Still Obsessed: A Roundup of Classic Teen Series
the one where I share my favorite series of books when I was a kid
current eBook: 👨❤️💋👨 Noaz (Van Doren #2) by Crea Reitan
current physical book: 🕵️ We Solve Murders (We Solve Murders #1) by Richard Osman
currently watching: 🎥 Dirty Dancing (1987) & Lilo & Stitch (2025)
currently listening: 🎧 to this Summer Hits of the 90s playlist for nostalgia
It was my birthday yesterday and I’m someone who doesn’t normally look forward to it. I ended up having a great couple days celebrating with friends and family. I received 2 books, a candle, a bookmark, and a beautiful bracelet as gifts.
On Friday, I went to my daughter’s grandparents’ house for an overnight stay and they have a tradition where on someone’s birthday, they get to pick dinner for the evening. I chose bbq chicken, homemade potato salad, white rice, and corn off the cob and it was so delicious. They surprised me with a cake and we played Mind the Gap, a family-favorite board game for all generations. We play this all the time and it always is so fun.
Yesterday, the actual day of my birthday, my daughter had a soccer tournament. We’re currently in the midst of a heatwave this weekend where I live in Ontario, so she only played the morning game since the afternoon games were cancelled from the heat. She told me she would score a goal for my birthday and she did! I later went shopping with my mom in a cozy little town near us after getting ice cream at a local shop. We also went for dinner at a new-to-us bbq place and shared the most delicious beef brisket sandwich, caesar salad, and mac and cheese. We then went to our friend’s house for an impromptu visit and had smores and then went to my brother and sister-in-law’s place for a late-night visit.
Overall, it was an exciting and fun-filled birthday weekend.
The book series that made me want to become a baby-sitter until I actually did it and decided it wasn’t for me. The first time I can remember reading this series is when I was in grade 4. My teacher would give us silent reading time, but he had a classroom library full of the school library books. He had several books from this series, so I would fly through them.
I’m currently in the midst of doing a re-read of this series, simply because I loved them as a child.
The series centers around 4 girls (later with a few more) who join forces to make money by creating a baby-sitter’s club. It follows their drama and family lives in between babysitting jobs.
Fear Street, the Goosebumps-style series for teens, that made me terrified of many things when I was younger. The series centers around a street called Fear Street in a town called Shadyside. Each book follows a different story with different main characters, but it does have different miniseries within, like Fear Street Cheerleaders.
I remember picking these up in middle school hoping they would be scarier than Goosebumps. The intensity is higher than the Goosebumps series, but the stories are all just as good.
The series of books that made me want to be a detective. It centers around a teen girl detective named Nancy Drew and the mysteries she solves. She has a boyfriend and a couple sidekicks that help her.
I started reading this series when I was in my twenties, not having read them when I was younger. There’s a local thrift store that had the first couple, so I bought them for cheap and now I’m in the midst of reading them, along with the Hardy Boys series since they have crossover books.
The series that made me never want a twin or sisters like Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield. I started reading this series when I turned 30 and I stayed for the drama in them.
The series follows twin sisters Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield and their friends and family. The sisters are complete opposites: Jessica is the popular cheerleader-type with a mean streak and a different boyfriend all the time and Elizabeth is the smart, kind brainiac with a boyfriend.
The series that terrified me of Halloween masks and ventriloquist dummies. None of the books are connected, so you can pick them up at any point of the series. There are a few with sequels, though. I read these when I was a young child and felt disappointed at the beginning of each chapter that revealed what the cliffhanger was for the end of the previous chapter. I thought they would be scarier than they are, but the series is still a fun read.
These books are more middle-grade, but still enjoyable at any age.
Take a walk down nostalgia lane and let me know what books you enjoyed as a child and/or teenager. I would love to read them!
Kirsten
I loved Sweet Valley High which was a graduation for me from the Sweet Dreams books... I am hoping to find some in a thrift shop so that I can share them with my daughter and nieces... Read those voraciously and that traded with friends. One of my favourites was P.S. I Love You by Barbara Conklin :) Great times! Thanks for the reminder..
Obsessed with all of em