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The beaten path: paperback books for young people.

Article Excerpt
If you think that most children's paperback series books are poor excuses for literature, you better not find yourself in a dark alley with Sarah Sugden, Cambridge Public Library's expert on the subject. "People act a little snobby about the mass-market series books because they're not going to win awards," she says. "They get a bad rap because they're cheap--usually no more than five bucks." But this is precisely what makes them so important: kids can afford them. And Sugden points out their potential significance to reluctant readers: "Series books remove the hurdle of having to get to know new characters and a new format each time you pick up a book, which is a real barrier in getting kids to read." She highlights the social aspect of series books as well: "You can share them with friends. They become kids' equivalent of water cooler talk." And it's not as if adults don't read series books--Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novels could easily have been numbered, you know.

As in adult publishing, mystery and detective stories crowd the landscape in the lower- and middle-grade series world. But what is it about the A to Z Mysteries series (Random) in particular that keeps second and third graders coming back for more? Each of the three A to Z books that I read--The Runaway Racehorse, The School Skeleton, and The Talking T. Rex--includes a page of breathless testimonials from young readers as well as from educators and parents. And each of author Ron Roy's concluding "Dear Readers" sections features a black-and-white photo of a fan, in one case literally buried under A to Z Mysteries titles.

Well, for one reason, the books proceed at a healthy but unhurried pace and include carefully articulated descriptions of complex ideas--as of the inside of a giant mechanical fiberglass-and-rubber Tyrannosaurus. Readers surely appreciate that Roy gives them enough information to crack the case alongside Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose--Green Lawn, Connecticut's, third-grade super sleuths. But I believe a less-obvious lure is the author's utter lack of interest in trying to make his books seem cool. The writing...

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