hazel is in her own element there and Daisy is at a disadvantage. I also like the one that is set on a train First Class Murder.

I've finished Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd by Alan Bradley, the 8th book in the Flavia de Luce series.

Oops, wrong thread.

I read Grace Harlowe's First Year at Overton College, part of a girls' series from the 1910s.

I read Winter Turning by Tui T. Sutherland from the Wings of Fire series

Auggie & Me / R. J. Palacio
4 stars

This is three short stories, each from a different child’s POV. “Wonder”, of course, is the main book from Auggie’s perspective, and these are three other kids who came into contact with Auggie in some way. Two of these children (Charlotte and Julian) are in the 5th grade when Auggie Pullman comes to their school. Auggie has a facial deformity, and it’s extreme.

Chris was a friend of Auggie’s since they were babies, but moved away a few years before the events of Auggie’s current story. But they did stay in touch, so Chris’s story follows him on a bad day at school, in addition to flashing back to memories of Auggie, then Auggie is brought in to Chris’s current day.

Charlotte and Julian (and one other kid, Jack) are asked to welcome Auggie to the school. Charlotte is nice enough to Auggie, but doesn’t consider him a friend, and Julian just bullies Auggie (and turns others at the school against him).

I’ve read “The Julian Chapter” before but it’s been a long time, so I decided to reread it, in addition to the other two. I liked it the least of the three, likely because Julian (despite this one being from his POV) is a little s**t (though I did like his grandmother’s story). I’m giving it (this time around) 3.5 stars (good). On checking back, I am in agreement with the first time I read this.

The other two, I thought were really good. I really enjoyed Chris’s story and it probably had the most of Auggie in it. I also really liked Charlotte’s story, but it had the least of Auggie. It followed her as her best friend ditched her to hang out with the popular girls; Charlotte herself then got a part in a big dance performance at school with two other girls.

I have completed my fantasy read of The Sisters of Reckoning by Charlotte Nicole Davis. The story picked up shortly after the first book and was as action packed as the original.

I finished Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor, 4*, book 2 in the Nsibidi Scripts. This is a YA fantasy series set in Nigeria.

This is part of a "Science Comics" series; I will definitely be reading more (though not this month)!

Solar System: Our Place in Space / Rosemary Mosco, Jon Chad (Ill.)
4 stars

This is a graphic novel. The premise is that one kid is home sick and bored. Her friend comes by with a book about the solar system, so they invent a spaceship (with their pets as the fictional crew) to travel throughout the solar system – to the sun, then to all the planets and “belts” in between them and slightly beyond, where they learn about where they are visiting.

This is aimed toward kids, but I learned some stuff about the solar system, as well. I really enjoyed this. The pets as crew was kind of silly, but likely appealing to kids. I liked that there was a summary at the end of each planetary visit to explain some of the things learned. I also liked that they stopped at Pluto, even though it is no longer considered a planet. And I also enjoyed learning about a few of the planets’ moons. It was unfortunate temperatures were only in Fahrenheit, however. The illustrator did a really nice job, as well; the illustrations are all in colour.

I read the first book in the Percy Jackson series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief. I am so glad I bought the box set and can keep reading the series.

>28 lowelibrary: I read those with my daughter and wound up liking them more than I expected to. Very fun!

So far this month I've read Tiger Honor by Yoon Ha Lee, second in the Thousand Worlds series. It's a middle grade space fantasy based on Korean mythology, with shapeshifters and ghosts on a starship.

I also read How to Train Your Dragon and How to be a Pirate by Cressida Cowell. The movies were based on these, but very loosely.

I'm reading Al Capone Shines my Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko. The series is a lot of fun, and I'm enjoying this one.

Sorry for the delay. I prepared but lost track of the days. Here's the link for September's thread. https://www.librarything.com/topic/353049

I reread On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder -- from one of my favorite childhood series.

I read an add-on to The Land of Stories that I read last year (or was it 2021?) The Land of Stories: The Ultimate Book Hugger's Guide It had some short stories and behind the scenes stuff that was interesting!

I finished Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade. YA
and
Once by Morris Gleitzman. YA

I read Meet the Malones, th first in the Beany Malone series. I read this when I was about twelve. Although I read several of the Malone books from the library then, I don't think the whole series was available. I plan to continue on.

>35 clue: I remember reading some of the Beany Malone books when I was a child, borrowing them from my older sisters. I plan to get back to those too.

I also read Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer and the illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire this month.

Sorry I'm so late with this update, but I finally finished a book for the August challenge: The Capture by Kathryn Lasky, the first in the Guardians of Ga'hoole series.