Good Evening, Happy Friday, and Happy Weekend!

I got my tush outside today for the first time in days. It felt awesome, even though I got tired and nauseous about a block from home and turned back around. I managed to snap a few photos first though:

Berries and flowers and twigs, oh my!

But on to tonight’s real theme. Childhood/Elementary book series that I used to love (and probably still would if I gave them another chance:

1. The Babysitters’ Club: Come on, who didn’t love these books? Between my sisters and I we must have owned the majority of the series, including the coveted “super special” editions where they went on vacations. My favorite characters were Stacy, Claudia, and Jessie. I couldn’t stand Dawn, Mallory, or Kristy. Maryann was meh. Oh, and raise your hand if you started a copycat “BSC” of your own. (raises hand proudly).

2. The Boxcar Children: These were kid gold. They didn’t have parents, they solved mysteries, and they all knew their role in the world the family. They were all freakishly smart and well adjusted, too, for being orphans.

3. Encyclopedia Brown: I didn’t have as many of these mystery series, but I sure did like trying to solve the mystery before Enclyclopedia did. I think I figured it out once, and it was hella cheesy.

4. Sweet Valley High/ Nancy Drew: I didn’t read a ton of either of these series (although I loved SVH on TV) but I did get a good bunch of them from the school library. I idolized Nancy Drew for a very short period of time. and I think we all want to be the sweet valley twins.

5. Judy Blume’s Empire: Okay, not a series, per se, but she was BIG back in my kid-hood. “Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself,” “Just as long as we’re together,” and “Here’s to you, Rachel Robinson,” “It’s not the end of the world,” and “Otherwise known as Sheila the Great” were some of my favorites.

Honorable Mentions: Beverly Cleary (Ramona Quimby), Goosebumps, Roald Dahl

What were your favorite book series to read when you first started reading “chapter books” like these? Did you like any of these series? Do you have huge collections of any books like this back at your parents house like we do?

Meri