2013 BEST SERIES

Here are the Most Popular Book Series for 2013 (as reported by the New York Times).   We have linked to our "support pages" (where they exist). 

These pages have detailed reading level information and more. 

Updated December 2013

*** Note that in alphabetizing, we ignore 'the' in titles.
*** Newest editions to the list will be in bold
*You can find the original NYT list here.

whofors:
(Kids+) = okay for any age.
(Tweens+) = a book okay for Tweens and the young at heart.
(Some Tweens) = might have some more violence or scary elements, cursing than some Tweens prefer.
(MG+) = MG is short for middle-grader, a term that's beginning to be used more and more by librarians and publishers. MG books are typically targeting younger-Young Adults -- ages 13 to 15/16. Books for this group might have more violence, some mild cursing, and more tension/excitement in the story than some Tweens prefer.
(Some MG) = indicates a book that we believe might not be right for all Middle-graders.
(YA+) = These books are likely to have one of the following that will make it not appropriate for all Young Adults:

• Sex
• Cursing
• Extreme dark tone or very scary
• A lot of violence
• other 'adult behaviors' such as prostitution, drug use...

THE BOOKS!

1. 39 CLUES
2. A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS
3. ALEX RIDER ADVENTURES
4. BANE CHRONICLES
5. BEAUTIFUL CREATURES 
6. BEYONDERS
7. BIG NATE 
8. BLOODLINES
9. CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS 
10. CHEMICAL GARDEN
11. CHRONICLES OF NICK 
12. CRASH TRILOGY, THE
13. DARKNESS RISING
14. DELIRIUM 
15. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID 
16. DIVERGENT
17. DORK DIARIES
18. EMILY WINDSNAP 
19. GALLAGHER GIRLS
20. GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS
21. GIVER QUARTET
22. GONE
23. HARRY POTTER
24. HEIST SOCIETY
25. HEROES OF OLYMPUS
26. HOUSE OF NIGHT
27. HUNGER GAMES
28. I AM NUMBER FOUR
29. INFERNAL DEVICES
30. IVY AND BEAN
31. KANE CHRONICLES
32. KINGDOM KEEPERS 
33. LEGEND
34. MAGIC TREEHOUSE
35. MATCHED
36. MAXIMUM RIDE
37. MAZE RUNNER 
38. MICHAEL VEY
39. MIDDLE SCHOOL
40. MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES
41. MORTAL INSTRUMENTS
42. NANCY CLANCY
43. ORIGAMI YODA
44. PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS
45. PRETTY LITTLE LIARS 
46. RANGER’S APPRENTICE
47. RUBY RED
48. SEA BREEZE
49. SECRETS OF THE IMMORTAL NICHOLAS FLAMEL, The
50. SHADOW FALLS
51. SHATTER ME 
52. SORCERER'S RING, The 
53. THEODORE BOONE 
54. THE UNWANTEDS
55. TWILIGHT 
56. UNWIND DYSTOLOGY
57. WARRIORS
58. WINGS OF FIRE

39 CLUES (Kids+)
by various authors. Book#1 is by Rick Riordan.
Most books are AR 4's and 5's.  See the Clue's support page.

A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS (Tweens, MG)  by Lemony Snicket
Books are at the 6th and 7th Grade reading level.  See Lemony's support page.

ALEX RIDER ADVENTURES (MG)
by Anthony Horowitz
Books are at the high AR 4 and low AR 5 levels.

BANE CHRONICLES    (YA+)
by Cassandra Clare
There is no reading information available for this series. 

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES  (some MG & YA+)
by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Books are at the 4th Grade reading level.  For specific numbers see our support page.


BEYONDERS  (Tweens, MG+)
by Brandon Mull
Great MG series.  These books are at the AR 5 level.  See Brandon's page for specifics.

BIG NATE (some Tweens, MG+)
by Lincoln Peirce
Books are at the AR 2 and 3 levels.  See Nate's support page for specifics.

BLOODLINES  (YA+)
by Richelle Mead
Books are at the 5th Grade reading level.  For specific numbers see Bloodline's support page.

CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS    (Kids+)
by Dav Pilkey
Books are at the AR 4 level, though 2 are at AR 5.  For specific numbers see the Captain Underpants support page.

CHEMICAL GARDEN  (YA)
by Lauren DeStefano
Books are at the AR 5 reading level.  For specific numbers see the support page.

CHRONICLES OF NICK (YA+)
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Books are at the AR 4 level. For specific numbers see our Chronicles of Nick support page.

CRASH TRILOGY (YA)
by Nicole Williams
There is no reading info for this romance series... yet.  To see covers and other info, check out the support page.

DARKNESS RISING (YA)
by Kelley Armstrong
Books are at the AR 3.9 and AR 4 level.  For specific numbers see the support page.

DELIRIUM  (YA)
by Lauren Oliver
The Delirium books are at the AR 5 & 6 level.  For specific numbers see the support page. 

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID (Tweens+)
by Jeff Kinney

Books are at the 5th Grade level. For specific numbers see the Wimpy Kid Resource Page.


DIVERGENT (YA+)
by Veronica Roth
Books are at high AR 4, low AR 5 level. For specific numbers see the Divergent Resource page.

DORK DIARIES (Tweens+)
by Rachel Renee RussellBooks are at the AR 4 and 5 levels. For specific numbers see the Support Page.

EMILY WINDSNAP (MG)
by Liz Kessler
Books are at the AR 3 and 4 levels. For specific numbers see the Support Page. 

GALLAGHER GIRLS (some Tweens, MG+)
by Ally Carter
Books are at the AR 4, AR 5 and 6 levels. Mostly squeaky clean. Mild excitement, and only the last book has violence. For specific numbers see the support page.

GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS (YA+) 
by Rae Carson
Book #1 and #2 are at the 5th Grade level. See the support page.

GIVER QUARTET (Some MG and YA+)
by Lois Lowry
Three books are at the AR 5 levels.One is AR 4.  To see specific numbers visit the support page.

GONE (Some MG and YA+)
by Michael Grant
Books are mostly at the AR 4 levels; one at AR 3. For specific numbers see our support page.

HARRY POTTER (some Tweens, MG & YA+)
by J. K. Rowling
Books are at the AR 5, 6 and 7 levels. For specifics see Harry's support page.

HEIST SOCIETY (some Tweens, MG+)
by Ally Carter
Books are at the AR 5 level.  See the support page here.

HEROES OF OLYMPUS (some Tweens, MG & YA+)
by Rick Riordan
Books are at the AR 4 level.  For specifics on this and other Rick Riordan books see our support page.

HOUSE OF NIGHT (YA+)
by P. C. Cast
Books are at the AR 5 level


HUNGER GAMES (some MG & YA+)
by Suzanne Collins
Books are at the AR 5 level. Support page here.


I AM NUMBER FOUR  (YA)
by Pittacus Lore
Books are at the AR 4 and 5 levels.  For specifics on all books in the series see the support page.

INFERNAL DEVICES  (YA)
by Cassandra Clare
Books are at AR 5 levels. For specific numbers see the series support page.

IVY + BEAN (Tweens, some MG)
by Annie Barrows
Books are at the AR 3 level. See the support page for specifics.

KANE CHRONICLES (some Tweens, MG+)
by Rick Riordan
Books are at the AR 4 level. For specifics see our Rick Riordan support page.

KINGDOM KEEPERS (some Tweens, MG+)
by Ridley Pearson
Books are at the AR 4 and 5 levels

LEGEND 
by Marie Lu
Books in this series are at the AR 4 and 5 levels. See the Legend support page.

MAGIC TREE HOUSE (Kids+)
by Mary Pope Osborne
MTH has something for everyone. Adventure, mild humor, and history around every corner. Teachers love and use this series which kids adore.
Books are at the AR 2, 3 and 4 levels

MATCHED (YA+)
by Ally Condie
A girl faces choices in a deterministic society that doesn’t leave love to chance.  The first 2 books are at the AR 4 level.  See the support page here.

MAXIMUM RIDE  (MG+) 
by James Patterson
 Books are at the AR 4 and 5 levels. For specific numbers see the MAX Ride support page.

MAZE RUNNER Series (MG & YA+)
by James Dashner
Books are at the AR 5 level.  For specifics see the support page.

MICHAEL VEY (MG & YA+)
by Richard Paul Evans
Books are at the AR 3 and AR 4 level.  For specifics see the support page.

MIDDLE SCHOOL (MG+)
by James Patterson & Chris Tebbetts
This series is at the AR 3 and 4 level.  For specifics see the support page.

MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES (YA+)
by Rachel Caine
This series is at the AR 4 and 5 levels.  For specifics on this long series check out the support page.

MORTAL INSTRUMENTS (YA+)
by Cassandra Clare
Books are at the AR 5 level.  For quiz numbers and more see the support page.

NANCY CLANCY  (Tweens)
by Jane O'Connor
Books are at the AR 3 level.  See the support page for specific book information.


PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS (some Tweens, MG+)
by Rick Riordan
Books are at the AR 4 level. For specifics see our Rick Riordan support page.

ORIGAMI YODA (some Tweens, MG+)
by Tom Angleberger
Books are at the AR 4 level.  For quiz numbers and more see the support page.

 PRETTY LITTLE LIARS (YA+)
by Sara Shepard
Books are at the AR 4 and 5 levels. For specific numbers see the Pretty Little Liars support page.


RANGER’S APPRENTICE  (MG+)
by John Flanagan
Books are at the AR 6 and 7 levels. (one at AR 5.8)

RUBY RED  (YA)
by Kerstin Gier
Books are at the AR 4 and 5 levels. See the support page for this series (and read an excerpt)

SEA BREEZE  (YA+)
by Abbi Glines
No reading information available for any of the books in this series.

THE SECRETS OF THE IMMORTAL NICHOLAS FLAMEL (some MG+)
by Michael Scott
Books are at the AR 5 and 6 level.  Working on the list for this.

SHADOW FALLS (YA+)
by C.C. Hunter
Books are at the AR 4 level. For specifics see our Shadow Falls support page.

SHATTER ME  (YA+)
by Tahereh Mafi
Books are at the AR 5 level. See the support page.


THE SORCERER'S RING (YA+)
by Morgan Rice
-working on the list for this series.  There are no reading numbers.

THEODORE BOONE: KID DETECTIVE series  (MG+)
by John Grisham
Books are at the AR 5 level. For specific numbers see the Boone support page.

THE UNWANTEDS  (MG+)
by Lisa McMann
Books are at the AR 5 level. For specific numbers see the Unwanteds support page.


UNWIND DYSTOLOGY (YA+)
by Neal Shusterman
Books are at the AR 5 level. For specific numbers see the UNWIND support page.

TWILIGHT SAGA (YA+)
by Stephenie Meyer
Books are at the AR 4 level. For specific numbers see our Twilight support page.

WARRIORS (some Tweens, MG+)
by Erin Hunter
Books are at the AR 3, 4, 5 and 6 levels.

WINGS OF FIRE  (Tweens, MG+) 
by Tui T. Sutherland
Books are at the low AR 5 level.  




See our other Must Read book lists!