Popular Series Fiction for Middle School and Teen Readers

Rebecca L. Thomas is an elementary school librarian, Shaker Heights City Schools, Ohio. She is the author of numerous reference books, including Across Cultures (Libraries Unlimited, 2007) and the recent supplement to the 7th edition of A to Zoo (Libraries Unlimited, 2008).Catherine Barr is editor of the Libraries Unlimited Children's and Young Adult Literature Reference series and author or coauthor of other Libraries Unlmited titles including High/Low Handbook and the Best Books series (Best Books for Children, Best Books for Middle School and Junior High Readers, Best Books for High School Readers, and Best New Media).

Now in their second editions, these companion volumes are examples of titles that make our work so much easier. Using standard review sources and bibliographies as well as author, publisher, bookseller, and library Web sites, the authors have identified nearly 2,200 in-print series appropriate for K–6 readers and an equal number of series (including manga, Cine-Manga, and illustrated novels) that will appeal to readers in grades 6–12. Entries are arranged by the series title and contain author, most recent publisher, grade level, notation for availability of accelerated-reader resources, genre, a descriptive three- to fivesentence annotation, and a list of individual titles in the series, arranged by publication date. Following the entries are author, title, and genre/subject indexes as well as appendixes that list books for boys, girls, andreluctant readers. There is little overlap between the two volumes, which are essential as reference and selection tools in all school, public, and academic libraries.'Reviewed with Popular Series Fiction for K-6 Readers