New Year, New Series

What better way to start the new year than with a new (to you) series to tackle? There’s no better goal for a new year that starting and finishing a series. We’ve put together a list of completed series that you can start and possibly finish this new year! You’ll find duologies and trilogies and quartets and sagas and oct…ologies? Octets? Really long series, let’s just say that.

Deutsch, Stacia
The Friendship Code. 2017 (Middle Grade).
Loops, variables, input/output — Lucy can’t wait to get started with the new coding club at school. Finally, an after-school activity that she’s really interested in! But Lucy’s excitement turns to disappointment when she’s put into a work group with girls she barely knows. All she wanted to do was make an app that she believes will help someone very special to her. Suddenly, Lucy begins to get cryptic coding messages and needs some help translating them. She soon discovers that coding — and friendship — takes time, dedication, and some laughs. The Friendship Code is the first in a four book series, with the others (in order) being: Team BFF: Race to Finish!; Lights, Music, Code!; and Spotlight on Coding Club!
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Hale, Shannon
Real Friends. 2017 (Middle Grade Graphic Novel Memoir).
Shannon and Adrienne have been best friends ever since they were little. But one day, Adrienne starts hanging out with Jen, the most popular girl in class and the leader of a circle of friends called The Group. Everyone in The Group wants to be Jen’s #1, and some girls would do anything to stay on top…even if it means bullying others. Now every day is like a roller coaster for Shannon. Will she and Adrienne stay friends? Can she stand up for herself? And is she in The Group — or out? Real Friends is the first in a three book series, with the others (in order) being: Best Friends and Friends Forever.
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Ifueko, Jordan
Raybearer. 2020 (Teen).
Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as The Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of 11. If she’s picked, she’ll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood. That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere. But The Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: Kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn — but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself? Raybearer is the first in a two book series, with the second being Redemptor.
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Maas, Sarah J.
Throne of Glass. 2012 (Teen).
After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king’s council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she’ll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. But then, one of the other contestants turns up dead…quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined. Throne of Glass is the first book in a series of seven books and one collection of novellas. In order after Throne of Glass: Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms, Tower of Dawn, and Kingdom of Ash. The collection of novellas, The Assassin’s Blade, can be read any time before Queen of Shadows.
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Mbalia, Kwame
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky. 2019 (Middle Grade).
Seventh-grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Tristan is dreading the month he’s going to spend on his grandparents’ farm in Alabama, where he’s being sent to heal from the tragedy. But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up in his bedroom and steals Eddie’s journal. Tristan chases after it, and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a Bottle Tree. In a last attempt to wrestle the journal out of the creature’s hands, Tristan punches the tree, accidentally ripping open a chasm into the MidPass, a volatile place with a burning sea, haunted bone ships, and iron monsters that are hunting the inhabitants of this world. Tristan finds himself in the middle of a battle that has Black American gods John Henry and Brer Rabbit exhausted. In order to get back home, Tristan and these new allies will need to entice the god Anansi, the Weaver, to come out of hiding and seal the hole in the sky. But bartering with the trickster Anansi always comes at a price. Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky is the first in a trilogy, with the others (in order) being: Tristan Strong Destroys the World and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching.
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Rothman, Scott
Attack of the Underwear Dragon. 2020 (Picture Book).
Cole’s wish comes true when he becomes an Assistant Knight to Sir Percival, his favorite Knight of King Arthur’s Round Table. Cole learns how to ride a horse, swing a sword, cheer for Sir Percival when he goes to battle, and bandage his boo-boos when the battle is over. Cole loves practicing every skill a Knight-in-Training must master, and he is determined to be granted knighthood. And Sir Percival is a great knight in every way — the perfect to train Cole — except for one thing: he is terrified that an Underwear Dragon will come and destroy the kingdom. And when the unthinkable happens, Cole is the only knight left standing (and just an assistant knight at that!). Cole must use all of his newly acquired skills to battle the fearsome dragon and avoid a catastrophe. Attack of the Underwear Dragon is the first in a two book series, with the second being Return of the Underwear Dragon.
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Rubin, Adam
Dragons Love Tacos. 2012 (Picture Book).
Dragons love tacos. They love chicken tacos, beef tacos, great big tacos, and teen tiny tacos. So if you want to lure a bunch of dragons to your party, you should definitely serve tacos. Buckets and buckets of tacos. Unfortunately, where there are tacos, there is also salsa. And if a dragon accidentally eats spicy salsa…oh, boy. You’re in red-hot trouble. Dragons Love Tacos is the first in a two book series, with the second being Dragons Love Tacos 2: The Sequel.
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Schwab, Victoria
This Savage Song. 2016 (Teen)
Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city — a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent — but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt, the pair must flee for their lives. This Savage Song is the first in a two book series, with the second being Our Dark Duet.
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West, Kasie
Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss. 2019 (Teen).
Lacey Barnes has dreamed of being an actress for as long as she can remember. So when she gets the opportunity to star in a movie alongside one of Hollywood’s hottest actors, she doesn’t hesitate to accept the part. But Lacey quickly learns that life in the spotlight isn’t as picture perfect as she imagined. She’s having trouble bonding with her costars, her father has hired the definition of a choir boy, Donovan Lake, to tutor her, and somewhere along the way she’s lost her acting mojo. And just when it seems like things couldn’t get any worse, it looks like someone on set is deliberately trying to sabotage her. As Lacey’s world spins out of control, it feels like the only person she can count on is Donovan. But what she doesn’t count on is this straight-laced boy becoming another distraction. Fame, Fate and the First Kiss is the second book in a three book series, with the first being Love, Life and the List and the third being Moment of Truth.
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Yang, Kelly
Front Desk. 2018 (Middle Grade).
Mia Tang has a lot of secrets. Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel and tends to its guests. Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. And if the mean motel owner, Mr. Yao, finds out they’ve been letting them stay in empty rooms for free, The Tangs will be doomed. Number 3: She wants to be a writer. But how can she when her mom thinks she should stick to math because English is not her first language? It will take all of Mia’s courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will she be able to hold on to her job, help the immigrants and guests, escape Mr. Yao, and go for her dreams? Front Desk is the first book in a three books series, with the others (in order) being: Three Keys and Room to Dream.
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