Bruce Coville Books in Order

Where to Begin Your Bruce Coville Journey

With over 100 books to his name, Bruce Coville's catalog can feel as vast as Dimension X. Fortunately, his major series are well-defined, and you can easily jump in depending on your favorite genre. For science fiction fans, the absolute best starting point is My Teacher Is an Alien. If you prefer whimsical fantasy, start with The Magic Shop Series (specifically Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher or The Monster's Ring). For readers looking for an epic, long-form magical adventure, The Unicorn Chronicles is the ideal choice.

The Magic Shop Books

This is one of Coville's most popular and enduring series. Each book features a different child who stumbles upon a mysterious magic shop run by the enigmatic S. H. Elives, leaving with a magical item that teaches them a life lesson. Because each story focuses on a new protagonist, they can easily be read as standalones in any order. However, reading them in publication order lets you appreciate how the world expands.

Note that while early editions of The Monster's Ring date back to 1982, the series was revised and reissued in later decades. The companion short story, "The Mask of Eamonn Tiyado," provides extra flavor for completionists.

• The Monster's Ring (1982 / revised 1992)
• Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher (1991)
• Jennifer Murdley's Toad (1992)
• The Skull of Truth (1997)
• Juliet Dove, Queen of Love (2003)
• Charlie Eggleston's Talking Skull (2003)
• The Vampire's Tooth (2010)
• The Mask of Eamonn Tiyado (2011 - Short Story)

My Teacher Is an Alien Series

This classic four-book sci-fi series is highly serialized and must be read in order. The story follows Susan Simmons and Peter Thompson as they discover their sixth-grade teacher is actually an extraterrestrial preparing to report on humanity's flaws.

While some databases swap the listing order of the middle volumes, the correct chronological narrative sequence is:

1. My Teacher Is an Alien (1989)
2. My Teacher Fried My Brains (1991) - Follows Susan's classmate, Duncan Dougal.
3. My Teacher Glows in the Dark (1991) - Follows Peter's perspective from inside the alien spaceship.
4. My Teacher Flunked the Planet (1992) - The grand finale where the kids must plead humanity's case to the alien council.

Rod Allbright's Alien Adventures

Also known as the Aliens Ate My Homework series, this tetralogy follows Rod Allbright as he accidentally gets mixed up with a tiny alien patrol crew. These books must be read in order. A key detail for readers in the United Kingdom: the third book, The Search for Snout (1995), was published in the UK under the title Aliens Stole My Dad because "snout" is British slang for tobacco. Be careful not to buy both thinking they are different stories!

1. Aliens Ate My Homework (1993)
2. I Left My Sneakers in Dimension X (1994)
3. The Search for Snout (1995) / Aliens Stole My Dad (UK title)
4. Aliens Stole My Body (1998)

I Was a Sixth Grade Alien (Sixth-Grade Alien / My Alien Classmate)

This humorous series follows Pleskit Meenom, the first alien child to attend an earthly school. Originally published starting in 1999, the series was rebranded as My Alien Classmate in the UK. When the books were reissued and updated in 2020, several titles were renamed. If you are tracking down physical copies, consult the list below to ensure you do not buy duplicate stories under different names:

• Book 1: I Was a Sixth Grade Alien (reissued as Sixth Grade Alien) (1999)
• Book 2: The Attack of the Two-Inch Teacher (reissued as I Shrank My Teacher) (1999)
• Book 3: I Lost My Grandfather's Brain (reissued as Missing—One Brain!) (1999)
• Book 4: Peanut Butter Lover Boy (reissued as Lunch Swap Disaster) (2000)
• Book 5: Zombies of the Science Fair (2000)
• Book 6: Don't Fry My Veeblax! (reissued as Class Pet Catastrophe) (2000)
• Book 7: Too Many Aliens! (2000)
• Book 8: Snatched from Earth! (2000)
• Book 9: There's an Alien in My Backpack (2000)
• Book 10: The Revolt of the Miniature Mutants (2000)
• Book 11: There's an Alien in My Underwear (reissued as Aliens, Underwear, and Monsters) (2001)
• Book 12: Farewell to Earth (2001)

The Unicorn Chronicles

This lush fantasy saga follows Cara Diana Hunter as she enters Luster, the land of the unicorns, to escape a mysterious hunter. Originally conceived and published as a four-book series spanning over fifteen years (1994–2010), the books are best read in order. In 2020, publishers began reissuing the series, splitting the original larger volumes into a seven-book sequence to create uniform book sizes. The core reading order is:

1. Into the Land of the Unicorns (1994)
2. Song of the Wanderer (1999)
3. Dark Whispers (2008)
4. The Last Hunt (2010)

Short stories like "The Guardian of Memory" (2012) and "The Boy with Silver Eyes" (2011) serve as side stories within this universe.

The A.I. Gang

This mid-1980s sci-fi series was a collaborative project. While Bruce Coville wrote books 1, 3, and 4, the second book, The Cutlass Clue, was penned by Jim Lawrence. In the 1990s, Coville acquired the rights back and revised his books into a trilogy. The revised trilogy largely bypasses the events of the second book, meaning readers of the updated editions can skip Jim Lawrence's contribution without missing the core plot.

Co-Authored and Continuation Works

Amber Brown Series: Originally created by Paula Danziger, the beloved children's series was continued by Bruce Coville and Elizabeth Levy following Danziger's passing in 2004. Coville and Levy co-authored the final three books of the series starting in 2012 (Amber Brown Is Tickled Pink, Amber Brown Is on the Move, and Amber Brown Horses Around), staying true to Danziger's original vision.

Chamber of Horrors: This series features standalone supernatural horror tales. While local databases often list only the first two books (Amulet of Doom and Spirits and Spells), the series actually contains four books, completed by Eyes of the Tarot and Waiting Spirits.

What to Know Before You Start: The Avon Camelot Imprint Warning

When searching online catalogs, you will frequently see a list titled "Publication Order of Avon Camelot Books" associated with Bruce Coville. Please note that Bruce Coville did not write these books. Avon Camelot was a children's publishing imprint. The books listed under it, such as Lottie & Lisa (1952) and Baseball Fever (1981), were written by other authors. Coville merely edited a few specific science fiction and fantasy anthologies released under this imprint in the late 1990s, such as Bruce Coville's Shapeshifters and Bruce Coville's Alien Visitors.