Middle schools book series in reading order

by Lincoln Peirce

by Nancy Krulik

by James Patterson

by Chloe Taylor

by James Patterson

by James Patterson

Lincoln Peirce

77 books• 6 series

Lincoln Peirce created the Big Nate comic strip and writes and illustrates the Big Nate novels for young readers. Born in 1963, Peirce is an American cartoonist and animator who has written animated shorts for Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, and created the animated Big Nate series that premiered on Paramount+. Eighty-two titles are catalogued from 2001 to Code Red! (2026), covering the graphic novels, activity books and the Max and the Midknights series. Middle school, friendship and humour are the recurring subjects.

James Patterson

510 books• 73 series

James Patterson, born on March 22, 1947, is an American writer whose catalogue here holds 514 books published from 1976 to 2027. The run opens with The Thomas Berryman Number (1976), and Along Came a Spider (1992) and Kiss the Girls (1995) follow later. Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Maximum Ride, Daniel X, Witch & Wizard, NYPD Red, Private, Middle School and the Women's Murder Club are among the Patterson series, alongside standalone thrillers, non-fiction and romance. Marshall Karp shares the credit on 5 of the books. Patterson's sales exceed 425 million copies, and Patterson was the first person to sell one million e-books. Forbes ranked Patterson the highest-paid author in 2016, for a third year running, and the National Book Foundation gave Patterson the Literarian Award in November 2015. 27 Stars is scheduled for 2027.

Coco Simon is the name on Cupcake Diaries and its companion series for middle-grade readers. Katie and the Cupcake Cure (2011) opens a catalogue of 63 books that reaches Natalie's Sprinkle of Light (2025). Sprinkle Sundays, Donut Dreams, Cupcake Diaries: The New Batch and a graphic novel line follow. Friendship, middle school and baking are the recurring subjects, and the books run to a median 144 pages.

Nancy Krulik writes for children, and the catalogue lists Grades 1-3 as the reading level. Series credited to Krulik include Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo, How I Survived Middle School, Magic Bone, Princess Pulverizer and Project Droid, and George Brown, Class Clown appears among the characters. Subjects range across magic, schools, friendship, dogs, robots and humorous stories. The most recent listed book is Fangs for Having Us! (2021), and the catalogue marks the output as dormant.

Marcus Emerson writes for readers in grades 3 to 5. Diary of a 6th Grade Ninja is his longest sequence, joined by Ben Braver, Recess Warriors, Secret Agent 6th Grader, Kid YouTuber, Adventure Club and Dodge Ball Wars. 106 catalogued books run from Adventure Club #1 (2012) to Short Cuts: Arcade Gamer (2026). Middle school students, ninjas, diaries and talent shows are the recurring subjects, and the median book runs 136 pages.

Rachel Renee Russell

21 books• 3 series

Rachel Renée Russell, born March 13, 1959, created Dork Diaries and its spin-off The Misadventures of Max Crumbly. Russell grew up in Saint Joseph, Michigan, studied at Northwestern University and then law school. Dork Diaries uses a diary format with doodles and comic strips to record Nikki Maxwell's struggle through middle school, drawing on Russell's own middle school years, and Russell's daughter Nikki illustrates it. The 21 titles open with Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life (2009) and reach Tales from a Not-So-Bratty Little Sister (2024).

Lisi Harrison

41 books• 10 series

Lisi Harrison is a Canadian author of young adult fiction, known for three series: The Clique, Alphas and Monster High. The Clique (2004) opens a catalogue of 41 titles, with middle schools, cliques, friendship and competition in the subject tags, and monsters, boarding schools and prejudice beside them. Graphic novels, a Clique Summer Collection and the Graveyard Girls follow. Two Truths and a Lion (2023) is the most recent title.

Jeff Kinney

32 books• 4 series

Jeff Kinney (Jeffrey Patrick Kinney, born February 19, 1971) is an American author and illustrator who created, writes and draws the Diary of a Wimpy Kid children's books. Kinney also created the children's website Poptropica. The catalogue holds 32 books, beginning with Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2007) and followed by Rodrick Rules (2008), The Last Straw (2009), Dog Days (2009), The Ugly Truth (2010) and Cabin Fever (2010). The newest title is Fight or Flight (2026). Subjects include diaries, middle school, family life, friendship and vacations, and the listing also includes Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid.

Gordon Korman

119 books• 22 series

Gordon Korman is a Canadian writer of children's and young adult fiction whose books have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list. The catalogue holds 119 titles, from This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall! (1977) to Sleepless (2026). Subject tags cover schools, friendship, humorous stories, adventure, mystery and detective stories, and shipwrecks. Series headings include Swindle Mysteries, Masterminds, Everest, Dive, Titanic, Ungifted and the Monday Night Football Club. Gordon Korman remains actively publishing.

Chloe Taylor is catalogued with the Sew Zoey series, children's fiction about a middle school student, fashion design and sewing. Titles from 2013 include Ready to Wear, Lights, Camera, Fashion!, On Pins and Needles and Stitches and Stones. A Change of Lace, A Tangled Thread, Bursting at the Seams and Cute as a Button followed in 2014, and Cut from the Same Cloth (2016) is the latest. Friendship, blogs and toleration also appear among the subjects.

Jennifer L. Holm

66 books• 13 series

Jennifer L. Holm, born in 1968, writes for children in both prose and comics, and holds three Newbery Honors and an Eisner Award. Babymouse, an imaginative mouse at school, recurs across the Babymouse and BIG Adventures of Babymouse books, with Squish, Sunny, My First Comics and Evil Princess vs. the Brave Knight as the other graphic series. May Amelia, Boston Jane, Turtle in Paradise and The Fourteenth Goldfish sit alongside them in prose. Holm's 66 catalogued books run from Our Only May Amelia (1999) to Sunny Figures It Out (2025), at a median of 126 pages.

P. J. Night is the author credited on You're Invited to a Creepover, a series of horror stories for younger readers. The catalogue lists 28 titles from 2011, when Truth or Dare, Ready for a Scare and The Show Must Go On! appeared, to Best Friends Forever - GN (2024). Sleepovers, middle schools, ghosts, monsters and curses appear among the subject headings. Don't Drink the Punch! (2012) and No Trick-or-Treating (2012) are among the other titles.

Tom Angleberger writes humorous stories for readers in grades 3 to 5. Eight catalogued books run from The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (2010) to The Mighty Chewbacca in the Forest of Fear (2018), taking in Darth Paper Strikes Back (2011), The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee (2012), The Surprise Attack of Jabba the Puppett (2013), Emperor Pickletine Rides the Bus (2014) and Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue (2014). Subject headings cover origami, finger puppets, middle schools, bus travel, eccentrics, and Yoda as a fictitious character. The median book runs to 208 pages.

Lisa Greenwald writes for middle-grade readers about friendship, school and adolescence. My Life in Pink & Green (2009) opens 29 catalogued books that reach You'll Find It All Still Here (2025). Six series divide the list: Pink & Green, TBH, Friendship List, Seagate Summers, Ellie's Deli and Fortune Tellers. Bullying, secrets, best friends, early dating and family life supply the material.

Francine Pascal (née Rubin, 1932–2024) was an American author whose name is tied to the Sweet Valley books for young adults. Sweet Valley High anchored that collection, was adapted for television, and branched into spin-offs such as The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. The catalogue opens with Hangin' Out with Cici (1977) and also carries the Fearless series. Subjects include twins, sisters, high schools, friendship and dating. Most Sweet Valley books came out in the 1980s and 1990s, and several titles were re-released decades later.

Robin Wasserman, born May 31, 1978, is an American novelist and essayist who grew up outside Philadelphia and studied at Harvard University and UCLA. Before becoming an author, Wasserman was an associate editor at a children's book publisher. Wasserman has written books for children and young adults and two novels for adults; Mother Daughter Widow Wife (2020) was a finalist for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award. The catalogue lists 52 books from 2000, including the WINX Club, Unfabulous and Chasing Yesterday series.

Michael Fry's catalogue holds 13 books from Over The Hedge (1996) to Ghosted (2021), and the listed series are Over The Hedge, Odd Squad and How to be a Supervillian. Recorded subjects include children's fiction, humorous stories, middle schools, bullying, superheroes and supervillains. Knights of the Picnic Table (1997), Bully Bait (2013), King Karl (2014), The Naughty List (2015), How to Be a Supervillain (2017) and Bobbie Mendoza Saves the World (2018) are other titles. The catalogue marks Fry as dormant.

Shani Petroff is credited on nine books published between 2009 and 2020. Destined is the series the catalogue records, and Daddy's Little Angel (2009) opens the whole list. Subjects run to middle schools, popularity, fathers and daughters, dating, theater, the Devil and reality television programs. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Dress (2009), Careful What You Wish For (2010), Love Struck (2010), Ash (2015), My New Crush Gave to Me (2017), Romeo & What's Her Name (2017) and Airports, Exes, and Other Things I'm Over (2018) precede Finding Mr. Better-Than-You (2020).

Gary Paulsen

181 books• 17 series

Survival and outdoor adventure run through Gary Paulsen's writing for young readers. The catalogue holds 181 books, from Some Birds Don't Fly (1968) to Northwind (2022), at a median length of 105 pages. Brian Robeson, Francis Tucket, Duncan Culpepper, Murphy and the World of Adventure books head the series lines, with non-fiction and picture books alongside. No new Paulsen title has appeared since 2022.

Stephanie Perry Moore's 66 catalogued books date from 2000 to 2023, beginning with Saved Race, Sober Faith and Staying Pure in 2000. Subjects include Christian life, African Americans, high schools, universities and colleges, dating, friendship, family problems and sisters, along with children's fiction. Series include Payton Skky, Laurel Shadrach, Carmen Browne, Perry Skky Jr., Beta Gamma Pi Novels, Yasmin Peace, Morgan Love and Sharp Sisters. Women of Color Devotional dates from 2002, and Circus Web (2023) is the most recent title.

Jarrett J. Krosoczka

36 books• 4 series

Jarrett J. Krosoczka, born December 22, 1977 in Worcester, Massachusetts, writes and illustrates graphic novels and picture books, and the Lunch Lady series is the work most closely tied to his name. The catalogue holds 36 titles, from Good Night, Monkey Boy (2001) to Sunshine (2021), with Punk Farm (2005), My Buddy, Slug (2006) and Lunch Lady and the Author Visit Vendetta (2009) along the way. Lunch Lady, Platypus Police Squad and Punk Farm are the three series on record, and Amy Ignatow is credited on 2 titles. Subjects include schools, school lunchrooms, comic books and humorous stories.

Robin Caroll was born and raised in Louisiana and writes inspirational romantic suspense. Family and heritage, instilled by a genealogist mother, are threads Caroll works into the novels. The catalogue holds 29 books from Bayou Justice (2007) to Bayou Beginnings (2024), with Bayou Corruption, Bayou Judgment and Bayou Paradox in 2008 and Bayou Betrayal and Bayou Blackmail in 2009. Samantha Sanderson and Darkwater Inn are the two series headings. Subject tags name murder, investigation, journalism, Christian life, schools and children's fiction.

Obert Skye is the pen name that American humor writer Robert Farrell Smith, born in 1970, has used for children's books since 2005. The Leven Thumps series opened that year with Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo. Skye also wrote the Pillage trilogy, The Creature from My Closet books, Witherwood Reform School and Beyond Foo. The catalogue holds 27 books through Magic Required (2020), covering magic, monsters, schools and humorous fantasy.

Jim Benton, born 31 October 1960, is an American illustrator and writer. It's Happy Bunny is the Benton creation most known, and other Benton properties include Dear Dumb Diary, Franny K. Stein, Dog of Glee and Just Jimmy. The catalogue lists 18 books under Grades 3-5, from Let's Pretend This Never Happened (2004) to You're Making Me Six (2021). Humorous stories, diaries, middle school and the character Jamie Kelly lead the subjects.