Screech Owls Books in Order

How to Read the Screech Owls Series

For over two decades, Canadian author and journalist Roy MacGregor has thrilled young readers with the adventures of the Screech Owls, a fictional peewee hockey team from the small town of Tamarack, Ontario. Blending fast-paced sports action with high-stakes mystery, this 27-novel series (along with a prequel and a companion scrapbook) has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide. If you are ready to jump into the series, here is the complete breakdown of how to read the books, including publication order, chronology details, and where to start.

Screech Owls Recommended Reading Order

The best and most rewarding way to read the Screech Owls is in publication order. Because the characters' ages remain largely static throughout their main adventures, you do not need to worry about a rigid timeline. Reading in publication order allows you to follow the development of the characters, the introduction of new teammates, and the real-world hockey backdrops (like the Nagano Olympics) as they occurred in real time.

Here is the complete list of Screech Owls books in order of their release:

1. Mystery at Lake Placid (1995) – The team travels to New York for a tournament and uncovers a plot of sabotage.
2. The Night They Stole the Stanley Cup (1995) – The Owls visit Toronto, where the legendary trophy goes missing.
3. The Screech Owls' Northern Adventure (1996) – A trip to the Canadian North turns into a survival mystery.
4. Murder at Hockey Camp (1996) – Summer camp turns dangerous when a counselor goes missing.
5. Kidnapped in Sweden (1996) – The team foils a high-stakes plot by the Russian Mob in Europe.
6. Terror in Florida (1997) – Sunshine, hockey, and a mysterious threat await the Owls down south.
7. The Quebec City Crisis (1998) – Tensions flare on and off the ice during Quebec's famous winter carnival tournament.
8. The Screech Owls' Home Loss (1998) – The team faces a deeply personal crisis involving drunk driving in their own hometown.
9. Nightmare in Nagano (1998) – A thrilling adventure set against the backdrop of the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Japan.
10. Danger in Dinosaur Valley (1999) – The team visits Alberta's Badlands and stumbles upon a prehistoric mystery.
11. The Ghost of the Stanley Cup (1999) – Haunted arenas and historical secrets collide.
12. The West Coast Murders (2000) – The Owls head to British Columbia and find themselves in the middle of a double homicide investigation.
13. Sudden Death in New York City (2000) – A big-city tournament turns dangerous under the bright lights of Manhattan.
14. Horror on River Road (2000) – Local legends and spooky occurrences haunt the team back in Tamarack.
15. Death Down Under (2001) – A groundbreaking trip to Australia brings the Owls face-to-face with unique wildlife and deadly secrets.
16. The Screech Owls Scrapbook (2001) – A special companion book filled with team trivia, character profiles, and full-color illustrations.
17. Power Play In Washington (2001) – Political intrigue and stadium mysteries in the United States capital.
18. The Secret of the Deep Woods (2002) – A wilderness training retreat turns into a fight for survival.
19. Murder at the Winter Games (2003) – Another Olympic-sized mystery filled with international athletic drama.
20. Attack on the Tower of London (2004) – A trip to England leads to a historic confrontation and heist attempt.
21. The Screech Owls' Reunion (2004) – A special milestone book that fast-forwards ten years into the future to see the team as young adults.
22. The Kindergarten Caper (2008) – A prequel novella showing the future team solving their very first mystery in kindergarten.
23. Peril at the World's Biggest Hockey Tournament (2008) – The team returns to their younger peewee days to play in the massive Bell Capital Cup in Ottawa.
24. Trouble at the Top of the World (2009) – An extreme hockey adventure at the North Pole.
25. Face-Off at the Alamo (2013) – The Owls head to San Antonio, Texas, for hockey and historic mystery.
26. Panic in Pittsburgh (2013) – Suspicious events plague a tournament in Pennsylvania's steel city.
27. The Mystery of the Russian Ransom (2014) – A thrilling return to international rescue plots.
28. The Boston Breakout (2014) – A historic city backdrop provides the setting for a high-intensity chase.
29. Reality Check in Detroit (2015) – The final novel in the series, taking the Owls to Hockeytown for a modern mystery.

Understanding the Timeline Quirks

While the publication order is straightforward, there are three unique books that break the standard flow of the series. If you are planning a chronological read, you should keep these in mind:

The Kindergarten Caper (Prequel)

Published in 2008, this story takes place long before the events of the first book. It features Travis, Sarah, Nish, and the others as kindergarten students at Lord Stanley Public School, where they band together to solve their first mystery. While it is fun to read first to see how the friendships began, it is written for a slightly younger audience than the main novels and is best enjoyed as a flashback after you've read a few of the core books.

The Screech Owls Scrapbook (Companion)

Released in 2001, this is not a novel. It is an illustrated guide featuring team statistics, character dossiers, inside jokes, and trivia. It is best read after Book 15 (Death Down Under) to avoid spoilers for the early books.

The Screech Owls' Reunion (The 10-Year Jump)

This is the most significant chronological oddity in the franchise. Published in 2004 as the 21st installment in the publication order (or 20th novel), it fast-forwards the timeline by ten years. We find Travis working as a schoolteacher, Sarah captaining the women's Olympic hockey team, Wilson serving as a police officer, and Nish performing as an aerial stuntman in Las Vegas. When trouble strikes Tamarack, they must reunite to save their hometown arena. Interestingly, the books published after this one (starting with Peril at the World's Biggest Hockey Tournament in 2008) reset the timeline back to their childhood peewee hockey days. Because of this, The Screech Owls' Reunion serves as a thematic finale to the characters' growth and is best read at the very end of your journey through the series.

Practical Reader Advice

If you are introducing a young reader to the series, the absolute best starting point is the very first book, Mystery at Lake Placid. It establishes the team dynamic, the roles of Travis as the captain and narrator, Sarah as the star female player, and Nish as the chaotic, prank-loving defenseman.

Almost all the novels function well as standalones, meaning readers can pick up a book set in their favorite city or country (like Japan, Sweden, or Australia) without feeling completely lost. However, reading them in order helps show the subtle growth of the team's bond and keeps the evolving roster of characters consistent.