I'd bet money there was a wave of this kind of book in the mid-late 90s specifically in response to pulpy kids' SFFH like goosebumps, animorphs, and--huh, I did not realize they were 30 years old--the magic treehouse, as well as ye olde Harry Potter. (And potter-related moral panic.)


(I got Tuck Everlasting and The Bridge to Terebithia mixed up as a kid and boy, that was an experience.)