27 Scholastic Book Fair Series From The '00s That You'll Immediately Remember On Sight
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1.Amelia's Notebook series by Marissa Moss
This series looked like real marble composition notebooks with neat handwriting printed inside accompanied by doodles, stickers, and mementos taped to the pages of Amelia's notebooks, which served as her journals. I grew up with Amelia, with the series starting in elementary school and following her to her middle school graduation, offering her advice on moving, making and keeping friends, dealing with bullies, and more along the way. Reading them felt like really reading someone's private journal, which was thrilling.
2.The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes by Anne Mazer
Abby Hayes was so cool: She was a writer, and she was sure of herself in a way that a lot of fifth-grade girls weren't, making her a great role model. She deals with normal kid stuff, like her Middle Child Syndrome and all that entails it: hand-me-downs, babysitting against her wishes, feeling like she's not the favorite. She loves writing her journal in purple ink, which we get the pleasure of reading in snippets.
3.Judy Moody by Megan McDonald
Getting a new Judy Moody book at the Scholastic Book Fair was one of the greatest joys I've ever known. There was so much to love about Judy, who was so spunky and full of personality, certainly not your average third-grader. She even has her own language. A character that big couldn't possibly stay in the pages, so she got the silver screen treatment in 2011. Kids are still buying all the Judy Moody books today — at Scholastic Book Fairs and bookstores alike!
4.The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
I thought I was too old for comics. Then, Captain Underpants came to the Scholastic Book Fair and introduced me to the joy of graphic novels. I was obsessed with the goofy, silly sketches from Dav Pilkey detailing the adventures of Harold and George, and I was far from alone. Captain Underpants is still doing the important work of showing even the most hesitant readers that graphic novels make reading fun. Oh, and for the record, there's no such thing as being too old for comics.
5.Joey Pigza series by Jack Gantos
Joey Pigza was one of the first characters to show me that middle-grade books didn't need to be about easy topics. Sometimes, they could be about misunderstood kids with dark and messy family dynamics. Joey Pigza's life with ADHD and journey to finding the right treatment, spanning five books, is something that can inspire readers of all ages. It's no surprise that the books were award-winning.
6.Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne
My introduction to the world of historical fantasy was via the Magic Tree House books, which saw the protagonists going on all kinds of insane adventures through time by stepping into their...well, Magic Tree House, of course! Jack and Annie travel back to the Ice Age, they explore the Australian Outback, they check out the first Olympics in Ancient Greece, and so much more. In fact, they're still going on adventures today as author Mary Pope Osborne continues to churn out the beloved chapter books!
7.Amber Brown series by Paula Danziger
Amber Brown was such a fun character to love. She was a relatable narrator to kids experiencing joint custody. Amber goes through the motions: missing out on plans because of her parents' shared custody schedule, adjusting to having more than one home, and dealing with her parents dating other people. But she also tries to make it work for herself by enjoying the time she gets to spend with her dad's landlord's kids — and sometimes by being sneaky and lying to her parents. She always learns her lesson, though, and relays it to her readers!
8.The Baby-Sitters Club by Ann M. Martin
I could never resist these wooden block letters when I saw them on the shelf! I learned so much from The Baby-Sitters Club books, but it was the small details that stuck with me the most: how Claudia had a secret stash of sweets, how Dawn was a health nut who only ate pizza with whole wheat crust, and how sweet Logan was to Mary Anne. The BSC is timeless. It's adapted over the years to graphic novels and a Netflix series, so everyone can learn from Kristy, Claudia, Mary Anne, Stacey, and Dawn.
9.P.S. Longer Letter Later and Snail Mail No More by Ann M. Martin and Paula Danziger
This epistolary series was co-authored by Ann M. Martin and Paula M. Danziger and followed the lives of two best friends who were dealing with a lot — including one of them moving away, and the other's parents getting a divorce. It was a cultural marker, too, as the first book starts with them writing each other letters by hand and the second book is through emails.
10.The Mediator series by Meg Cabot
Meg Cabot is well known for her Princess Diaries series, but she's written much more than that. Her Mediator series featured a teenage mediator (not medium!), Susanne "Suze" Simon, who moves from Brooklyn to California and can talk to the dead. Ghosts come to her if they left Earth with some unfinished business, and she does her best to help them tie up loose ends. It was a perfect blend of paranormal fantasy and contemporary romance, showing that Meg Cabot could really do it all.
11.Bunnicula series by Deborah and James Howe
I think the Bunnicula series gave me the creeps before I ever picked up a Goosebumps. The books are told from the POV of the family dog, who just has to expose this vampire rabbit who is now in their midst. There was something so haunting about that bunny's red eyes. I swear, I never looked at a white rabbit the same way again.
12.The Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter
Like most tween girls, books about prep-school shenanigans held a special place in my heart, and the Gallagher girls were very dear to me. First of all, the cover style was iconic: the model cut off at the eyes, the skirts and long socks, and the cut-out letters, ransom-note style. The series follows Cammie Morgan, student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, which is basically a school for spies. Cammie is constantly reminded that she isn't a normal teenager, like when she can't make plans for a date since she may be called upon to tackle a crime at any given moment, or when she's dodging a terrorist organization.
13.The 39 Clues by various authors
The 39 Clues series follows siblings Amy and Dan Cahill on a worldwide scavenger hunt, following a clue hunt that they acquire the opportunity to participate in from their late grandmother's will. The stories even piqued the interest of Steven Spielberg, who bought the movie rights (although, nothing did seem to come of it).
14.Animal Ark series by Ben M. Baglio
I was OBSESSED with the Animal Ark books, which followed 13-year-old Mandy Hope, the daughter of veterinarian parents, on her adventures helping her parents take care of local animals, like these kittens. All of the book titles relied on alliteration: Kittens in the Kitchen, Puppies in the Pantry, Bunnies in the Bathroom — you get the idea.
15.The New Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley by various authors
For much of my young life, I could not get enough of Mary-Kate and Ashley. And it's not like they were easy to escape! Between their TV shows and made-for-TV movies, there was never a shortage of Olsen twins content. Then came these books, which were centered around mysteries that Mary-Kate and Ashley, aka the "Trenchcoat Twins," set out to solve. There were also books based on their movies and other series, like Two of a Kind and So Little Time, so depending on your age, you may remember seeing different Olsen twin books at your Scholastic Book Fair.
16.Junie B. Jones by Barbara Park
Junie B. Jones and her bows were an early favorite for me and my friends — and they're still an early favorite for kids today. Junie B. Jones is a bit of a troublemaker, but she's hilarious. The series starts with Junie getting ready for kindergarten, and by the 28th book in the series, she's still a first-grader, so the books are all about her adventures as an almost 6-year-old and an actual 6-year-old. She deals with events like riding the school bus, learning about the moral code of cheating on tests, and realizing she needs glasses.
17.Cam Jansen series by David A. Adler
I learned what a photographic memory was from Cam Jansen, and I instantly wished I had one. Cam just said "click" and took a mental photograph and remembered everything. In fact, her name wasn't really Cam — it was Jennifer, but everyone called her Cam because of her mental camera. Her memory comes in handy too — she uses it for solving local mysteries, like figuring out who robbed the jewelry store in the mall and who stole the dinosaur bones from the museum.
18.Goosebumps by R.L. Stine
Goosebumps made everyone into a reader before there were books about boy wizards. It was nearly impossible to pass by the table at the Scholastic Book Fair boasting the colorful covers, with the signature font and creepy cover art, without picking up a new book to take home. I still want to visit Horrorland, even if it might kill me.
19.Animorphs by K.A. Applegate
What was it about book covers with normal kids morphing into random animals that made us want to read? I don't know, but Scholastic ran with it. They've even started adapting the books into graphic novels as recently as last year. Despite the silly covers, the Animorphs series did teach readers a lot about adolescence: friendship and first crushes; and tougher issues, like losing your parents (and in one case, finding them again).
20.A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events was probably the darkest book series I read as a kid, but I was hooked on it from the start. The storytelling in the Lemony Snicket books was captivating, following the Baudelaire orphans as they made the most of a crummy situation, time and time again.
21.Anastasia Krupnik series by Lois Lowry
Lois Lowry was well known for her science fiction novel The Giver, which became classroom reading for many, but her Anastasia Krupnik series was also beloved since its debut in 1979. Anastasia was a quirky tween character in the realistic fiction books, who had a fondness for the wart on her finger and was attached to her green notebook, where she kept lists of things. She was her own person, raised by a poetry professor and children's book illustrator, who gave her the freedom to be just that.
22.Avalon: Web of Magic by Rachel Roberts
This fantastical series is about three mages who were summoned to a secret portal in the woods and tasked with saving magical animals and their world. It's harder than it sounds, with nemeses like the Dark Sorceress and the Spider Witch trying to summon the magic for evil. If you read these books growing up, you're probably a crystal-collecting, witchy type now.
23.Ramona series by Beverly Cleary
My mom loved Ramona Quimby before I did, and I'll love her before my future kids do. While lots of my favorite first chapter books were about annoying younger siblings, the Ramona books eventually centered around that younger sibling, shifting the perspective. And Ramona Quimby was easy to love, despite her messy shenanigans, like making shampoo out of egg yolks.
24.A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy
Another series that relied on alliteration in its titles, the A to Z Mysteries series also followed the alphabet in order, starting with The Absent Author and ending with The Zombie Zone. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose get into all kinds of shenanigans, like tracking down a missing lottery ticket, solving the kidnapping of a TV star, and reuniting a baby orca whale with its mother.
25.Give Yourself Goosebumps by R.L. Stine
As much as I loved scaring myself half to death by reading Goosebumps books, sometimes it felt better to be in control of the narrative. That's what Give Yourself Goosebumps gave its readers. I remember seeing my options at the bottom of the page, and peeking at the pages I could choose to turn to, afraid to look at what they said. If it was too gruesome, I'd go back and pick another option, but really — there was no escaping the gore! And that's what we read Goosebumps for, right?
26.Fudge series by Judy Blume
Judy Blume was one of my favorite authors simply because she seemed to have a book for everything — from my childhood to tweenhood to teenhood and even my adult years. My love for her books started with her Fudge series, which opened with Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and followed a 9-year-old named Peter and his annoying little brother, Fudge. The series spanned five books, introducing other characters like Sheila Tubman (Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great) and chronicling the adventures of Peter and Fudge as they deal with friends moving, sharing spaces with extended family, and a new baby sister.
27.California Diaries by Ann M. Martin
Something about these covers made me feel so grown up. The subject matter was pretty grown up, to be fair. This series spinoff of The Baby-Sitters Club followed Dawn back to California, where we meet her old best friend Sunny, as well as other students we hadn't met before. All of the books are first-person journals that grapple with real issues like anorexia, losing a parent to cancer, abusive relationships, and depression.
