Books for 3rd Grade: Galaxy Zack

I will be moving from 4th grade to 3rd grade next year. One of the things I have not kept up on in my reading life is series books.  I knew moving to 3rd grade, that I'd need to read lots of newer series books to be able to put the right books in the hands of my students next year. When my doctor said I could start "light" reading, I figured this was the perfect time to read the books I'd missed out on. So I put out a tweet asking Twitter friends for recommendations of new series books or other titles that I should read. Of course, they came through with great titles and these have been perfect "light" reading for me over the past 2-3 weeks.

I tend to read the first one or two books in a series so that I know what to expect in terms of content, text complexity, etc.  One of the series I have newly discovered is GALAXY ZACK by Ray O'Ryan. This is a fun series that I think will appeal to lots of kids.  The format and text of this series reminded me a bit of the Stink series. The plot/content reminded me a bit of The Jetsons!

The first book, Hello, Nebulon! (Galaxy Zack) sets the stage for the series.  The series is set in the year 2120 and Zack and his family are moving from Earth to a planet called Nebulon. Kids will love the idea of space travel, the gadgets used in the book, and the universal feelings one has when moving to a new place.

It looks like there are 2 books available in the series with a 3rd coming out today. 3 more are due out later this summer/early fall. So, by the end of the year, there should be 6 books for kids who fall in love with this series.  This is a fun series that I am excited to add to my classroom library!