Series books were once criticized as trash but became popular with the creation of characters like Nancy Drew; Edward Stratemeyer established the model for series fiction with his Stratemeyer Syndicate which produced many famous characters under pseudonyms following specific guidelines; while attitudes have changed, series books continue to evolve and reflect trends while entertaining readers for over a century.

1. Nancy Drew & Friends; Or,
The Case of the Neglected Books
A Short History of
Youth Series Fiction:
1899 – Present Day

2. In the Beginning . . .
 Worthless
 Sordid
 Sensational
 Trashy
 Harmful
 The menace to good reading

3. In the Beginning . . .
 “Series books are utter trash that should
not grace the shelves of public libraries.”
 “If children want to read these books, they
can spend their own money on them.”

4. A Short History of Series Books

5. Predecessors to Series Fiction
 Jacob Abbott (1803-1879)
 Heavily involved in the
church—many books were
religious in nature
 Contribution to pre-series
fiction—the Rollo books

6. Rollo Series

7. Predecessors to Series Fiction
 William Taylor Adams
(1822-1897)
 Wrote as “Oliver
Optic”
 Common characters
appeared in series
about boating, the
army and navy, and
more

8. Oliver Optic Books

9. Predecessors to Series Fiction
 Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832-
1899)
 Created the “Luck and
Pluck” formula
 Most famous for Ragged
Dick, the story of the rise
of an orphaned
bootblack

10. Alger’s Many Books

11. The Birth of Series Fiction - 1899
 Edward Stratemeyer
 “Father” of series fiction
 Created the Stratemeyer
Syndicate

12. The Rover Boys
 Written by “Arthur M.
Winfield” in 1899
 Featured the adventures
of Tom, Sam, and Dick
Rover
 Ran for 30 volumes, 10 of
which were the “second
series” about the boys’
own children

13. The Stratemeyer Syndicate
 Published books from 1899 – 1987
 Responsible for a number of famous
series characters
 1930 - Harriet Adams took over upon the
death of Edward
 1950s – Harriet decides to heavily edit
 1970s - Court case with Grosset & Dunlap
 1987 – Acquired by Simon & Schuster

14. Writing for the Syndicate
 First Rule of Syndicate Fight Club—We don’t talk about it
 Part of a series
 Use of “Breeder” sets
 Written under a pseudonym
 Constructed like contemporary adult books
 Be a predictable length
 Cliffhangers
 Begin books with a quick series recap
 End books with a preview
 The books would be priced at 50 cents
 Characters should not age or marry

15. Famous Syndicate Characters

16. Famous Syndicate Characters

17. Famous Syndicate Characters

18. Famous Syndicate Characters

19. Stratemeyer’s Legacy
 Series books as we know them
 Wrote entertaining books
 Created one of the first strong female
characters with Nancy Drew
 Left a huge body of work that continues
today
 Set the stage for future syndicates . . .

20. 17th Street Productions
 Began in the 1970s and 1980s
 Very famous for being girl-centered
 Created a number of classic girl series,
including . . .

21. 17th Street Productions

22. 17th Street Productions
 Now known as Alloy
Entertainment
 Responsible for
Gossip Girl, Vampire
Diaries, and The
Clique, etc.
 Authors get credit

23. Why Should We Study Series
Books?

24. 1900s – 1910s
 Prior to 1900s most books for youth were actually adult books
 With John Newbery came the idea of a specific literature for
youth
 Most early series books were centered around:
 Moralistic/Religious Tales
 Family Stories
 Boarding School Stories
 Books that promoted “taming” the wild or the Boy/Girl
Scout movements
 World War I
 Interest in Motorcars and Films
 Stratemeyer’s The Rover Boys was set in a military school but
was written with the purpose to entertain not to moralize

25. Popular Series

26. 1920s – 1930s
 Books featured very independent characters
 Moved away from family and school stories to
mysteries
 While not all series started with mysteries, many
eventually fell into that genre
 Film and Radio series
 Exotic Style (Adventure)
 Flappers

27. Popular Series

28. 1940s – 1950s
 1940s – World War II
 Time period of the most racist series
 1950s – Beginning of revisions
 Emergence of science fiction
 Beginnings of Cold War – Space Stories
 Paper rations = Rare books

29. Popular Series

30. 1960s – 1970s
 Cold War = Spies
 Technology Boom
 Sports
 Adventure still popular
 Whitman and TV tie-ins

31. Popular Series

32. 1980s – 1990s
 Cold War = an interesting duality in series books
that dominate this time period.
 Romance = Escape the threat of nuclear war
 Horror = Reflects the fear of nuclear war
 Spin-offs of popular teen series for younger
readers (and rip-offs)
 Series books go violent/older to attract new
readers and keep older ones

33. Popular Series

34. 2000s – Present Day
 1997 = “OMG, Kids are reading!” – The attitude
towards series books begins to shift
 Technology gets better and better = revisions of
classics and interactive series
 New trends in series reflect the changing world =
rich brats/mean teens, paranormal and
dystopian, the “illustrated” novel
 Series dominate all literature = relaunching
“classics”

35. Popular Series

36. Popular Series

37. Fun Facts

38. Fun Facts
What is considered the most racist series
book of all time?

39. Don Sturdy

40. Fun Facts
What is considered one of the most violent
series of all time?

41. Hardy Boys Casefiles

42. Fun Facts
What is one of the most valuable of all
series books?

43. Two Answers

44. Contact
Lindsey Tomsu
Teen Coordinator
La Vista Public Library
9110 Giles Road
La Vista, NE 68128
ltomsu@cityoflavista.org
Website: inallseries-ousness.blogspot.com