The Deauville Street Families Books in Order

The Deauville Street Families series opens with Ten Kids, Two Lovebirds, and a Singing Mermaid, a big hearted novel inspired by Cathy Lamb's own childhood street in Huntington Beach, California. The houses are close together, the kids run in a pack, and the adults are only partly in control of what happens next.

At the center of the first book are two neighboring families in the summer of 1979. On one side of Deauville Drive, the O'Briens are falling apart as Annie discovers her husband is leaving her and their five children for a woman who looks like Barbie. On the other, Vietnam veteran Tommy Rossi and his five kids have just moved in with his sister Liliana, who sings, dresses like a mermaid, and sees the world in her own way.

The novel is narrated by Jesse O'Brien, who in 2019 receives a chilling phone call from her sister and is forced to look back at the season that shaped them all. In memory, that summer is full of Slip N Slides, pies thrown in anger, backyard adventures, schoolyard threats, and the strange magic that happens when ten kids decide they are a tribe.

Like many of Lamb's books, the story does not shy away from hard things, infidelity, grief, financial strain, and the scars war leaves on a family. At the same time, there is a bright streak of humor, from swearing parrots and dramatic neighbors to mermaid songs drifting across the fence. Ordinary moments, a shared meal, a walk to the beach, carry as much weight as the big confrontations.

The idea behind the series is that Deauville Drive is more than just a backdrop. Each household on the street holds its own mix of secrets, inside jokes, and quiet heartbreak. As new books arrive, readers can expect to see familiar names pop up again, older and changed, and to slide into different living rooms while still feeling anchored in the same block.

This background page gives you context for that evolving neighborhood. If you enjoy large, chaotic families, kids who are smart and resilient, and stories that balance nostalgia with honest emotion, The Deauville Street Families will feel like a long, warm visit back to your own childhood street, with a little extra glitter and mischief added.