Waylon! Books in Order

The Waylon! books begin as a spin-off from Clementine, but they quickly make their own lane. Waylon Zakowski is a fourth grader who loves science because science makes promises. Causes lead to effects. Systems can be understood. Problems can be solved. That sounds great, until life starts behaving in ways that do not follow his plan at all.

Around Waylon is a cast that keeps tugging his neat thinking in human directions. There is his older sister Neon, whose moods and changes worry him more than he knows how to say. There is Baxter Boylen, the supposedly scary kid who turns out to be more complicated than school gossip suggests. There are classmates dividing themselves into teams, adults making odd choices, and family pressures that science cannot quite sort into a chart.

The books are funny, but they never laugh at the kids.

Each installment gives Waylon a fresh problem. In Waylon! One Awesome Thing, his social world feels like it is blowing apart. In Waylon! Even More Awesome, a shared dog named Dumpster Eddy forces him and Baxter into reluctant cooperation. In Waylon! The Most Awesome of All, a big science event collides with family events on the exact wrong day. The plots are compact, but the feelings inside them are not small at all.

What makes the series work is the voice. Waylon is earnest, observant, and a little overwhelmed, which makes him easy to root for. Marla Frazee's illustrations keep the books lively, and readers who like the emotional honesty of Clementine will recognize the same generosity here. These are great bridge books for kids who want humor, heart, and a protagonist who thinks hard about how the world works, even when the world refuses to cooperate.