Stacked Shelves

Every series has to start somewhere and it’s always exciting, to me at least, to find a series I’ll really enjoy. And I tend to encourage kids to read series. If they become invested in a character, they’re more likely to want to pick up the next book and the next, and read and read and read. And that’s the goal. Unfortunately, many of the series starts I’ve read recently haven’t charmed me. I had great hopes, based on the title alone, for The Great Hamster Massacre by Katie Davies. The book sets us up for what will be more “investigations” done by Anna, her younger brother Tom, and Anna’s best friend Suzanne. But there isn’t any real mystery (spoiler alert: a hamster sometimes eats its young) and we’re left with what is supposed to be an amusing buddy book. But it’s not. None of the characters are compelling and Suzanne’s brutish father is actually a bit scary. The Adventures of Nanny Piggins by R.A. Spratt, too, promised to be engaging, but Nanny isn’t fun. Not really. Yes, she l