88 books like New Girl

I was all in on this one from the first chapter. I just love books about characters with secret double lives! I also enjoy stories that fly against gender stereotypes, and that’s what Princess Magnolia’s alter-ego, The Princess in Black, definitely does.

And the monsters that this atypical superhero fights are hilarious, partly because of how they are illustrated and partly because of their naivete and caveman-style way of talking. Because they are hilarious, and also, perhaps, because their most sinister desire is just to eat goats, they are successful villains without being remotely scary, which is nice.

This is also the beginning of a series with many installments, so once my daughter was hooked, she had a great pile of reading material to entertain her for hours and hours.

To be honest, I don’t normally like fairy tale retellings. I like my stories to be brand new. But this one won me over with hilarity. It is full of eccentric characters and laugh-out-loud moments, making the narrative feel fresh. Not to mention, there are so many original twists and turns, that by the end, there’s only a smidge of the Sleeping Beauty tale left hiding in the adventure.

This is another story where the princess does the rescuing, which I like, and we discover that many villains can actually be pretty sweet if they’re treated with respect. There’s also a wise guinea pig character, which is a big bonus for me as a guinea pig owner. With all of its wonderful irreverence, I wasn’t expecting it to end with as much heart as it did, but this book gives you the whole package. 

As a fan of the Wednesday TV series, this book was right up my alley. Similar in tone and humor, VAMPIRITA also has a misanthropic anti-hero who wishes she were somewhere more dreary than she is. In this case, Vampirita has moved from Lima, Peru, where she lived with her extended vampire family, to sunny Southern California (her mother reassures her that the sun will be fine for her vampire skin thanks to the wonders of modern sunscreen).

I enjoyed all the specifics about the creepy and crawly environment she desires, but I also loved how my heart swelled at the end when her uber-cheerful new neighbors finally win her over. Written by a Peruvian American author, this book comes in both English and Spanish, which is great. Even the English version has numerous Spanish phrases that were fun for me to learn.

This is one of the books my daughter kept in bed with her while she slept in third grade—she was obsessed with it. This obsession was totally understandable to me, as I also went through a big sticker phase as a child. So, stickers that magically come to life? What could be more engaging than that?

I love how this book tackles a lot of normal elementary school struggles, like making new friends and conquering your nerves during a class presentation, but it does so with the added fun and excitement of a pink Pegasus sticker jumping off the paper and flying into the sky.

The best part of the book for me, though, is the main character’s sticker sidekick—a blunt and snarky talking cupcake named Craig. He’s too cute!

These fall more in the young adult world rather than middle grade because of the sexual situations. With that being said, I totally devoured them in middle school.

In my opinion, there is no greater master of the end of chapter cliffhanger than R.L. Stine, which keeps you frantically turning the page waaaaay after lights out. I carried these books around with me in my grandmother’s huge makeup case like my spooky book security blanket. And yes, my family was concerned.

I do have a real penchant for dark stories and thrillers that ooze suspense and intrigue and Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca is one of the best for that. I haven’t come across many stories that have adapted this so I was definitely interested in that. New Girl is a suspenseful adaptation of this classic. After the mysterious disappearance of an elite school’s most popular student, the new girl, who remains unnamed through most of the story, finds herself taking Becca’s place within the school and her friendship groups but is always aware she’ll never be able to escape her shadow. This is also a dual POV book. I enjoy both writing and reading from this perspective. This is an excellent adaptation of this mysterious classic.

I was easily spooked as a kid, often crying when things got too scary. This book features all the ingredients of a scary book – ghosts, witches, graveyards – but you always feel safe, comfortable knowing things will turn out alright and our young hero Lucely will successfully save her home. It's funny and fast-paced and adventurous. Plus it has a chonky cat named Chunk, which I can't resist.

Lesley Bannatyne’s Halloween. An American Holiday, An American History brought the study of Halloween history into the modern era. Published 71 years after Ruth Edna Kelley’s seminal The Book of Hallowe’en, Bannatyne’s book opened the gates for consideration of Halloween as a subject deserving of more serious consideration. This was the book that certainly inspired ME in my Halloween scholarship!

A perfect primer for young readers who are just getting into Halloween spookiness. I love a set up where the witch is afraid of people so the child reader can feel in control. The action plays out on Halloween night and the payoff when the "real" witch meets the child in costume is magical and age appropriate. A sweet and simple beginner witch story.

This book is a little different from the other books on the list because it is specifically geared towards early readers.

Although that is the focus, I found this book to be a perfect balance of story and cute illustrations and makes a great bedtime story full of witches, trick or treating, and all things Halloween. As a bedtime story, it can be separated into chapters and the kids always remember where we left off. 

I also love that this book has a little more story to it and the main character, Wendy, has obstacles to overcome. It is a great book for little ones and also transitions nicely into early reading.