Main Street is a children's novel series by Ann M. Martin aiming at age group 8-12. The story revolves around two sisters - Ruby and Flora Northrop who shift to a small town Camden Falls to live with their Grandmother after the sudden death of their parents. The books tell us about the girls' new journey and adaptation in a new town and new people with old memories, and some with rather dubious ones. There, they make new friends like Olivia and Nikki. Olivia's grandmother owns a store with Min (Ruby's and Flora's grandmother)
After completing The Baby-Sitters Club series the Main Street series were begun by Ann M. Martin. She has stated in one of her interviews that she always liked writing about small towns and this made writing the Main Street series even more interesting. The books have at one point or another talked about almost everyone and all shops in the town. According to Martin, she had to create a whole new imaginary town which was very enjoyable.
This series contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Nikki has an abusive father, which constitutes a troubled home life.
- Adorably Precocious Children
- Black Best Friend: Olivia to Flora and Nikki, a poverty-stricken girl in town.
- Brainy Brunettes: Flora and Olivia.
- Cheerful Children
- Class Clown: Nikki, although her cheekiness is hinted to be a façade.
- Coming-of-Age Story
- Cool Old Lady: Min, the girls' grandmother.
- Extracurricular Enthusiast: Ruby becomes very much involved with Camden Falls by joining the community kids chorus, taking dance lessons, and getting the lead in the school play.
- Extreme Doormat: Olivia temporarily became one once she first began Junior High, but eventually Grew a Spine throughout the course of the story.
- Genki Girl: Ruby, a cheerful Motor Mouth who enjoys the spotlight and has continuously starred in several school plays.
- Grade Skipper: Olivia, an Innocent Prodigy who's mentioned to be a year younger than the rest after having skipped a grade.
- Heartwarming Orphans
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Ruby can be headstrong, as well as a bit of an Attention Whore on occasion, but her heart is still in the right place.
- Naïve Everygirl: Flora.
- Naive Newcomers: Flora and Ruby, the Deuteragonist.
- Neat Freak/ Super OCD: Olivia often alternates between these, depending on the situation.
- Perpetual Poverty: Nikki's family.
- The Quiet One: Flora, the soft-spoken, gentle seamstress of the two girls.
- Quirky Town: the framework of the fictional Camden Falls revolves around this trope, considering it's small, quaint shops and
- Shrinking Violet: Olivia and occasionally Flora, to a lesser extent.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Flora is a quiet, gentle spirit with a fondness for sewing while her younger sister Ruby is more talkative and extraverted, with a love of the spotlight.
- There's No Place Like Home
- True Companions: a given, considering the series revolves around the daily adventures of young girls in a quaint, Close-Knit Community.
- Wise Beyond Their Years: Flora and Ruby, the orphaned protagonists of the series.
- Wrong Side of the Tracks: Nikki, as lampshaded by several characters themselves.
