Discovering the first book in a new series is sooooooo exciting. You read through breakfast, into the afternoon, and with the flashlight under your covers. Then you close the book and want to read the next book in the series IMMEDIATELY! You come in to the library or check at the bookstore and learn that the next book won’t be out for months and months and months….. AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!
Sometimes, the best time to discover a new series is …… after the author has finished it! I know that seems weird, because it isn’t something brand new and hot off the press…. but if you haven’t read it yet, isn’t it still sparkling new to you? So it’s a win-win: great new series, all the books already written and available, and probably not a whole huge list of other people on the waiting list to read it!
So what are some of the series books that I would recommend in this category?
If you like futuristic suspense, you might check out Margaret Peterson Haddix’s Shadow Children Series.
In the series opener (Among the Hidden), the world has become so overpopulated that no family is allowed to have more than two children. The Garner family farm holds a stunning secret: Mr. and Mrs. Garner have three sons – one more than is legally allowed. That third child is twelve-year-old Luke, and no one outside of the family can ever discover that Luke exists. Hidden away from the world, Luke passes his days and nights in forced isolation, until one day when he is sneaking a look out of his high attic window and discovers someone else in a house across the way peeking out of her window. Could she be another secret shadow child?
Looking for a series that is all about worlds colliding in the most unexpected places? Then Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson & the Olympians series may be just your ticket!
You may have seen the movie that was made from the first book, but unless you’ve read the series, you have no idea how great this tale is of a teen who discovers his father is Poseidon, God of the Seas. A full-on, wild ride through endless battles between mythological creatures, gods and their half-human offspring, this is a series that you will not be able to put down until you’ve read every last page. Start out with the Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief and I guarantee that you’ll never see an image of the St. Louis Arch the same way again!
Maybe you’re in withdrawal over having read (and re-read) the whole Twilight series and long for something else in the whole vampire/werewolf genre. No worries – pick up Maggie Stiefvater’s Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy!
Since she was a little girl, Grace has always loved watching the wolves in the woods behind her home. Especially the wolf that almost seems to be speaking to her through his yellow eyes. She’s never been afraid of him and always searches the pack to see if he’s among the group roaming through the winter snow. It’s as if they are connected somehow…..
Then one summer afternoon, Grace steps into a shop and meets a mysterious golden-eyed boy who seems so very familiar…. but how could it possibly be her yellow-eyed wolf?
A gripping, supernatural romance that is hard to put down, this might be exactly the right diversion while your countdown clock to the final Twilight movie’s opening day ticks away….
Maybe you are looking for a longer term commitment. How about a really good mystery series with a spunky female lead that already has 14 books out and shows no signs of slowing down any time soon? Sound like a match made in heaven? Then look no further than Wendelin Van Draanen’s totally fun Sammy Keyes Mysteries!
Sammy (aka Samantha) Keyes has a pretty unusual life: she never knew her dad and her mom decided she’d rather follow her dream of becoming an actress than be a mom. So Sammy lives – illegally – with her Grandmother in a senior citizens only high rise apartment building, which makes for some interesting schemes to keep from being discovered! Sammy seems to have a nose for intrigue and stumbles upon one mystery after another – all the while trying to keep out of trouble herself. Add the fact that she’s crushing on the older brother of her worst school rival and life gets messy in a hurry!
Funny, suspenseful and always entertaining, Sammy’s series is a great one to discover – and if you read fast, you might catch up before the 15th book comes out in December!
Maybe you’re already reading a series and just want to know what book comes next! Or you heard about a series and you want to see how many books are involved. Or you loved one series by a certain author and you wonder if they have another one you could start next. Well there’s a fantastic website that can give you all of those answers – check it out at the link below!
library leslie 