Frances O'Roark Dowell

Author Information
Frances O'Roark Dowell's Latest Book

Newest Release

  • Bibliography:
    26 Books (3 Series)
  • First Book:
    June 2000
  • Latest Book:
    May 2022
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Full Series List in Order

Phineas L. Macguire

1 - Phineas L. MacGuire...Erupts! (May-2006)
2 - Phineas L. Macguire...Gets Slimed! (Sep-2007)
3 - Phineas L. MacGuire...Blasts Off! (Jun-2008)
4 - Phineas L. Macguire...Gets Cooking! (Nov-2014)

Sam the Man

1 - Sam the Man & the Chicken Plan (Sep-2016)
2 - Sam the Man & the Rutabaga Plan (Feb-2017)
3 - Sam the Man & the Dragon Van Plan (Mar-2018)
4 - Sam the Man & the Secret Detective Club Plan (Sep-2018)

Secret Language of Girls

1 - The Secret Language of Girls (May-2004)
2 - The Kind of Friends We Used to Be (Jan-2009)
3 - The Sound of Your Voice, Only Really Far Away (Sep-2013)

Book List in Order: 26 titles

  • Dovey Coe

    "My name is Dovey Coe and I reckon it don't matter if you like me or not. I'm here to lay the record straight, to let you know them folks saying I done a terrible thing are liars. I aim to prove it, too. I hated Parnell Caraway as much as the next pe...

  • Where I'd Like to Be

    A ghost saved twelve-year-old Maddie's life when she was an infant, her Granny Lane claims, so Maddie must always remember that she is special. But it's hard to feel special when you've spent your life shuffled from one foster home to another. And no...

  • The Secret Language of Girls

    Secret Language of Girls - 1

    In the old days, when Kate had no interest in romance, she never cared what other people thought. Now, it appeared, love was turning her into a rotten human being. Eleven-year-old Kate Faber wishes she could talk to her best friend, Marylin, about t...

  • Chicken Boy

    Meet Tobin McCauley. He's got a near-certifiable grandmother, a pack of juvenile-delinquent siblings, and a dad who's not going to win father of the year any time soon. To top it off, Tobin's only friend truly believes that the study of chickens will...

  • Phineas L. MacGuire...Erupts!

    Phineas L. Macguire - 1

    HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PHINEAS L. MACGUIRE, BOY-SCIENTIST EXTRAORDINAIRE, AKA MAC: 1. He's allergic to purple, telephone calls, and girls, and can prove it. 2. He's probably the world's expert on mold, including which has the highest s...

  • Phineas L. Macguire...Gets Slimed!

    Phineas L. Macguire - 2

    Phineas L. MacGuire (a.k.a. Mac) has three goals for fourth grade: 1. To be the best fourth-grade scientist ever. 2. To be the best fourth-grade scientist ever. 3. To be the best fourth-grade scientist ever. It's a tall order, but he's conf...

  • Shooting the Moon

    Jamie thinks her father can do anything...until the one time he can do nothing. When twelve-year-old Jamie Dexter's brother joins the Army and is sent to Vietnam, Jamie is plum thrilled. She can't wait to get letters from the front lines describin...

  • Phineas L. MacGuire...Blasts Off!

    Phineas L. Macguire - 3

    Houston, we have a problem! Phineas L. MacGuire (a.k.a. Mac) has a lot to learn about outer space if he's going to be the best scientist in the fourth grade. To get the knowledge he needs, Mac is determined to go to space camp, but his mom says he ha...

  • The Kind of Friends We Used to Be

    Secret Language of Girls - 2

    Kate and Marylin are best friends forever.... Well, except for last year when they weren't friends anymore... And except for this year when they both want to be friends again, but just don't know how. But the thing is, even as they are tryin...



  • Phineas L. MacGuire Blasts Off The Third Experiment

  • Falling in

    B z z z z z z z The buzzing sound? Do you hear that? There it is again. B z z z z z z z No? Well, I really shouldn't have asked. Most people can't hear it, anyway. But, if you could, you'd think it sounds like you're teetering on the e...

  • Ten Miles Past Normal

    Janie Gorman wants to be normal. The problem with that: she's not. She's smart and creative and a little bit funky. She's also an unwilling player in her parents' modern-hippy, let's-live-on-a-goat-farm experiment (regretfully, instigated by a younge...

  • The Second Life of Abigail Walker

    Is it possible to start afresh when you’re thoroughly weighted down? Seventeen pounds. That’s the difference between Abigail Walker and Kristen Gorzca. Between chubby and slim, between teased and taunting. Abby is fine with her body and sick o...

  • The Sound of Your Voice, Only Really Far Away

    Secret Language of Girls - 3

    In the conclusion to the bestselling Secret Language of Girls trilogy, Marylin and Kate find that boys can be just as complicated as friendship. Marylin knows that, as a middle school cheerleader, she has certain obligations. She has to smile as s...

  • Anybody Shining

    Can one mistake destroy the chance of a lifetime? A girl discovers there are many ways of being true in this magnificent ode to handwritten letters and the shining power of friendship from the author of Dovey Coe, set in the Appalachian mountains of ...

  • Phineas L. Macguire...Gets Cooking!

    Phineas L. Macguire - 4

    Chemistry in the kitchen? Phineas L. MacGuire applies his science skills to culinary creations in this food-tastic tale from the bestselling author of Chicken Boy. Phineas L. MacGuire -- scientist extraordinaire -- has a new chore: cooking dinner ...

  • Trouble the Water

    From the award-winning author of Dovey Coe comes a sweeping tale of the friendship between a black girl and a white boy and the prejudices they must overcome in segregated Celeste, Kentucky, as the pair try to solve the mysteries surrounding a lonely...

  • Birds in the Air

    The quilting novel Marianne Fons calls “a truly enjoyable read” about “the power of quilts to connect, heal, and restore the soul…” When Emma Byrd moves into the house of her dreams in the small mountain community of Sweet Anne's Gap, she k...

  • Sam the Man & the Chicken Plan

    Sam the Man - 1

    Sam the Man wants to earn some money and he’s got a cluck-worthy plan in this endearing chapter book that’s the first in a new series from Frances O’Roark Dowell. Sam the Man needs a job. Even his sister gets twenty bucks a pop for mowing pe...



  • Sam the Man & the Rutabaga Plan

    Sam the Man - 2

    Sam the Man has a new school project. He’s got to “babysit” a vegetable in this second hilarious chapter book in a new series from Frances O’Roark Dowell. Sam the Man is back, and he needs a NEW plan. Sam has already solved a chicken probl...

  • Margaret Goes Modern

    From the author of Birds in the Air comes a touching, big-hearted collection of short stories about women whose lives revolve around family, friends and quilt-making. Meet Margaret, whose adventures in a new quilting group help her reconnect with her...

  • Sam the Man & the Dragon Van Plan

    Sam the Man - 3

    Sam the Man is back with not one, but TWO plans in this third hilarious chapter book in the Sam the Man series from Frances O’Roark Dowell. Sam Graham is a dragon fan and a big truck man. Monster trucks to be specific. And when the family miniva...

  • Sam the Man & the Secret Detective Club Plan

    Sam the Man - 4

    Sam Graham is a mystery man. But when there are no mysteries to solve, Sam comes up with a plan to find one in this hilarious fourth chapter book in the Sam the Man series from Frances O’Roark Dowell. Sam Graham loves solving mysteries. After su...

  • Sam the Man & the Cell Phone Plan

    Sam Graham wants a cell phone to help him with his research, but when his parents say no, he has to come up with another way to keep all the info he needs in his pocket in this hilarious fifth chapter book in the Sam the Man series from Frances O’R...

  • The Class

    Twenty kids. Twenty points of view. One rambunctious, brilliantly conceived novel that corrals the seeming chaos (c’mon, TWENTY points of view!) into one effervescent story. Sixth grade is a MOST confusing time. Best friends aren’t friends any...

  • Hazard

    A kid filled with rage, suspended from the football team for unsportsmanlike conduct, and his father, newly home from the war in Afghanistan, reckon with the injuries they’ve caused to others and themselves in this unflinching middle grade novel in...

Award-Winning Books by Frances O'Roark Dowell

Dovey Coe
2001 Edgar Allan Poe Award -- Juvenile
2003 Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award -- Grades 6-8
2003 William Allen White Childens Book Award -- Grades 6-8
Shooting the Moon
2009 Christopher Award -- Books for Young People


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Frances O'Roark Dowell has published 26 books.

Frances O'Roark Dowell does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Hazard, was published in May 2022.

The first book by Frances O'Roark Dowell, Dovey Coe, was published in June 2000.

Yes. Frances O'Roark Dowell has 3 series.
Author Series
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