As a kid, book series like Goosebumps and Animorphs were like candy to me. I could never get enough of them, and my local library couldn’t stock them fast enough. I knew they weren’t exactly nourishing my mind but they were quick, easy, and seemingly endless. I outgrew every single series on this list long before it reached its end and long before the adventures grew stale and the characters became flat and tedious. I am not ashamed to say, however, that they all have a place in my heart and that sometimes, on long sleepless nights, I’ll still pull out a Baby-sitter’s Club or Animorphs book to while away the hours.
Animorphs
Author: K.A. Applegate
Number of Books: 54
Five tweens gain the power to morph into any animal they touch in order to fight off an invasion of mind-controlling aliens called Yeerks.
My favourite character: Rachel – especially when she was being her bad-ass, warrior princess self. As soon as I saw her on the cover of a new book I had to run home and read it tout de suite. Also, she morphed into the best animals – grizzly bear, anyone?
My least favourite character: Cassie – her goody-goody nature definitely put me off as a kid. She was always moralizing and being a total stick in the mud. You can transform into animals! Live a little!
My favourite book: The Hork-Bajir Chronicles. Okay, okay, I know that it isn’t exactly part of the series (it’s a special), but I looveeeddd this book. It had conflict and romance (sweet, sweet alien romance) and the kind of sweeping Avatar-esque story that all kids can get behind.
What I loved about the series: As a kid I was absolutely obsessed with animals, so that was definitely a huge factor in my love for Animorphs. I really couldn’t imagine anything better than transforming into an animal and cavorting around (I could’ve done without the saving the world part, personally). I realize now, however, that I would’ve been a terrible animorph. I mean, they were lucky they got access to all of those creatures… I’d be stuck as a variety of housecats or one small, fluffy (and unimaginably annoying) Pomeranian. Watch out Yeerks!
Also: the morphing covers and little flip-book illustrations in the corners didn’t hurt one bit.
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The Baby-Sitters Club 
Author: Ann M. Martin
Number of Books: 131; plus 15 specials, 40 mysteries, and scads of other miscellaneous stories
A group of girls from a variety of stereotypes form a babysitting business in their neighbourhood and hijinx ensue.
My favourite character: Dawn & Mary-Anne. I rationalize it thus: as the quiet, responsible one Mary-Anne was the one who was most like me. Dawn, the hip California girl, was the one I most wanted to be.
My least favourite character: Kristy – she was way too much of a tomboy for me. I was never into sports or wearing ponytails and coaching Little League, so I found the Kristy-centric books to be tedious. That, and she was a major bossy britches.
My favourite book: Baby-Sitter’s Haunted House. The gals go on a summer vacation-slash-babysitting gig to a mansion in Maine where something spoooooky is going on. Mystery + vacation + romance + spooky supernatural occurrences = instant must-read for me as a child. I always spent my summers abroad with my parents, so the thought of spending the whole vacation with my friends was just spellbinding to me (though I could’ve done without the snivelling brats).
What I loved about the series: Every girl had a corresponding babysitter that she related to. There were tomboy Kristys, artistic Claudias, trendy Staceys, cool Dawns and shy Mary-Annes. Whether you lied to yourself or not (I just know that some of you were Mallorys posing as Staceys), it was fun to have a character to aspire to. Also, the stories were entertaining and covered pretty much every dream, desire, fear and conflict in a young girl’s life.
Curious to see which Baby-Sitter you are? Take this quiz.
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Goosebumps
Author: R.L. Stine
Number of Books: 62
Supernatural “horror” novellas for children featuring creepy monsters and magic, plucky child protagonists and ubiquitous twist endings.
Since the Goosebumps series generally had different protagonists in each book, I’m not going to bother with my favourite/least favourite character.
My favourite books: The Haunted Mask and One Day at Horrorland.
The former being the story of a scaredy-cat girl who buys a scary mask to prove to her friends that she’s not chicken. Unfortunately, the mask starts to meld with Carly’s own face… I think you can tell that The Mask was one of my favourite movies when I was younger.
The latter being the story of a family trapped in a very sinister and dangerous amusement park, where the rides and the carnies are out to kill.
I can’t even really explain why I liked these books. None of the Goosebumps series were particularly deep or thoughtful, they were just fun stories and these two stick out in my mind as the best of the lot.
What I loved about the series: Simply – they were extremely quick reads with fun, simple stories. They were never particularly scary, but the camp, kitschy scenarios were nevertheless entertaining. I loved to curl up with a Goosebumps book after I got home from school because I would always be finished by dinnertime.
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The Boxcar Children
Author: Gertrude Chandler Warner
Number of Books: 121
Four orphaned siblings live in an abandoned boxcar until they are adopted by their curmudgeonly grandfather. Then, for some reason, they begin to solve mysteries.
My favourite character: Jessie. As the oldest child in my family, I always related most to the older sister in any book (Susan Pevensie, anyone?). I also enjoyed that she was the strong, fearless one and was a mother figure to the younger children.
My least favourite character: Benny, the 5 year-old brother. He was just plain obnoxious and an unrelenting chatterbox.
My favourite books: The Mystery Cruise. I found the whole idea of a cruise very glamorous when I was a kid (despite my love of the movie Titanic), so this book naturally drew me in. Honestly, that’s about the gist of the book: the kids go on a cruise ship and solve a mystery. These kids can’t seem to go the bathroom without encountering a goddamn mystery.
What I loved about the series: Each book was a self-contained mystery with likable characters and interesting situations. The Alden kids constantly seemed to be going to interesting places and getting mixed up in spooky, dangerous, and exciting adventures.
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Sweet Valley High
Author: Francine Pascal
Number of Books: 181
Two perfect teenage twins, Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, lead perfect lives at Sweet Valley High in perfect California. Everything couldn’t be more perfect.
My favourite character: They were both perfect, how could I even choose? I guess I usually went with bookish, sensible Elizabeth Wakefield because Jessica was an entitled bitch.
My least favourite character: Jessica – the entitled, but perfectly perfect in every way, bitch.
My favourite books: I remember loving this series, but have absolutely no recollection of any of the books. I think I vaguely recall one where Elizabeth either gets a horse or takes riding lessons. Let’s go with that one.
What I loved about the series: Probably that they were teenagers dealing with teenage situations, which is something I was absolutely obsessed with as a tween. But seriously, can anyone remember what they liked about this series? Was it the constant reminders of how beautiful and blonde and popular the twins were? I think these books held some sort of twisted, masochistic appeal for unpopular children.
What were your favourites? Discuss in the comments!
THE NOVEL NEMATODE 