Order of Book Series
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Lois Duncan Books in Order

Lois Duncan has written 51 books, published between 1957 and 2014. The first book is Debutante Hill (1957) and the newest is Written in the Stars (2014). Publication order is the reading order below.

Lois Duncan also publishes as Lois Kerry.

Books
51
Published
1957–2014
Pages on record
5,981 in 33 of 51 books
Reading time
100–150 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,981 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 33 of 51 titles with a page count on record.

See all 51 books in order Printable Lois Duncan checklist

Lois Duncan (April 28, 1934 to June 15, 2016), born Lois Duncan Steinmetz, was an American novelist, poet and journalist. Duncan is best known for young adult novels, and historians credit Duncan as a pioneer of young adult fiction, above all in horror, thriller and suspense. The daughter of professional photographers Lois and Joseph Janney Steinmetz, Duncan started writing young and published two early novels as Lois Kerry. Hotel for Dogs (1971), I Know What You Did Last Summer (1973) and Summer of Fear (1976) are among the novels. The catalogue lists 51 titles from Debutante Hill (1957) to Written in the Stars (2014), including A Gift of Magic (1960) and Game of Danger (1962).

How many Lois Duncan books are there?

Lois Duncan has 51 books, released between 1957 and 2014. 3 of them belong to the Hotel for Dogs series.

Lois Duncan Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 51 Lois Duncan books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Debutante Hill by Lois Duncan (1957)
  2. Cover of A Gift of Magic by Lois Duncan (1960)
  3. Cover of Ransom by Lois Duncan (1966)
  4. Cover of They Never Came Home by Lois Duncan (1968)
  5. Cover of Hotel for Dogs by Lois Duncan, book 1 of the Hotel for Dogs series (1971)
  6. Cover of I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan (1973)
  7. Cover of Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan (1974)
  8. Cover of Summer of Fear by Lois Duncan (1976)
  9. Cover of Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan (1978)
  10. Cover of How To Write And Sell Your Personal Experiences by Lois Duncan (1979)
  11. Cover of Stranger With My Face by Lois Duncan (1981)
  12. Cover of The Terrible Tales of Happy Days School by Lois Duncan (1983)
  13. Cover of The Third Eye / The Eyes of Karen Connors by Lois Duncan (1984)
  14. Cover of Horses of Dreamland by Lois Duncan (1985)
  15. Cover of The Twisted Window by Lois Duncan (1987)
  16. Cover of Wonder Kid Meets the Evil Lunch Snatcher by Lois Duncan (1988)
  17. Cover of Songs from Dreamland by Lois Duncan (1989)
  18. Cover of Who Killed My Daughter? by Lois Duncan (1992)
  19. Cover of The Circus Comes Home by Lois Duncan (1993)
  20. Cover of Psychic Connections by Lois Duncan (1995)
  21. Cover of Night Terrors by Lois Duncan (1996)
  22. Cover of The Magic of Spider Woman by Lois Duncan (1996)
  23. Cover of Gallows Hill by Lois Duncan (1997)
  24. Cover of Trapped by Lois Duncan (1998)
  1. 1
    Debutante Hill1957 · 200 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1957200
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Love Song for Joyce1958 · confirmed 2/4
    1958–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    A Promise for Joyce1959 · confirmed 2/4
    1959–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Littlest One in the Family1960 · confirmed 2/4
    1960–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Middle Sister1960 · confirmed 2/4
    1960–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    A Gift of Magic1960 · 230 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1960230
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Silly Mother1962 · confirmed 2/4
    1962–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Game of Danger1962 · confirmed 2/4
    1962–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Giving Away Suzanne1963 · confirmed 2/4
    1963–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Season of the Two-Heart1964 · confirmed 2/4
    1964–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    Ransom1966 · 172 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1966172
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    Five Were Missing1966 · confirmed 2/4
    1966–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Point of Violence1966 · confirmed 2/4
    1966–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    They Never Came Home1968 · 192 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1968192
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Peggy1970 · confirmed 2/4
    1970–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    Hotel for DogsHotel for Dogs #11971 · 165 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1971165
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    I Know What You Did Last Summer1973 · 200 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1973200
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    When the Bough Breaks1973 · confirmed 2/4
    1973–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Down a Dark Hall1974 · 211 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1974211
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    Summer of Fear1976 · 226 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1976226
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    Killing Mr. Griffin1978 · 248 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1978248
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    How To Write And Sell Your Personal Experiences1979 · 226 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1979226
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    Daughters of Eve1979 · 288 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1979288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    Stranger With My Face1981 · 287 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1981287
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    From Spring to Spring: Poems and Photographs1982 · 96 pages · confirmed 2/4
    198296
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    Chapters: My Growth as a Writer1982 · 263 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1982263
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    The Terrible Tales of Happy Days School1983 · 31 pages · confirmed 2/4
    198331
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    The Third Eye / The Eyes of Karen Connors1984 · 254 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1984254
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    Horses of Dreamland1985 · 31 pages · confirmed 2/4
    198531
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    Locked in Time1985 · 242 pages · confirmed 2/4
    1985242
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Lois Duncan books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Hotel for Dogs in order

3 books
  1. 1. Hotel for Dogs
  2. 2. News for Dogs
  3. 3. Movie for Dogs

Standalone books

48 books

48 Lois Duncan titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Lois Duncan books in order?

You only need to read Lois Duncan books in order within the Hotel for Dogs series, which holds 3 of the 51 Lois Duncan books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with Lois Duncan

Start with Debutante Hill (1957), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Lois Duncan book?

Written in the Stars (2014) is the newest Lois Duncan book released so far.

Is there a new Lois Duncan book coming?

No next Lois Duncan book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Lois Duncan has won

Wikidata records 2 awards for Lois Duncan. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • The Grand Master2015Won
  • Margaret Edwards Award1992Won

Lois Duncan at a glance

Died
Lois Duncan died in 2016, according to Wikidata.
Last book
The newest book credited to Lois Duncan on record dates from 2014.
Release pace
Lois Duncan books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
5,981 pages across the 33 of 51 books with a recorded length, a median of 211 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Lois Duncan books, 12 of 51, were published in the 1980s.

What the Lois Duncan books are about

35 of the 51 Lois Duncan books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: children's fiction is tagged on 18 of 35. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.