Carol Kerney Books

Even though, like parents and teachers, I guess writers aren’t supposed to have favorites, I admit I really like the triplets in my Triplet Adventures series. I admire Ben Franklin beyond measure, I get a kick out of the time flies Klax and Zia, and I empathize with the Roman slave Arcilla (“Arcilla of Pompeii”), but triplets Maddy, Bett, and Cari Sanderson seem so real to me that I actually wrote myself as an unseen off-screen character into the series! 

The triplets are easy to write about because I know what words will come out of their mouths, and I know how each of them will react to funny or emotional or perilous situations. The stories are told in first person, alternating among the three girls. It’s great fun to see what each girl thinks about herself while seeing her sisters’ opinion of her in the next books!

Maddy is first-born (by 12 minutes). She’s an innate leader, superb athlete, logical, action-oriented, a math-science-games-and-codes girl. Her sisters say she’s well named (Mad-dy, get it?) You would call her Madilene at your own risk, believe me. Indeed Maddy has a hair-trigger temper and can be tactless. But, annoyingly to her sisters, she is usually right about things.

The baby of the family is Cari, the third-born triplet. Even though the three girls look just alike, Cari is the “cute” one. Everyone likes her, she’s popular, and she usually knows what to say to make things better. She’s also very talented; her sisters call her the “VAPA Girl” (VAPA stands for “visual and performing arts”). Yup, Cari’s a great artist and plays the guitar and she’s a singer and dancer and actress. She’s really talented. What about her weaknesses? She prefers that her sisters and friends make decisions for her. As a matter of fact, Cari is dependent on others, and this is something she has to work on. Also, even though she seems to understand others, she doesn’t necessarily understand herself. 

So Maddy is a super-star athlete and leader. Cari is a super-star performer and artist—and well liked to boot. Wait…isn’t there a third triplet? 

That is just the way that Bett feels a lot of the time…invisible, definitely not a super star, the “other” triplet. Bett is the middle kid, quiet, thoughtful (in both senses of the word), dependable, responsible, and helpful. She is strong in social studies and writing; as a matter of fact, her sisters are convinced she’s some kind of junior archaeologist. Last year Bett came down with diabetes. She has to figure out how to deal with it. Bett being Bett, you can count on her getting on top of it. Bett feels like she’s so very ordinary among Hyper Star sisters. She doesn’t realize that she is the glue that holds the motherless family together.

Bett is probably going to be an archaeologist; their father is an archaeologist. So was their mother, but she died when the triplets were five years old. Dr. Sanderson gives up going on archaeological digs, even though he loves being a field archaeologist. Triplets are quite a handful. Dad began teaching at the university and liked that just fine. However, last year a new department head came onboard. Dr. Stevens was Dad’s best friend during their childhoods, but he holds a powerful grudge against Dad. He makes life very difficult for Dr. Sanderson. Then last summer Dr. Stevens accused Dad of stealing from the university’s archaeological museum—and got him unjustly fired. Now Dad teaches part-time at the local community college. Money is short and the triplets have to pitch in with housework, shopping, cooking, and yard work. How do they all react? Dr. Sanderson considers this a wonderful opportunity for his girls to learn responsibility. Maddy gets irritated about the work. Bett accepts the responsibility and often steps in when her sisters don’t do the work. Cari forgets to do the work because she’s so busy performing and hanging out with friends!

These three 12-year-old girls react according to each one’s nature to their “triplet adventures.” Those adventures include going to archaeological sites when their Dad gets a new job, being hired to MC a cable TV show, and finding themselves the target of a dangerous international looting ring. Each novel teaches ancient history and includes a study guide complete with teaching objectives, learning resources, creative activities, student assessments, and answer keys.

Carol Kerney
Carol Kerney Books
carolkerneybooks@gmail.com