I love, love, love 19th and 20th Century novels written especially for girls. I especially love serials that follow the same characters throughout their lives and adventures. I’ve been meaning to create this list for many years, and have finally gotten around to doing so. These books are wholesome, endearing, old-fashioned and quaint. Some of them are outlandishly funny simply because the events that occur are so unlikely. I feel safe with my daughters and grand-daughters reading these books and many of them are educational. All of them are free from online sources such as Project Gutenberg (PG), the Internet Archive (IA) and Google Books (GB). Some of them can also be found in audiobook format from free resources such as Librivox.
If you know of any other series that should be included, please leave a comment.
Girl’s Book Series
Listed Chronologically From Publishing Date of First Book in Series
Mildred Keith 1876-1894 [series of 7] takes place 1830’s to 1860’s
Elsie Dinsmore 1867-1905 [series of 28] takes place 1840’s to 1890’s
Five Little Peppers 1880-1916 [series of 12]
Three Vassar Girls 1883-1892 [series of 11]
“Little Girl” series of historical girls 1896-1909 [series of 14] most take place from the 1700’s to the early 1800’s (almost complete)
A Dear Little Girl 1897-1912 [series of 4]
Patty Fairfield 1901-1919 [series of 17]
Betty Wales 1904-1912 [series of 9]
Anne of Green Gables 1908-1939 [series of 10]
Dorothy Dale 1908-1924 [10 in a series of 13]–missing 2 from the later series
Peggy Owen, Quaker 1908-1912 [series of 4]
Automobile Girls 1910-1913 [series of 6]
Grace Harlowe 1910-1924 [ 18 in a series of 27]–missing a few from 2 later series
Motor Girls 1910-1917 [series of 10]
Motor Maids 1911-1914 [series of 6]
Molly Brown 1912-1921 [series of 8]
Outdoor Girls 1913-1933 [12 in a series of 23]
Ruth Fielding 1913-1934 [18 in a series of 30]
Camp Fire Girls by Margaret Vandercook 1913-1921 [series of 14]
Campfire Girls Series by Jane L. Stewart 1914 [series of 6]
Moving Picture Girls 1914-1921 [series of 7]
Girls of Central High 1914-1921 [series of 7]
Ethel Morton 1915 [series of 6]
The Corner House Girls 1915-1926 [11 in a series of 13]
Camp Fire Girls Series by Hildegarde Frey 1916-1920 [series of 10]
Nan Sherwood 1916-1937 [5 in a series of 7]
Jane Allen 1917-1922 [series of 5]
Betty Lee 1931 [series of 4]
Penny Nichols Mysteries 1931-1939 [series of 4]
Penny Parker Mysteries 1939-1947 [series of 17]