We all know The Baby-Sitters Club. We’re familiar with Fear Street and similar ’90s teen horror. There’s Sweet Valley High, Redwall, various series by Mercedes Lackey and Tamora Pierce, and, as highlighted in an earlier post, even more lesser-known nostalgic children’s book series. This roundup won’t cover those titles, but instead will dig even deeper into the trenches of your locked memory boxes. The majority are from the ’90s, though a few of these begin in the very late ’80s. The majority of these books were published straight to paperback. They were affordable for young readers, and many would make their appearances in school book fairs and fliers for book sales. Many are also firmly situated in the “problem novel” genre of YA, wherein the central thrust of the story is a social problem and the teen operates as the means by which a message is conveyed. They’re often formulaic without character depth, though what they attempt to do is at least noteworthy. Preachy, but noteworthy. In many ’90s teen book series, girls are central to the story, and they have a significant amount of agency. It’s interesting to compare girls starting businesses and baseball leagues and cable television shows to the series which are focused on girls getting the cute boy or the many ’90s teen horror novels wherein girls were simply victims and plot devices. It should come as no surprise by this point that the majority of these series will be by and about white folks. Most of them will also be straight. The reality is that for all our nostalgia, too often that is nostalgia for a time that didn’t exist or that was comprised of whitewashed, heteronormative narratives. It doesn’t make those books or stories bad, but it’s impossible not to pause and wonder what the stories we didn’t get to read or see did to us growing up — and have done for us now, in our adulthood. As mentioned in the piece on ’90s teen horror, note that many of these series would fall into the middle grade/tween category in today’s market. They feature younger teens or those who aren’t quite teens, as opposed to centering stories of those in the 17, 18, or 19 year old range, which are far more common today. They’re also likely to contain some, err, problematic language, so before you pick one up to read, check reviews. I’ve also purposefully left out books that were part of a franchise — we’ll get there soon, I promise. There are some real gems of the era. Ready? Set? Let’s enjoy these gnarly ’90s teen book series. True joy in writing about these books is in how few words are necessary to give you the entire series plot arc and how outstanding the cover art is — masterpieces, truly. Oh, and if this post brings you back to A Place, you’ll want to also make sure you add the book Paperback Crush to your to-read, as it, too, will give you All Those Feels.
I’m a Big Kid Now: ’90s Teen Book Series
If this trip back in time to ’90s teen book series leaves you wanting more, then you’re going to eat up this look at nostalgic teen magazines. Could the title of this series, which began with Love Bytes, be any more late ’90s, the-internet-is-so-hip? Anyway, the staff at the @cafe are good buds but stuff gets complicated when they break the work place’s only rule: don’t fall in love. The BLAZER though. In the introductory title, Cassie tries out and earns the lead role in her high school musical, which surprises her and everyone else. But she’s unable to focus fully, since there’s a change in her family at home. A moment to enjoy the montage, jazz cup cover design. Not Quite Sisters is the first in this series about close-knit cousins. Following Callie, the oldest of the bunch, the story is about when two other cousins move back to Sweetwater, Texas, and she decides to throw them a party. Apple Paperbacks had a real design theme to them, and this one is a great example. Smart girl, party girl, girl in a long relationship: check! Set in a college dorm without adults: check! This book played into the Melrose Place crowd and even inspired its own series on TV. Please to enjoy the payphone cameo on the cover. The dog is already dead, y’all. It’s a ghost. The Mystery at Kickingbird Lake is the first in the series. Four girls are so excited to be on the gymnastics team and know they’re going to be BFFS4E&E. Their coach even told them they’d be in a real meet. Too bad being a team is what trips them up. The Beginners is the launch of the series, which spanned 22 books and tackled topics like anorexia, parental job loss, the Olympics, and more. This series feels like it was custom-made for the Lurlene McDaniel crowd. Bennett, though, didn’t stop with one series. She also penned long-lost series of the ’80s and ’90s like Surviving Sixteen, Sunset Island, Teen Angels, Trash, Wild Hearts, and more. Six girls are now left alone, trying to survive. Does it go Lord of the Flies or have these girls been socialized to work together? (That’s not in the description, by the way). Adrift kickstarts this duology. Zooey Fools Around is the first in this series about, well, making out. A bunch of teens who grew up together on a small island think they know everything about one another until it’s clear, uh, they don’t. Friendship, enemyship, makeout ship, it’s all here. We’ve got a friend gang here, and it’s worth noting that all of the teens are of color. It might be the only series I could dredge up from the depths of ’90s teen book series that has ’em. Bluford High didn’t launch until 2002. There may be more, but they sure are lost to the sands of Internet Time. But Allie’s over enthusiasm for money may cause the business the fail before it even begins. There are more books in the series, so we know that doesn’t happen. Badassery, thy name is Pink Parrots. The book was part of a line of books from Sports Illustrated for Kids. The same…red hair. Black Unicorn is the first title. I can only imagine how Sharon and her pals would feel about dating in the ’20s…and cable TV. The cover here isn’t the first title, but instead, Erin’s story. The internet doesn’t have a solid enough version of Heather’s so you can see just how perfect a time capsule of design the series was.
