DD is 8yo in Y4 and has had her reading test come back at 4.5 (if that means much to anyone!). I've tried to google good books at or just above that level and this series has come up repeatedly. So, before lockdown, I ordered them on ebay (multiple sellers, took ages!). However, having just read the first one I'm struggling to get "into" it 
. The language is strange as it is American slag from the late 80's which makes little or no sense in the present day and affects the sentence structure and grammar. I decided to read this one to dd for bedtime as it was hard for her to grasp (lots of "yeah man!" and "totally dude" which she simply doesn't understand). So she started on book 2 (Poppy) and the main character from the first book dies within the first 4 pages! So, I guess my question is, does this get better? Should we persevere? DD seems to be able to take it or leave it but if it improves we will keep going 