Where to Start Reading Bill Myers
With a career spanning over three decades and more than 80 books, Bill Myers has written for three distinct audiences. Choosing your starting point depends entirely on what age group and genre you want to explore:
- For Kids & Middle Graders (Humor & Mystery): Start with My Life as a Smashed Burrito With Extra Hot Sauce, the first book in the legendary Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle series, or dive into the classic McGee and Me! series with Skate Expectations!.
- For Teens & Young Adults (Supernatural Thrillers): Start with The Society, the first book in the Forbidden Doors series, which tackles spiritual warfare, or the high-stakes chase in On the Run from The Elijah Project.
- For Adults (Speculative Sci-Fi & Suspense): Start with The Call to begin the massive Harbingers collaborative series, or read his critically acclaimed modern Jesus reimagining, Eli, as a standalone.
The Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle
This 28-book comedy series is Bill Myers's most extensive work. It follows the wild, disaster-prone life of Wally McDoogle, a clumsy boy who writes superhero stories to cope with his chaotic reality. While each book is largely a standalone adventure, reading them in publication order allows you to watch Wally and his friends grow up. The series runs chronologically from Wally's first mishaps in 1993 through to his final superhero-sized disaster in 2007.
The Supernatural Thrillers: Forbidden Doors & The Elijah Project
For older kids and teenagers, Myers shifts from slapstick comedy to intense supernatural suspense. The 12-book Forbidden Doors series follows Rebecca and Scott Williams as they face occult influences and spiritual battles. This series has a tight chronological continuity and must be read in order starting with The Society.
Similarly, The Elijah Project is a 4-book sequence following siblings Zach and Piper, who possess supernatural spiritual gifts and are chased by sinister forces. Read these in order starting with On the Run (2009) to follow their continuous story.
The Adult Speculative Series: Harbingers, Soul Tracker, & Fire of Heaven
For adult readers, Myers's thrillers dive deep into philosophy, science, and faith:
- The Harbingers Series: This 20-novella cycle is a unique collaboration between Bill Myers, Frank Peretti, Angela Hunt, and Alton Gansky. It behaves like a television series, with each author writing specific episodes focusing on different characters who come together to solve supernatural crises. You must read these in strict publication order starting with The Call (2015).
- The Fire of Heaven Trilogy: A biological thriller series exploring cloning, genetic engineering, and ancient prophecy. Read this trilogy in order: Blood of Heaven (1996), Threshold (1997), and Fire of Heaven (1999).
- The Soul Tracker Series: This trilogy explores the boundaries of life, death, and the spiritual realm. Read in order starting with Soul Tracker (2004), followed by The Presence (2005) and The Seeing (2007).
Children's Mystery & Comedy: Bloodhounds Inc. & Secret Agent Dingledorf
Myers has also written several highly entertaining mystery and comedy series for younger readers:
- Bloodhounds Inc.: Follows brother-and-sister detectives Sean and Melissa Hunter as they solve seemingly supernatural mysteries using science and faith. This 12-book series starts with The Ghost of KRZY (1997) and should be read in order.
- Secret Agent Dingledorf and His Trusty Dog, SPLAT: A wacky 6-book comedic series about a young boy who accidentally becomes a secret agent, starting with The Case of the Chewable Worms (2001).
Chronology and Database Discrepancies
When tracking Myers's work, readers should note a few common database errors and continuity details:
- The McGee and Me! '1900' Typo: Many online databases list the book Beauty in the Least (from the New Adventures McGee and Me series) as being published in the year 1900. This is a metadata error. The book was actually published in September 1993, alongside the release of the live-action video episode.
- Eli and The Eli Diaries: While the standalone novel Eli (2000) is a speculative story about a modern-day Jesus, the 13-novella series The Eli Diaries (beginning with The Battle Begins in 2017) is a collaborative YA project exploring what it would look like if Jesus attended a contemporary high school. Bill Myers wrote the opening book, but other authors completed the subsequent volumes.