1. The Cul-de-sac Kids Series (Ages 7-10)
Lewis wrote the books for children ages 7-10, and I have to say that I read and reread all of the books when I was in that age frame. I constantly checked them out from my church library. The librarians chuckled as I enthusiastically signed my name on the library check-out cards and then counted the number of times my name was listed on the cards.
2. The Lily Series (Ages 8-12)
The Lily books, by Nancy Rue, are about the lives of 6th grade Lily and her friends. The awesome thing is, each book has a nonfiction twin which covers a topic mentioned in it’s fiction counterpart. For instance, in the first book, Here’s Lily, Lily decides she wants to be a model. Then, in the nonfiction companion book, Rue discuses beauty and self image (or, “God image”).
These books highly influenced my tween years. I read and reread every single one of the 14 fiction books, and owned the majority of the nonfiction books. These books taught me about the spiritual disciplines, spiritual gifts, how to make good friends, what some obscure Christian holy days are, and how to be creative.
These books are amazing, and I truly believe I would be a different person today if I had not read them back then.
3. The Christy Miller Series (Ages 14+)
This is still one of my favorite series to read. I started reading The Christy Miller Series, by Robin Jones Gunn, the summer after I turned 14.The first 12 books tell the story of Christy Miller’s life in high school. Then, Christy goes off to college, and her adventures there are relayed in three additional books. Currently, Gunn is writing a series about Christy’s life right after she got married (to whom I shan’t say, in case you haven’t read it yet *grins*). There are also series that are told by a few of Christy’s friends (The Sierra Jensen Series and The Katie Weldon Series; also check out The Glenbrook Series).
What I love about all of the Christy books is that the characters are so real. Each time I reread one of the books, I feel like I’m catching up with old friends. Sometimes, I even find myself telling stories about them, as if they were real, in conversations (“Oh yeah, one time my friend bought microwave popcorn at a garage sale and nearly caught our other friend’s apartment on fire…”), and it takes me a minute to remember that these people are actually fictional.
Through these books, I have learned about how to deal with friends, I’ve learned new things about God, and I’ve learned somethings about dating. These books are AMAZING, and you should go read all of Gunn’s books RIGHT NOW :D