Seriously, New Series

By Jan Pease

Fans of the Jacky Faber series, rejoice! Jacky has been abandoned, fought in the streets of various cities, survived storms, naval battles, shipwrecks, maroonings, fires, kidnappings, tar-and-featherings, near-hangings, near-beheadings, imprisonments, and other personal disasters. What more could a proper young lady endure? Jacky Faber’s adventures continue in her 10th book, “Viva Jacquelina!” by L.A. Meyer. Now our intrepid heroine is on assignment for British Intelligence, and finds herself in Portugal and Spain to spy for the Crown. She assists the famous artist Francisco Goya, runs with the bulls in Madrid, and sings and dances her way across the continent with a caravan of gypsies.


The 10th book of The Last Apprentice Series, by Joseph Delaney is titled “Lure of the Dead.” It carries a warning on the back cover, “Warning: not to be read after dark – especially page 140."  Of course, I turned immediately to page 140, which reads in part, “I heard a deep growl to my right and spun around. What I saw made me take an involuntary step backward. Terrifying, malevolent eyes stared at me out of a bestial face.” Thomas Ward, the seventh son of a seventh son, faces his most trying task ever in “Lure of the Dead.”

Erin Hunter, creator of the famous “Warriors” series has turned her attention to dogs in her new series, “Survivors.” The first book, “The Empty City,” introduces us to Lucky, who has lived his life on his own. We see events unfold as Lucky experiences them, from his early memories of being in his puppy pack, to what happens when a group of dogs survive an earthquake that leaves them entirely on their own. It will be interesting to see if the dogs of “Survivors” become as popular as the cats of “Warriors.”

Margaret Peterson Haddix had tremendous success with her series about a totalitarian society where family size is severely limited, “The Shadow Children.” Her current series, “The Missing,” continues with book 5, “Caught.” This series centers on time travel, lots of action, with quite a bit of history woven into the story.

“Always October” is not a book in a series, but it is the 100th book written by Bruce Coville. “Always October” started out as a short story written by Mr. Coville, “My Little Brother is a Monster.” Elements from the short story pop up in the book, but this is a full length novel complete with a monster-filled world called “Always October.” Bruce Coville’s books have appeared in more than a dozen countries and sold more than 16 million copies world-wide.

These new books and so much more are waiting for you at the library. See you there!