Books

Baby-Sitter's Club Is Coming To Netflix — & These 10 Book Series Need To Be Next

With The Baby-Sitters Club due to hit Netflix in the near future, it's high time we looked at the other nostalgic book series that need to be TV shows. For the list below, I've picked out 20 books and series you'll wish you could experience on the small screen.

The great thing about the Internet is that it lets us connect with people who loved the same things we did as children. Whether you loved The Get Along Gang, Sky Dancers, or Fanboy and Chum Chum, you can rest assured that the Internet will always be there to make sure you remember it.

That goes for books as well. In putting together this piece, I rediscovered several series of novels and picture books that I hadn't thought about in years, and some of them were my favorite titles growing up! Talk about a nostalgia trip.

If you're hyped for nostalgia trips like The Umbrella Academy and The Baby-Sitters Club, check out the 20 nostaglic book series I think should be the next hit TV shows below. Oh, and don't forget to go check out these books for a fun re-read, while you're at it. You won't regret revisiting these childhood favorites.

Animorphs by K.A. Applegate

K.A. Applegate's Animorphs series made it as a Nickelodeon TV show for 26 episodes in the late 1990s. With so many readers rediscovering just how gritty and disturbing the books were, however, I think it's perfect for a TV comeback.

The Jericho Trilogy by Sharon M. Draper

Chosen to audition for their school's most exclusive club, 16-year-old Jericho and his peers are determined to show that they have what it takes to become Warriors of Distinction. But when the initiation rites turn to hazing, and the only girl pledging becomes a target, will Jericho and the others do the right thing, or go with the brutal flow?

Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry

A hot mess of a middle schooler, Anastasia Krupnik was each of us growing up. With nine books published between 1979 and 1995, this series from The Giver author Lois Lowry would provide ample nostalgia-fuel for any new TV show.

'Beijing Doll' by Chun Sue

Based on the author's teenage journals, Chun Sue's Beijing Doll takes readers on a journey through the emergent rock subculture in the titular city. There's a lot of gritty meat here for a TV show to explore.

Shadow Children by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Twelve-year-old Luke's family doesn't know he exists. He can't play outside with his brothers, or even celebrate his birthday. Luke is a third child in a world where every family is only allowed to have two children — and he just spotted another child hiding in the attic of a newly built house nearby.

The Logan Family Saga by Mildred D. Taylor

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry is the most famous entry in this Newberry Medal-winning series about a farming family in Jim Crow-era Mississippi. The race-relation narratives found here are all-too-similar to those of the contemporary U.S., making the Logan Family Saga prime material for TV adaptation.

The Saddle Club by Bonnie Bryant

The Saddle Club books turned a lot of us into horse girls, even if we'd never set foot in a stirrup. Already made into an Australian TV show in the early Aughts, this series by Bonnie Bryant is due for a reboot.

'Esperanza Rising' by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Used to living in the lap of luxury, Esperanza must come to terms with her new life when her family loses their material possessions and must relocate to the U.S., where they live as migrant workers. A favorite MG novel from the early Aughts, a TV show based on Esperanza Rising would surely be a hit with readers who grew up reading Pam Muñoz Ryan's award-winning story.

The Book of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Ember is the only bright spot in the dark world. That's what Lina has always been told. But the lights that keep Ember bright have begun to fail, and the city's supplies of pencils, paper, and other necessities are running out. Lina finds a message indicating that there is something beyond the darkness, but can she convince the adults who run the city that there's any hope for Ember?

'Before We Were Free' by Julia Alvarez

Set in the Dominican Republic during El Jefe's dictatorship, Before We Were Free centers on 12-year-old Anita, whose family decides to relocate to the U.S. when they are targeted as political dissidents. A mid-Aughts favorite, this novel has a timely, layered message for audiences today.

The Old Kingdom by Garth Nix

When her necromancer father becomes trapped in the world of death, Sabriel must travel to the Old Kingdom, where magic is alive, take up his bandolier of bells, and bring him back to the world of the living. With fantasy series like Game of Thrones and the upcoming Lord of the Rings reboot making headlines, The Old Kingdom novels are ready for their screen debut.

Den of Shadows by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

If you loved Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' Den of Shadows books, chances are pretty high that you went through at least one goth phase growing up. This series of vampire novels predated Stephenie Meyer's Twilight, and was the first exposure many of us had to tales of the undead.

One Last Wish by Lurlene McDaniel

If you liked sad books in the 1980s and '90s, you liked reading Lurlene McDaniel. The One Last Wish series centers on teenagers facing terminal diagnoses, and would put This Is Us to shame for its tearjerking capabilities.

Witch Child by Celia Rees

Witches are all the rage, these days, so why not bring the Witch Child duology to television? Taking the form of a young girl's diary, Witch Child tells the story of Mary Newbury, who garners suspicion from her community when her grandmother is hanged for witchcraft.

The Demonata by Darren Shan

Baby horror fans loved Darren Shan's Demonata books in the Aughts, and now is the perfect time to bring this story of werewolves, telekinetics, and — of course — demons to the small screen.

Sweet Valley High

If you've read YA in the last 30 years, you have undoubtedly encountered the Sweet Valley High books. Ghostwritten by a stable of writers and attributed to Francine Pascal, this series focused on the Wakefield twins, Jessica and Elizabeth, as they came of age in their L.A. suburb. Like many other books on this list, Sweet Valley High has been the subject of a TV series before, but Jess and Liz are totally ready to take center stage again.

Remember Me by Christopher Pike

Left on Earth as a ghost in the wake of her death, Shari works with the ghost of a boy named Peter to help her family solve the mystery of her death, which hinges on the fact that only Shari and the person who pushed her from a balcony know what happened that fateful night.

The Misty Books by Marguerite Henry

Some kids — like me — were head over horseshoes for Misty of Chincoteague, the based-on-a-true story of a small, American pony that captivated readers for decades after its initial publication in 1947. Generations of Misty fans would be sure to tune in to watch a series devoted to her — fictional — legacy.

The Royal Diaries Series

If you didn't love these books, with their silky, cloth bookmarks and their gold-edged pages, did you even read, bro? The fictionalized diaries of prominent queens and princesses, such as Nzingha and Elizabeth I, The Royal Diaries offered us the chance to live vicariously through the fictionalized lives of real-life royals. Given the public's obsession with William, Kate, Harry, and Meghan, bringing back this series for TV should be a no-brainer.

The Circle of Magic by Tamora Pierce

Brought together to hone their magical powers, four teens must join forces to save the world in this series of late-1990s YA novels from Tamora Pierce. Twenty years ago, readers loved the story of Sandry, Briar, Daja, and Tris, and the promise of a new, witchy TV show would certainly draw them back into Pierce's invented world.