Catherine Ryan Hyde

Author Information
Catherine Ryan Hyde's Latest Book

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  • Bibliography:
    44 Books
  • First Book:
    February 2000
  • Latest Book:
    May 2025
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About the Author

Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of more than 40 published and forthcoming books. Her novel PAY IT FORWARD was adapted into a major motion picture, chosen by the American Library Association for its Best Books for Young Adults list, and translated into more than 23 languages for distribution in over 30 countries.

Book List in Order: 44 titles

  • Pay It Forward

    The internationally bestselling book that inspired the Pay It Forward movement is now available in a middle grade edition.Pay It Forward is a moving, uplifting novel about Trevor McKinney, a twelve-year-old boy in a small California town who accepts ...

  • Electric God

    Hayden Reese once believed he could have it all -- and once, he almost did: a wife and a daughter he adored, and a child on the way. But little by little, a chain of heartaches stripped him of all he loved -- and a flash of violence changed his desti...

  • Walter's Purple Heart

    The author of Pay It Foward serves up a romantic story about a dead World War II soldier who transcends the barriers of time to touch the live of the people he loved in his life. 40,000 first printing....

  • Becoming Chloe

    Meet Jordy. He's on his own in New York City. Nobody to depend on; nobody depending on him. And it's been working fine. Until this girl comes along. She's 18 and blond and pretty -- her world should be perfect. But she's seen things no one should ev...

  • Love in the Present Tense

    From the bestselling author of Pay It Forward comes a moving novel about the bond between a five year old abandoned by his mother and the man who raises him. After accidentally killing a police office five years ago, Pearl has managed to protect ...

  • Chasing Windmills

    The subway doors open and close, and in one moment Sebastian's and Maria's lives are changed forever. Rendered in Catherine Ryan Hyde's stirring and evocative prose, CHASING WINDMILLS is a poignant love story that will leave you yearning for a subway...

  • The Day I Killed James

    IT WASN'T SUPPOSED to end up like this. But it did. When Theresa brings James to a party as her date, it's just for the night . . . and he knows that. But when everything goes horribly wrong, James drives his motorcycle off a cliff--and Theresa kn...

  • The Year of My Miraculous Reappearance

    Cynnie can take care of herself -- and more importantly, she can take care of her little brother, Bill. So it doesn't matter that her mom is drunk all the time. Cynnie's got her own life. Cynnie's the one Bill loves more than anyone. Cynnie's the rea...

  • Diary of a Witness

    One day, something's going to snap. . . . Ernie doesn't have a lot of friends at school. Just Will. They have stuff in common -- like fishing. But more important, they have common enemies: the school jocks, who seem to find bullying just another s...



  • Jumpstart the World

    Elle is a loner. She doesn't need people. Which is a good thing, because she's on her own: she had to move into her own apartment so her mother's boyfriend won't have to deal with her. Then she meets Frank, the guy who lives next door. He's older an...

  • Second Hand Heart

    “A fascinating premise and a lovely book. Highly recommended.” "Chicklittings“A compelling, thoughtful read.” "Choice MagazineBy the bestselling author of DON'T LET ME GO and PAY IT FORWARD, SECOND HAND HEART is a devastating and unexpect...

  • Walk Me Home

    Since their mother’s sudden death, sixteen-year-old Carly and her eleven-year-old sister, Jen, have been walking and hitchhiking across the Southwest trying to find Teddy, the closest thing they have to a family. Carly desperately hopes Teddy will ...

  • When I Found You

    While duck hunting one morning, childless, middle-aged Nathan McCann finds a newborn abandoned in the woods. To his shock, the child -- wrapped in a sweater and wearing a tiny knitted hat -- is still alive. To his wife’s shock, Nathan wants to adop...

  • Secret Memoirs of Princess Lamballe

    Maria Theresa Luisa of Savoy, Princess de Lamballe (1749-1792) became the confidante of Queen Marie Antoinette. Catherine Hyde, called the "Marquise de Gouvion Broglie Scolari," purports to have collected, edited and annotated the private papers and ...

  • Always Chloe

    This new short story collection from the author of Don't Let Me Go and Pay It Forward features ALWAYS CHLOE, the long-awaited novella sequel to Catherine Ryan Hyde's award-winning novel Becoming Chloe. A heart-wrenching stand-alone novella, and an an...

  • Subway Dancer

    SUBWAY DANCER AND OTHER STORIES is a new collection of gripping short fiction by Catherine Ryan Hyde, the bestselling author of many beloved novels, including DON’T LET ME GO and PAY IT FORWARD, and of other critically acclaimed short story collect...

  • Take Me with You

    August Shroeder, a burned-out teacher, has been sober since his 19-year-old son died. Every year he’s spent the summer on the road, but making it to Yellowstone this year means everything. The plan had been to travel there with his son, but now Aug...

  • The Language of Hoofbeats

  • Worthy

    They might’ve been a family. Virginia finally had the chance to explore a relationship with Aaron when he asked her on a date. She had been waiting, hoping that the widower and his young son, Buddy, would welcome her into their lives. But a terr...



  • Don't Let Me Go

    Former Broadway dancer and current agoraphobic Billy Shine has not set foot outside his apartment in almost a decade. He has glimpsed his neighbors―beautiful manicurist Rayleen, lonely old Ms. Hinman, bigoted and angry Mr. Lafferty, kind-hearted Fe...

  • When You Were Older

    By the bestselling author of Don't Let Me Go, When I Found You, Second Hand Heart, and Pay It Forward, When You Were Older is the poignant, uplifting, and thought-provoking story of two very different brothers who try to build a new life together, ag...

  • Where We Belong

    Fourteen-year-old Angie and her mom are poised at the edge of homelessness…again. The problem is her little sister, Sophie. Sophie has an autism-like disorder, and a tendency to shriek. No matter where they live, home never seems to last long. U...

  • Ask Him Why

    From the bestselling author of Pay It Forward comes the stunning and emotional story of a young soldier’s unthinkable act…and the bonds of a sister and brother’s love. Ruth and her little brother, Aubrey, are just teenagers when their older ...

  • Leaving Blythe River

    Seventeen-year-old Ethan Underwood is totally unprepared to search for his father in the Blythe River National Wilderness. Not only is he small, scrawny, and skittish but he’s barely speaking to the man after a traumatic betrayal. Yet when his fath...

  • The Star Tree

    It is midnight on Midsummer's Eve and Miranda's nightlight has gone out. She climbs on her rocking horse and makes a wish... And so begins a magical midnight journey with the great white owl, the little red hare, the big white bear, and the giant ...

  • The Hardest Part of Love

  • Say Goodbye for Now

    On an isolated Texas ranch, Dr. Lucy cares for abandoned animals. The solitude allows her to avoid the people and places that remind her of the past. Not that any of the townsfolk care. In 1959, no one is interested in a woman doctor. Nor are they we...

  • Allie and Bea

    Bea has barely been scraping by since her husband died. After falling for a telephone scam, she loses everything and is forced to abandon her trailer. With only two-thirds of a tank in her old van, she heads toward the Pacific Ocean with her cat -- o...

  • The Wake Up

    From New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde comes a hauntingly emotional novel of how one man’s life changes forever when he rediscovers his ability to feel the pain of others. Something has been asleep in forty-year-old cattle ra...



  • Heaven Adjacent

    From New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde comes a bittersweet novel about healing old wounds and finding a new place to call home… Roseanna Chaldecott spent her life as a high-powered lawyer in Manhattan. But when her best frien...

  • Just After Midnight

    An uplifting and poignant novel about friendship, trust, and facing your fears. No longer tolerating her husband’s borderline abuse, Faith escapes to her parents’ California beach house to plan her next move. She never dreamed her new chapter ...

  • Have You Seen Luis Velez?

    New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde brings heartwarming authenticity to the story of two strangers who find that kindness is a powerful antidote to fear. Raymond Jaffe feels like he doesn’t belong. Not with his mother’s new f...

  • Stay

    An unforgettable novel about the power of friendship and kindness by the New York Times bestselling author of Pay It Forward. In the summer of 1969, fourteen-year-old Lucas Painter carries a huge weight on his shoulders. His brother is fighting in...

  • Brave Girl, Quiet Girl

    From New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde comes a gripping and emotional novel about friendship, motherhood, and the journey toward finding a place to call home. Brooke is a divorced single mom, financially strapped, living with h...

  • My Name is Anton

    New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde returns with a hopeful novel of sacrifice, two lost souls, and enduring love.

    It’s 1965, and life has taken a turn for eighteen-year-old Anton Addison-Rice. Nearly a year after his ...

  • Seven Perfect Things

    A heart-stirring novel about the joy that comes from finding love in unexpected places by the New York Times and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author.Thirteen-year-old Abby Hubble lives in an unhappy home in the Sierra Nevada foothills where her fathe...

  • Boy Underground

    During WWII, a teenage boy finds his voice, the courage of his convictions, and friends for life in an emotional and uplifting novel by the New York Times and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author.1941. Steven Katz is the son of prosperous landowners i...

  • Dreaming of Flight

    An unexpected connection becomes the saving grace for two unlikely friends in a heart-stirring novel about love, loss, and moving forward by a New York Times and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author.Never knowing his parents, eleven-year-old Stewie Li...

  • So Long, Chester Wheeler

    Unlikely road trip companions form an unexpected bond in an uplifting novel about the past—lost and found—by the New York Times and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author.Lewis Madigan is young, gay, out of work, and getting antsy when he...



  • Just a Regular Boy

    An orphaned boy raised by a survivalist wends his way into the real world in an emotional novel about hope, fears, and found family by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.Out there is chaos, the collapse of society, and so much to b...

  • A Different Kind of Gone

    The truth behind a teenage girl’s disappearance becomes something to conceal in a gripping novel about justice, lies, and impossible choices by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.When nineteen-year-old Jill Moss goes missing ...

  • Life, Loss, and Puffins

    An exhilarating and emotional novel about grief, hope, friendship, and taking life one beautiful and spontaneous day at a time by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.Freakishly smart. That’s the unwelcome box Ru Evans is put i...

  • Rolling Toward Clear Skies

    A foster mother must contend with the emotional turmoil of her new blended family in a heartfelt novel of hope and second chances by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.Maggie Blount, divorced mother of two and California physician,...

  • Michael Without Apology

    A film student struggling with self-acceptance finally stops looking away from his traumatic past in a powerful novel by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.Michael Woodbine was seven years old when a near-fatal fireworks accident s...

Award-Winning Books by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Pay It Forward
2001 Audies -- Multi-Voice Narration


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Catherine Ryan Hyde has published 44 books.

The next book by Catherine Ryan Hyde, Michael Without Apology, will be published in May 2025.

The first book by Catherine Ryan Hyde, Pay It Forward, was published in February 2000.

No. Catherine Ryan Hyde does not write books in series.
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