Let’s talk about series today. Of course any of you who know me, know I must start by saying my all time favorite series is Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace. I could really leave it at that, but I won’t!
I love series because there are always more. Or hopefully there are! As long as the author’s still alive and writing.
The reason I’m thinking about series is because I’ve become infatuated with some of the British ones. Now this could be because I love all things England, or it could be because I love the fact that I understand the slang without using the glossary so I feel all smart, but I think the real reason is because a lot of them, even the ones people might write off as “chick lit” are so well done. Today I’m going to talk about the ones that people would consider “for girls” or “chick lit YA”. Of course I love Harry Potter and the adult series, Not All Tarts Are Apple is just oh-so-good, but that will be another post.
Have you ever watched a British sit com (or Brit-com as PBS likes to refer to them)? Have you ever noticed how even the actors with one line are BRILLIANT? Well, I think that’s true of a lot of British YA series; the supporting characters are interesting, funny, and likeable.
These are the series I like:
The Calypso Chronicles (Pulling Princes, Stealing Princes, Dueling Princes, Dumping Princes) by Tyne O’Connell
By my calculations, there should be at least seven more before Calypso finishes school. I like these because not only are they very funny, but there’s a whole fencing thing going on which I find really interesting (as in sabre, not selling stolen goods).
The Angelica Cookson Potts series (My Cup Runneth Over, My Scrumptious Scottish Dumplings, My Saucy Stuffed Ravioli) by Cherry Whytock
When I read the first one I practically cried. I was writing a book about a girl who wanted to be a chef and I was going to include recipes. As it turned out, the ACP plots are a soufflé (light and funny) compared to my more meaty stew (angst and relationships, but hopefully funny!), and the recipe thing didn’t really fit in my book after all, so now I just enjoy them.
The Georgia Niccolson Series (you’ll have to look up the titles yourself because they’re so complicated and I don’t own any of them…I think the first one is Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging) by Louise Rennison
What can I say about Georgia? She’s not a princess, she’s not rich, she doesn’t go to boarding school. But oh my, she is laugh-out-loud funny. And she was first.
So Super Starry and So Super Stylish by Rose Wilkins
I’m not sure this counts as a series quite yet since there are only two books, but I liked the first one enough to read the second one (when I can get my hands on it).
Let’s hear from the Canadians!
While I am enamored of the Brits, I have to say that Canadian Susan Juby has thrown a wonderful series into the mix with her Alice series and it’s not to be missed. Talk about weird-hilarious!
And of course, here in the good ole US of A, we have a “few” series of our own. To be honest though, the only ones that have really hooked me are both by Meg Cabot. Yep, I’ve fallen for Mia and her bodyguard. I’m an avid follower of The Princess Diaries, but honestly, my heart belongs to Suze. I think The Mediator Series KICKS ASS. I will buy that series someday.
What series have I missed that I need to check out?
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