Adult Read-alikes for Favorite Childrens’ Book Series
Posted on July 27, 2026
by Amy H
If you loved reading books from these childrens’ series, you’ll love these adult read-alikes! 1. The Magic School Bus, 2. Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Mysteries, 3. Baby-sitter’s Club, 4. Junie B. Jones, and 5. Goosebumps. The magic of childhood favorites doesn’t have to end when the series does!
what if? by Randall Munroe
If you loved the Magic School Bus series, this one is for you! The first in a series of books asking hilariously weird questions (How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last?), applying super nerdy research and science, and finding serious answers. It was so popular, the author wrote a few other similar titles, so be sure to check out "What If? 2", "Thing Explainer", and "How To..." Miss Frizzle would approve!!
the underworld by Susan Casey
The Magic School Bus series did a lot of deep dives into other worlds like inside the human body, or the reaches of outer space, or diving deep in the ocean. Here, Casey does similar look at what it is like deep, DEEP down. Very fun and otherworldly!
how to win friends and influence fungi by Chris Balakrishnan
Chances are good the authors of this book were big Magic School Bus fans. The co-founders of the global science organization Nerd Nite bring readers a collection of wacky, yet fascinating STEM topics. For 20 years, Nerd Nite has delivered to live audiences around the world, the most interesting, fun, and informative presentations about science, history, the arts, pop culture, you name it. There hasn't been a rabbit hole that their army of presenters hasn't been afraid to explore. The resulting range of topics is quirky and vast, from kinky, spring-loaded spiders to the Webb telescope's influence on movie special effects, with chapters on 'The Science of the Hangover,' 'What Birds Can Teach Us About the Impending Zombie Apocalypse,' and 'Lessons from the Oregon Trail.' Science has never been so fun and accessible.
the sweetness at the bottom of the pie by Alan Bradley
If Nancy Drew was a delightfully mischievous young British girl, she'd be Flavia de Luce. In the summer of 1950 at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, and young Flavia, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events: A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Then, hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath. For Flavia, who is both appalled and delighted, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. "I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn't. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life."
a curious beginning by Deanna Raybourn
For Nancy Drew with a Victorian twist, try this historical mystery series which follows British adventuress Veronica Speedwell, a butterfly collector and natural historian, as she partners with the enigmatic natural historian Stoker to investigate murders and conspiracies across 1880s London. From the gaslit streets of the capital to Cornish islands, archaeological sites, and ancestral estates, their cases involve royal scandals, missing brides, serial killers, imposters, and secret societies. The pair navigate both high society and London's underworld, from exclusive ladies' clubs to underground laboratories conducting macabre experiments.
finlay donovan is killing it by Elle Cosimano
If Nancy Drew were a single mother, she'd be Finlay Donovan. She is a stressed-out single-mom of two and struggling novelist, Finlay’s life is in chaos: the new book she promised her literary agent isn’t written, her ex-husband fired the nanny without telling her, and this morning she had to send her four-year-old to school with hair duct-taped to her head after an incident with scissors. When Finlay is overheard discussing the plot of her new suspense novel with her agent over lunch, she’s mistaken for a contract killer, and inadvertently accepts an offer to dispose of a problem husband in order to make ends meet . . . Soon, Finlay discovers that crime in real life is a lot more difficult than its fictional counterpart, as she becomes tangled in a real-life murder investigation.
nothing to see here by Kevin Wilson
Ever wonder what the Babysitters Club members would do if their charges regularly caught fire via spontaneous combustion? Madison's twin stepkids are moving in with her family and she wants her old friend Lillian to be their caretaker. However, there's a catch: the twins spontaneously combust when they get agitated, flames igniting from their skin in a startling but beautiful way. Lillian is convinced Madison is pulling her leg, but it's the truth. Thinking of her dead-end life at home, the life that has consistently disappointed her, Lillian figures she has nothing to lose. Over the course of one humid, demanding summer, Lillian and the twins learn to trust each other--and stay cool--while also staying out of the way of Madison's buttoned-up politician husband. Surprised by her own ingenuity yet unused to the intense feelings of protectiveness she feels for them, Lillian ultimately begins to accept that she needs these strange children as much as they need her--urgently and fiercely.
with the fire on high by Elizabeth Acevedo
Acevedo's wonderful novel features a fantastic lead, sure to appeal to Babysitter's Club fans. Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago's life has been about making the tough decisions--doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness. Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it's not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she thinks she has to play by, once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free.
the giver of stars by Jojo Moyes
The loving friendships in Moyes' novel are pure Babysitter's Club. Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. So when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt's new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically. The leader, and soon Alice's greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who's never asked a man's permission for anything. They will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Horseback Librarians of Kentucky. What happens to them--and to the men they love--becomes a classic drama of loyalty, justice, humanity and passion. Though they face all kinds of dangers, they're committed to their job--bringing books to people who have never had any, sharing the gift of learning that will change their lives. Based on a true story rooted in America's past, The Giver of Stars is unparalleled in its scope. At times funny, at others heartbreaking, this is a richly rewarding novel of women's friendship, of true love, and of what happens when we reach beyond our grasp for the great beyond.
vera wong's unsolicited advice for murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Vera Wong is basically a Chinatown version of Junie B. Jones. Vera is a lonely lady of a certain age--who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco's Chinatown. Despite living alone, Vera is not needy, oh no. She likes nothing more than sipping on a good cup of Wulong and doing some healthy detective work on the Internet about what her Gen-Z son is up to. Then one morning, Vera trudges downstairs to find a curious thing--a dead man in the middle of her tea shop. In his outstretched hand, a flash drive. Vera doesn't know what comes over her, but after calling the cops like any good citizen would, she sort of . . . swipes the flash drive from the body and tucks it safely into the pocket of her apron. Why? Because Vera is sure she would do a better job than the police possibly could, because nobody sniffs out a wrongdoing quite like a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands. Vera knows the killer will be back for the flash drive; all she has to do is watch the increasing number of customers at her shop and figure out which one among them is the killer. What Vera does not expect is to form friendships with her customers and start to care for each and every one of them. As a protective mother hen, will she end up having to give one of her newfound chicks to the police?
big stone gap by Adriana Trigiani
If you love Junie B. Jones' spunk and charm, you'll love this series. It's 1978, and Ave Maria Mulligan is the thirty-five-year-old self-proclaimed spinster of Big Stone Gap, a sleepy hamlet in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. She’s also the local pharmacist, the co-captain of the Rescue Squad, and the director of The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, the town’s long-running Outdoor Drama. Ave Maria is content with her life-until, one fateful day, her past opens wide with the revelation of a long-buried secret that will alter the course of her life. Before she knows it, Ave Maria is fielding marriage proposals, trying to claim her rightful inheritance, and planning the trip of a lifetime to Italy-one that will change her view of the world and her own place in it forever. Millions of readers around the world have fallen in love with the small town of Big Stone Gap, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, and its self-proclaimed spinster. Full of wit and wonder, hilarity and heart, Big Stone Gap is a gem of a book, and one that you will share with friends and family for years to come.
the spellman files by Lisa Lutz
Izzy Spellman is pretty much a grown-up Junie, with a family of detectives who constantly spy on her. Sharp-tongued private investigator Isabel "Izzy" Spellman--a quirky, rule-breaking PI with a talent for trouble and a family that's even more dysfunctional than her clients. At twenty-eight, Izzy Spellman works for her parents' San Francisco-based private investigation firm, where boundaries don't exist and everyone is fair game for surveillance--including each other. Between dodging her parents' micromanaging, outwitting her perfect lawyer brother, and trying (unsuccessfully) to be a good role model for her surveillance-obsessed teenage sister, Izzy is barely holding it together. When she decides to leave the family business for good, her parents give her one final assignment: solve a fifteen-year-old missing person case. But as Izzy digs deeper, a new disappearance hits dangerously close to home--turning her last job into her most personal case yet.
meddling kids by Edgar Cantero
Perfect for Goosebumps fans! SUMMER 1977: The Blyton Summer Detective Club solved their final mystery and unmasked the elusive Sleepy Lake monster-another low-life fortune hunter trying to get rich. And he would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids. 1990: The former detectives have grown up and apart, each haunted by disturbing memories of their final case that cannot be easily explained. Intrepid Andy is tired of running from her demons. To find answers, she will need Kerri, the one-time kid genius, now drinking her ghosts away with Tim, an excitable Weimaraner descended from the original canine member of the club. They will also have to get Nate, the horror nerd currently residing in an asylum. Luckily Nate has not lost contact with Peter, the handsome jock turned movie star who was once their team leader . . . which is remarkable, considering Peter has been dead for years. The time has come to get the team back together, face their fears, and find out what actually happened all those years ago at Sleepy Lake. It’s their chance to end the nightmares and, perhaps…save the world.
gil's all fright diner by A. Lee Martinez
Another sure bet for Goosebumps fans! Duke and Earl are just passing through Rockwood county in their pick-up truck when they stop at the Diner for a quick bite to eat. They aren’t planning to stick around-until Loretta, the eatery’s owner, offers them $100 to take care of her zombie problem. Given that Duke is a werewolf and Earl’s a vampire, this looks right up their alley. But the shambling dead are just the tip of a particularly spiky iceberg. Seems someone’s out to drive Loretta from the Diner, and more than willing to raise a little Hell on Earth if that’s what it takes. Before Duke and Earl get to the bottom of the Diner’s troubles, they’ll run into such otherworldly complications as undead cattle, an amorous ghost, a jailbait sorceress, and the terrifying occult power of pig-Latin. And maybe–just maybe–the End of the World, too. Gory, sexy, and flat-out hilarious, “Gil’s All Fright Diner” will tickle your funnybone–before ripping it out of its socket and setting it on fire.
horrorstör by Grady Hendrix
Goosebumps fans should love this Ikea/American Horror Story mix. Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio. Every morning, employees arrive to find broken Kjerring bookshelves, shattered Glans water goblets, and smashed Liripip wardrobes. Sales are down, security cameras reveal nothing, and store managers are panicking. To unravel the mystery, three employees volunteer to work a nine-hour dusk-till-dawn shift. In the dead of the night, they’ll patrol the empty showroom floor, investigate strange sights and sounds, and encounter horrors that defy the imagination.
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