You know that all-consuming feeling when you get hooked on a book series? It’s even more magical when it happens to your child—they’re flying through book after book, hanging out with their favorite characters, riding along for adventures, and the best part (shhhh... don’t tell them) is that they’re falling in love with reading!

Discover Hickory Hollow

Create that magical experience with Hickory Hollow, a six-book series for middle-graders available exclusively to libraries and schools (read more about this in People magazine).

Each book centers on a child resident from the tiny town of Hickory Hollow with their own quirks and personalities that kids will instantly connect with. Created by a diverse group of authors, each writer brings their own perspective and background to the character, adding an extra layer of authenticity to the story.

If your kids loved the charming mysteries of The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart or the whimsical adventures in The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall, then they’ll love getting lost in the world of Hickory Hollow! From solving puzzles to uncovering mysteries and finding hidden treasures, this cast of curious characters makes for a fun, inspiring, and spellbinding series you can access with just your library card.

Meet the kid residents

Skye: Great at fixing cars and an even better longboarder, Skye loves to solve a good mystery.

Ollie: This animal lover and his trusty pup, Duke, try to solve mysteries from a beloved detective book.

Natalie: The new girl in Hickory Hollow, Natalie is quiet, but likes to be in charge.

Mateo: Full of curiosity and a kind friend to all, Mateo loves hanging out with his friends.

Eva: Hardworking and smart, Eva doesn’t like losing!

Josh: Artistic and imaginative, Josh loves to make new friends.

Where to find the series

Published by Heights Press, this series is available exclusively to schools and public libraries through the Libby and Sora apps. You can also recommend your public library purchase a copy through Notify Me in Libby, so you can start reading right away!

📺 Watch the characters come to life with a series of video shorts available on Kanopy to keep the fun going.

Welcome to Hickory Hollow

The town may be tiny, but it's a special place for the people who live there. There is always fun and adventure to be had in Hickory Hollow. It’s a great place to be a curious kid! There are important discoveries to be made, secret riddles to be solved, unexplained mysteries to be discovered, and even hidden treasures to be found. But watch out! Sometimes, the town seems to have a mind of its own.

Meet Natalie

Natalie’s story: Natalie Kim is the new girl in Hickory Hollow. Her parents took over the local candy store after her Grandma Bernie passed away. But Natalie isn’t too happy about the move. She misses her old home. She misses her old friends. Worst of all, she misses Grandma Bernie. Natalie feels lost in her new town. But that's nothing new. As her twin brother Josh often reminds her, Natalie is terrible with directions.

Natalie joins her school’s orienteering club hoping to make new friends and get to know her way around Hickory Hollow. But the Shellbark Forest that surrounds the town seems to have a mind of its own, and soon Natalie finds herself lost and alone. Does she have what it takes to find her way back home?

Read it ➡️ Lost in Shellbark Forest by Mari Bolte | Illustrated by Shams Nelson
Watch it ➡️ Lost in Shellbark Forest

Meet Eva

Eva’s story: Eva Williams is determined to bake the perfect pie and win the Hickory Hollow High Pie Competition. The perfect pie could make up for her recent big mistake and prove to her parents that she can handle responsibility. But she won’t become the first kid to win with just any old pie recipe. She needs something extra special if she's going to triumph.

Eva enlists the help of her friends Ollie and Natalie to go on a secret adventure for the perfect pie. The kids head into Shellbark Forest and encounter a series of challenges to collect the perfect ingredients. But will their pie be good enough to win the competition?

Read it ➡️ The Perfect Recipe by Kelly J. Baptist | Illustrated by Shams Nelson
Watch it ➡️ The Perfect Recipe

Meet Skye

Skye’s story: Skye Douglas is not excited about her newest school assignment. She’s got better things to do with her time than research a former Hickory Hollow resident. But when Skye stumbles across a poem on Annabelle Ainslow’s town monument, she’s intrigued. The poem hints about a mysterious creature that supposedly lives in Shellbark Forest. But no one, aside from Annabelle, has ever seen this creature.

With the encouragement of her Grandpa Louie and the help of her friends Josh and Mateo, Skye is determined to prove the legend and redeem Annabelle’s name. But finding a creature that may or may not exist isn’t easy. Will Skye ever find the creature and prove Annabelle right?

Read it ➡️ Secrets in the Shadows by Eleanor Cardell & Alfred Rodriguez | lllustrated by Shams Nelson
Watch it ➡️ Secrets in the Shadows

Meet Ollie

Ollie’s story: Ollie Olson loves spending time with his dog, Duke, down at Halfway Pond. But today, something seems wrong. All of the animals that call the pond home have mysteriously disappeared. Even more concerning is the smelly goop that Ollie finds polluting the water. Something is definitely not right. Ollie enlists the help of his friend Eva to investigate. Ollie is determined to use all of his detective knowledge to find out what, or who is polluting the pond. Together, Ollie and Eva take off on a dangerous journey through the woods to find the source of the pollution. Will Ollie be able to solve the mystery and save Halfway Pond?

Read it ➡️ The Problem at Halfway Pond by Jason M. Burns | Illustrated by Shams Nelson
Watch it ➡️ The Problem at Halfway Pond

Meet Josh

Josh’s story: Josh Kim has created a pumpkin sculpture to be proud of. He’s hoping his hard work will pay off when he wins the Hickory Hollow Fall Festival Pumpkin Art Contest. But when he turns his back for just a minute, Josh’s pumpkin goes missing. Josh is devastated, but he isn’t the only person who has lost something important. His twin sister Natalie and friends Skye and Mateo are also missing special items.

As the friends investigate, Josh becomes convinced that there's only one explanation. There must be a ghost haunting Hickory Hollow! But whose ghost could it be, and why did they take Josh’s pumpkin? Will Josh be able to solve the mystery and find the missing items in time?

Read it ➡️ A Hickory Haunting by Mari Bolte | lllustrated by Shams Nelson
Watch it ➡️ A Hickory Haunting

Meet Mateo

Mateo’s story: Mateo Diaz loves history, especially when he gets to help out his abuela at the Hickory Hollow History Museum. When Mateo stumbles upon a riddle on a monument in Town Square, history becomes even more exciting. It seems like a former resident, the mysterious Ms. X, left a buried treasure somewhere in Hickory Hollow!

Mateo gathers his group of friends, and together they embark one grand treasure hunt around town. Every clue they find helps them learn more about Ms. X. But will Mateo and his friends be able to find Ms. X’s treasure?

Read it ➡️ X Marks the Spot by Eleanor Cardell | Illustrated by Shams Nelson
Watch it ➡️ X Marks the Spot

*Title availability may vary by library & region.

Check out your library to join the adventure! Borrow on the Libby app to start reading.