No more racking your brain to come up with the perfect gift for everyone in your family! The Once Upon A Tim boxed set will be available on November 28, 2023 — although you can preorder it now! It includes the first four books in the series: Once Upon A Tim, The Labyrinth of Doom, The Sea of Terror, and The Quest of Danger — along with a lovely, amusingy-decorated, mass-produced cardboard box.
Hi everyone. Lots of people have been asking about this information, I’m pleased to finally get to reveal Charlie Thorne #4:
Charlie Thorne is a genius.
Charlie Thorne is fearless.
Charlie Thorne may have finally met her match.
Charlie Thorne is used to being on the run. Ever since she was recruited by the CIA to track down Einstein’s most dangerous equation, Charlie—and former CIA agents Dante Garcia and Milana Moon—have traveled around the world to prevent history’s greatest discoveries from falling into the wrong hands. But after beating others to the secrets hidden by Einstein, Darwin, and Cleopatra, they find they are not the only ones searching for an immensely powerful discovery of Isaac Newton’s.
From a chase over the rooftops of Cambridge University to scaling the Sydney Harbour Bridge to skirting a volcanic eruption, Charlie will need to think one step ahead of her opponents to follow Newton’s trail of devious clues and keep herself out of the hands of the many enemies who are hot on her tail.
Evil Spy School the Graphic Novel is coming next spring. It will be available on March 5, 2024 — although it is already available for preorder from Bookshop.org (which supports local, independent bookstores) and other booksellers.
The New York Times bestselling Spy School series continues in graphic novel form with the third book as Ben gets kicked out of the CIA’s spy school and enrolls with the enemy.
During a spy school game of Capture the Flag, thirteen-year-old Ben Ripley accidentally shoots a live mortar into the principal’s office–and immediately gets himself expelled. Not long after going back to the boring real world, Ben gets an offer to join evil crime organization SPYDER. And he accepts.
Ben can tell he’s a key part of their sinister plan, but he’s not quite sure what the plan is. Can Ben figure out what SPYDER is up to–and get word to the good guys without getting caught–before it’s too late?
Follow Ben as he goes deep undercover in action-packed, full-color panels. Once again, the art is by the immensely talented Anjan Sarkar.
Hi everyone! As has been the case with every Spy School novel since Evil Spy School, Barnes & Noble and I have collaborated to create an exclusive edition of Spy School Goes North.
This edition will feature an exclusive jacket with a secret map on the reverse side, along with several pages of hilarious content created solely for this book: never-before-seen letters from Ben to his parents, Erica to her sister, Zoe to her true love… and plenty more.
And here’s the best part: It’s exactly the same price as the regular edition! That’s right. You get all that bonus material for free!
I am thrilled to finally announce a project that I have been working on with Simon & Schuster for the past year:
Whether you’re a young writer looking for tips, a teacher hoping to educate your students about creative writing, or a homeschooler looking for some fun new lessons, Mission: Write should appeal to you. There are currently six videos (with more coming in the future) hosted by me — and accompanying lesson plans written by the brilliant educator, Rose Brock.
Best of all, it’s free! So take a look for yourself. Just click here to watch and learn!
2023 is going to be a big year for me. I will have six books come out, four of them by May 9.
Of course, I list all upcoming releases on the right hand side of every page of this website, but I figured I’d give you a little more info about each book in this handy list.
In the eighth book in the FunJungle series, Teddy Fitzroy tries to figure out who is behind the death of a whale — and the very messy destruction of its corpse — while also contending with the mysterious theft of several tons of sand from a beach and a threat to his relationship with Summer.
DC Comics hired me to write a Batman graphic novel! In this story, teenaged Bruce Wayne struggles with the fact that he’s the only kid at his school who doesn’t have super powers — and yet, he’s the only one who wants to fight crime. It’s a whole new take on the DC Universe, with incredible and hilarious art by Berat Pekmezci.
Book two of the Spy School series has Ben Ripley joining Erica Hale and her father on a wild adventure through the wilderness. The fate of the free world hangs in the balance. Now in graphic novel form, with incredible art (once again) by Anjan Sarkar.
Tim, Belinda, Rover, and all the rest of the misfits are back in a new adventure that will take them across the incredibly-dangerous Sea of Terror to recover a golden fleece (and the mystical amulet in its pocket).
I do not have cover images or summaries (or even titles) yet for the next two books, but here they are anyhow. I promise, I will get you more info on both these books as soon as it is good to release:
I hope all of you have a great holiday season!
I, along with many of my favorite writers (and probably yours), have contributed to this amazing anthology:
In a collection of personal stories and essays, award-winning and bestselling authors write about how hope always wins, even in the darkest of times. Here are just a few of the people who contributed to this book: Tom Angleberger, Sarah Mlynowski, Max Brallier, Julie Buxbaum, Pablo Cartaya, J. C. Cervantes, Rex Ogle, Matt de la Peña, Adam Gidwitz, R.L. Stine, Veera Hiranandani, Hena Khan, Karina Yan Glaser, James Ponti, Soman Chainani, Pam Munoz Ryan, Christina Soontornvat and Gordon Korman. And oh yeah, the cover art is by Vashti Harrison, and the whole book is edited by the amazing Rose Brock.
I have read all these stories, and they are all truly wonderful. If you have ever wanted to know more about the lives of your favorite authors, this is your chance.
This should be pretty obvious from the title of this post, but Once Upon A Tim just got a rave review from the New York Times.
You can read the whole thing by clicking here, but here are some notable quotes:
Excited? Ready for a good story? Then just click here to order the book!
Also, I am happy with any good review, especially ones from readers. So if you have enjoyed Tim (or any of my books) feel free to post a positive review on Goodreads. Just click here.
(For tips on how to write a good review, check out this blog post.)
As anyone who visits this site knows, I am a huge supporter of the conservation movement and do my best in my books (particularly the FunJungle series) to educate readers about environmental issues.
So I am pleased to announce that I have joined the advisory board of Conservation Nation. This organization has two goals:
You can learn more about this great organization by clicking here.
Or you can learn how to get involved by clicking here.
I had my first meeting as part of the advisory committee on education yesterday and I could not be more impressed by the people who work for CN, the plans they have and their commitment to both the planet and to the next generation of conservationists.
The last time I wrote a blog post about how to write and on line reviews was nearly nine years ago. Back then, I was really explaining to visitors to my site how to post a review on Goodreads or Amazon.
I realize that, these days, most people (or at least most people who read my books) know how to do this. But it has come to my attention that there are several things many people do in writing their reviews that annoy other people. So I figured I would write a new post, trying to correct some of these problems.
1. DO NOT PUT SPOILERS IN YOUR REVIEW!!!!
There is not a single person on earth who appreciates having a review spoil a surprise in a book that they want to read. NO ONE! And writing ‘Warning: Spoilers Ahead’ does not mitigate the damage.
It is very very easy to not put a spoiler in your review. Simply don’t share anything from the book that you were surprised to find out. Of course, this not only applies to writing reviews on websites, but also comments on this webpage — or any other.
And, for the record, I am not only talking to amateur reviewers here. There are plenty of professional — or at least seasoned — reviewers who spoil things in their reviews all the time. Don’t do it. Or random people will hate you.
2. ROUND UP.
Just about every site only gives you five options for reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 stars. Admittedly, having only five options lacks nuance. That said, it is staggering to see how many times someone will give a four star review and say, ‘I really think this should be 4.5 stars.’ If you ever feel like this, round up! That’s just basic math, people. And do you know what it costs you to give something 5 stars instead of 4? NOTHING.
3. BE OPEN-MINDED
If you don’t like the subject matter that a book veers into, that doesn’t mean it deserves a one star review. Because that isn’t really a review of the book at all; it’s your own personal issues coming through.
If you don’t believe in evolution and a book mentions it, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad book. If you are uneasy with the concept of homosexuality and a book has a gay character, that doesn’t make it a bad book. If you feel that a book shouldn’t use a synonym for ‘buttocks’ and it does, that doesn’t make it a bad book. (In that case, try reviewing the book for the 69,999 words in it that didn’t offend you, rather than the 1 that did.) A bad review based on your own personal issues says more about you than it does about the book.
4. BE NICE TO OTHERS WHO WILL READ THE REVIEW
Recently, I have had issues with people purposefully posting spoilers — or even fake spoilers — simply to upset people. That’s not cool.
That said, if you really didn’t like a book of mine, you should feel free to write a review saying that you didn’t like it. Personally, I find well-written reviews explaining what a person’s problems with my book were to be very helpful. (Although I certainly like reading 5-star reviews more.)
5. DON’T GIVE A BOOK A BAD REVIEW AS A JOKE
You’re probably thinking to yourself ‘Why is Stuart even writing this? What kind of knucklehead would post a bad review as a joke?’
This one, for starters:
And that’s not the only time i have found a review like this. I can’t believe I have to say this, but: Don’t do this! Most people don’t read every single review a book has. They just look at the cumulative ratings. A once star review doesn’t get counted as a joke. It gets counted as the worst possible review.
Also… This isn’t even remotely funny. Would you think it was funny if a teacher gave you an F on a test and then said, “I was just joking!” I am guessing that you would not. So please, folks, if you’re going to make a joke on-line, don’t do it at someone else’s expense — and also, try to be funny.
Okay. I’ve said my piece. Thanks for reading this.