New Titles from Children's Fiction Series

Fall is in the air and the children are back to school. Every parent is familiar with the homework reading time by now.  Often, when a child reads a good book, they would like the story to continue.  Series books are a great way to keep the child interested in reading.  Here are some fun new elementary level books from series to help transform required reading into “can’t stop” reading time.

Fans of Disney’s made-for-TV movie, The Descendants, will devour The Isle of the Lost by Melissa De la Cruz.  This novel is book 1 of the Descendants series.  Imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost, the teenaged children of Disney's most evil villains, such as Maleficent, search for a dragon's eye--the key to true darkness and the villains' only hope of escape.

Introduce your young reader the Anna, Banana books by Anica Mrose Rissi.  This illustrated chapter book series covers the joys and challenges of elementary school relationships.  The latest book is Anna, Banana and the Big-Mouth Bet.  After telling her dog Banana about her loose tooth and discovering that some of her friends do not believe in the Tooth Fairy, Anna makes an impulsive bet with a pesky boy who also has a loose tooth.  This book is the third book of the Anna, Banana series. 

Younger children most likely know Fancy Nancy from her fabulous picture books. When young readers are ready to move on, check out the Fancy Nancy illustrated chapter book series, where this most-glamorous girl continues her often over-embellished adventures.  The latest book in the Fancy Nancy chapter book series is Soccer Mania by Jane O’Connor.  As her third-grade class makes its selections for the "Graveyard of Boring Words" and learns about "superb synonyms," slow-footed Nancy enthusiastically plays on the soccer team, with the goal of just being mediocre, or maybe even a little better than average.

Is your child already in the Halloween spirit?  If so, check out Guys Read: Terrifying Tales, Jon Scieszka, Editor.  This is Book #6 of the Guys Read Library of Great Reading.  Eleven masters of suspense including Michael Buckley, Adam Gidwitz, Claire Legrand, Nikki Loftin, Dav Pilkey, and R. L. Stine have come together provide a bone-chilling collection of original ghost stories, perfect for reading under the covers with a flashlight on a school night and then scaring your friends' socks off at the next sleepover!

Big Nate is a much-loved graphic novel/comic book series of our middle grade patrons.  Aspiring cartoonist Nate Wright is eleven years old, four-and-a-half feet tall, and the all-time record holder for detentions in school history. He's a self-described genius and sixth-grade Renaissance Man who lives with his dad and older sister and enjoys pestering his family and teachers with his sarcasm.  Big Nate: Welcome to My World by Lincoln Peirce hits PWPL shelves this month.

Do you have an elementary-aged child? Does the child have a pulse?  If so, they know about Minecraft and probably enjoy it. Tear them away from watching Minecraft Youtubers and set this Minecraft novel in front of them to join Gameknight999's world instead.  In Saving Crafter: An Unofficial Minecrafter’s Adventure by Mark Cheverton, a book of the Gameknight999 series, Gameknight999's best friend in Minecraft is dying, and only the User-that-is-not-a-user can save him!  An artificially- intelligent virus as captured after an epic showdown on the shores of Minecraft. Gameknight999, having trapped the virus in an unlikely prison, saved the lives of his friends in the game and was finally able to return to the physical world. Everyone thought the Last Battle was over and Minecraft was safe, but they were wrong. Don’t understand any of this? Don’t worry; your child will get it.

--Heather Steltenpohl, Development Director