Peter Duncan LerangisPeter Then and Now from PeterLerangis.com
/ref> (born 1955, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

) is an American author of

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

and

young adult fiction Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

, best known for his '' Seven Wonders'' series and his work on the '' 39 Clues'' series.

Life and career

Lerangis's work includes the '' Seven Wonders'' series, all five books of which made

The New York Times Best Seller list ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

for Children's Books. He was also the author of '' The Viper's Nest'' and ''

The Sword Thief ''The Sword Thief'' is the third book in '' The 39 Clues'' series. It was written by Peter Lerangis and was published by Scholastic on March 3, 2009.

'', two titles in the ''New York Times''-bestselling children's-book series ''

The 39 Clues ''The 39 Clues'' is a series of adventure novels written by a collaboration of authors, including Rick Riordan, Gordon Korman, Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson, Patrick Carman, Linda Sue Park, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Roland Smith, David Baldacci, J ...

'', along with the second entry in a four-novella collection, ''

Vespers Rising ''Vespers Rising'' is a part of ''The 39 Clues'' franchise, which includes the 39 Clues books, card packs, and interactive online games. The book is a transition between the first series, ''The 39 Clues'', and the second, '' Cahills vs. Vespers'' ...

''. This book served as an introduction to a six-book ''39 Clues'' sequel entitled ''Cahills Vs. Vespers'',"Announcement of sequel to The 39 Clues"
/ref> for which he wrote the third book, '' The Dead of the Night''. His other books include the historical novel '' Smiler's Bones'', the YA novel ''Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am'' (with

Harry Mazer Harry Mazer (May 31, 1925 in New York City – April 7, 2016 in Montpelier, Vermont) was an American writer of books for children and young adults, acclaimed for his "realistic" novels. He has written twenty-two novels, including ''The Solid Go ...

), the YA dark comedy-adventure novel ''wtf,'' the ''Drama Club'' series, the '' Spy X'' series, the ''Watchers'' series, the ''Abracadabra'' series, and the ''Antarctica'' two-book adventure, as well ghost-writing for series such as the ''

Three Investigators The Three Investigators is an American juvenile detective book series first published as "''Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators''". It was created by Robert Arthur Jr., who believed involving a famous person such as movie director Alfr ...

'', the '' Hardy Boys Casefiles'', '' Sweet Valley Twins'', and more than forty books in the series ''

The Baby-sitters Club ''The Baby-Sitters Club'' (also known as BSC) is a series of novels written by Ann M. Martin and published by Scholastic between 1986 and 2000, that sold 176 million copies. Martin wrote the first 35 novels in the series, but the subsequent nove ...

'' and its various spin-offs. He has also written novels based on film screenplays, including ''

The Sixth Sense ''The Sixth Sense'' is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Bruce Willis as a child psychologist whose patient (Haley Joel Osment) claims he can see and talk to the dead. Released by ...

'', '' Sleepy Hollow'', and ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...

'', and five

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

novelizations in the

Worlds of Power The ''Worlds of Power'' books are a series of novelizations of video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System released in the early 1990s by Scholastic."8-Bit Lit: Behind the Worlds of Power. ''1up.com''1. Retrieved on November 23, 2008. Th ...

series created by

Seth Godin Seth W. Godin is an American author and former dot com business executive. Background After leaving Spinnaker in 1986, he used $20,000 in savings to found Seth Godin Productions, primarily a book packaging business, out of a studio apartment in ...

. As a

ghostwriter A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...

he has been published under the name A. L. Singer. Lerangis is the son of a retired New York Telephone Company employee and a retired public-elementary-school secretary, who raised him in Freeport,

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

with a degree in

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

, while acting in musicals"Divine Decadence and Dollars"
Klein, Julia M.. ''The Harvard Crimson'', 1976-05-13 and singing with and musically directing the ''

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

'' group the

Harvard Krokodiloes The Harvard Krokodiloes ("The Kroks") are Harvard University's oldest '' a cappella'' singing group, founded in 1946. The group consists of twelve tuxedo-clad undergraduates, and they sing songs from the Great American Songbook and beyond. The ...

."Perfect Tone, in a Key That’s Mostly Minor."
Rapkin, Mickey. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 2008-03-23, Sunday Styles section, p. 1.Notable Alumni of the Harvard Krokodiloes
/ref> Peter was said to have been classmates with

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

in college before he dropped out and founded the company

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

. Upon graduation, Peter moved to New York where he worked as an actor"The Uncertain Joys of A Young Actor's Life."
Colt, George Howe. ''

'', 1980-12-21, Arts and Leisure section, p. 1. and

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

copy editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material (copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. ''The Chicago Manual of ...

for eight years before becoming an author.Peter Lerangis at Scholastic.com
. Retrieved on 2007-12-18. In 2003, Lerangis was chosen by First Lady

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. ...

to accompany her to the first Russian Book Festival, hosted by Russian First Lady Lyudmila Putina in Moscow.Loven, Jennifer. "Laura Bush hopes to counter resentment of U.S. on trip to France, Russia." ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...

'', 2003-09-27, p. 5.Website of First Lady Laura Bush.
/ref> Authors

R. L. Stine Robert Lawrence Stine (; born October 8, 1943), sometimes known as Jovial Bob Stine and Eric Affabee, is an American novelist, short story writer, television producer, screenwriter, and executive editor. Stine has been referred to as the "St ...

(''

Goosebumps ''Goosebumps'' is a series of children's horror fiction novels by American author R. L. Stine, published by Scholastic Publishing. The protagonists in these stories are tweens or young teens who find themselves in scary circumstances usually i ...

'') and Marc Brown (the ''Arthur the Aardvark'' series) also made the trip with Bush. Also in 2003, Lerangis was commissioned by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

branch of Scholastic to write ''X-Isle'', one of four books that would relaunch the ''

Point Horror ''Point Horror'' is a series of young adult horror fiction books. The series was most popular among teenaged girls.Coles, Martin. Hall, Christine. ''Children's Reading Choices''. Routledge, 1998, p 46. History The ''Point Horror'' series was laun ...

'' series there."New life for teen horror stories."

The Bookseller ''The Bookseller'' is a British magazine reporting news on the publishing industry. Philip Jones is editor-in-chief of the weekly print edition of the magazine and the website. The magazine is home to the ''Bookseller''/Diagram Prize for Oddest ...

, 2003-07-18, p. 28. A sequel, ''Return to X-Isle'', was published in 2004. In 2007, Scholastic announced the launch of a new historical mystery series called ''The 39 Clues'', intended to become a franchise."Scholastic plans to put its branding iron on a successor to Harry Potter."
Rich, Motoko. ''

'', 2007-12-18, p. E1. Lerangis wrote the third book in the series, ''The Sword Thief'', published in March 2009.Amazon.com page confirming book title of third ''39 Clues'' book.
/ref>Scholastic Press Release (March 3, 2009). "Worldwide Hunt for 'The 39 Clues' Continues Today with Release of 'Book 3:The Sword Thief,' More Clues Revealed, and Multi-City Author Tour (http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Scholastic-NASDAQ-SCHL-956445.html)Scholastic Inc. FAQ sheet regarding ''The 39 Clues''.
/ref> On March 3, 2009, Scholastic announced that Lerangis would write the seventh book in the series, ''The Viper's Nest''. In 2016, Lerangis traveled to Patan Dhoka,

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

where he was the guest speaker at Bal Sahitya Mahotsav, the first children's

literature festival A literary festival, also known as a book festival or writers' festival, is a regular gathering of writers and readers, typically on an annual basis in a particular city. A literary festival usually features a variety of presentations and readings ...

in Nepal. Lerangis lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with his wife, musician Tina deVaron. He has two grown children, Nick and Joe.Peter Lerangis at SFBookcase.com
Retrieved on 2007-12-18.

Bibliography

''Throwback'' series

# ''Throwback'' (October 1, 2019) # ''The Chaos Loop'' (May 5, 2020) # ''Out of Time'' (March 23, 2021)

''Max Tilt'' series

# ''Fire the Depths'' (October 3, 2017) # ''80 Days or Die'' (July 24, 2018) # ''Enter the Core'' (February 19, 2019)

'' Seven Wonders'' series

# ''The Colossus Rises'' (February 5, 2013) # ''Lost in Babylon'' (October 29, 2013) # ''The Tomb of Shadows'' (May 13, 2014) # ''The Curse of the King'' (March 3, 2015) # ''The Legend of the Rift'' (March 8, 2016) Seven Wonders (series) Journals # ''The Select and The Orphan'' (April 22, 2014) # ''The Key'' (February 10, 2015) # ''The Promise'' (February 9, 2016)

''The 39 Clues'' series

# ''

The Sword Thief ''The Sword Thief'' is the third book in '' The 39 Clues'' series. It was written by Peter Lerangis and was published by Scholastic on March 3, 2009.

'' (March 3, 2009) # '' The Viper's Nest'' (February 2, 2010) # ''

'' (April 5, 2011)

''The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers'' series

* ''The Dead of Night'' (March 6, 2012)

''Drama Club'' series

# ''The Fall Musical'' (September 6, 2007) # ''The Big Production'' (September 6, 2007) # ''Too Hot!'' (March 13, 2008) # ''Summer Stars'' (July 17, 2008)

''Spy X'' series

# ''The Code'' (July 1, 2004 - Scholastic) # ''Hide and Seek'' (October 1, 2004 - Scholastic) # ''Proof Positive'' (January 1, 2005 - Scholastic) # ''Tunnel Vision'' (May 1, 2005 - Scholastic)

''Abracadabra'' series (with Jim Talbot)

# ''Poof! Rabbits Everywhere'' (April 1, 2002) # ''Boo! Ghosts in School'' (April 1, 2002) # ''Presto! Magic Treasure'' (July 2002) # ''Yeeps!: Secrets in the Statue'' (October 1, 2002) # ''Zap! Science Fair Surprise!'' (January 2003) # ''Yikes! It's Alive!'' (April 2003) # ''Whoa! Amusement Park Gone Wild!'' (July 1, 2003) # ''Wow! Blast from the Past!'' (October 2003)

''Antarctica'' series

# ''Journey to the Pole'' (2000, eBook reissue March 20, 2012) # ''Escape from Disaster'' (2000, eBook reissue March 20, 2012)

''Watchers'' series

# ''Last Stop'' (November 1, 1998, eBook reissue March 20, 2012 ) # ''Rewind'' (November 1, 1998, eBook reissue March 20, 2012) # ''I.D.'' (January 1, 1999, eBook reissue March 20, 2012) # ''War'' (April 1999, eBook reissue March 20, 2012) # ''Island'' (July 1, 1999, eBook reissue March 20, 2012) # ''Lab 6'' (October 1, 1999, eBook reissue March 20, 2012)

Others

* ''License to Drive'' (novelization) (1988), writing as A. L. Singer * ''Sing'' (novelization) (1989), A. L. Singer (/) * ''Little Monsters'' (novelization) (1989), writing as A. L. Singer * ''Dick Tracy'' (junior novelization) (1990), writing as A. L. Singer () * ''Walt Disney's Classic: The Rescuers Down Under'' (novelization) (1990), writing as A. L. Singer () * ''Bingo'' (novelization) (1991), writing as A. L. Singer * Disney's ''Robin Hood'' (novelization) (1992), writing as A. L. Singer () * Disney's ''Beauty and the Beast'' (novelization) (1992), writing as A. L. Singer () * Disney's ''Aladdin'' (novelization) (1992), writing as A. L. Singer () * ''Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'' (novelization) (November 1, 1992), writing as A. L. Singer * Walt Disney's ''Sleeping Beauty'' (novelization) (1993), writing as A. L. Singer (/) * ''Surf Ninjas'' (novelization) (1993), writing as A. L. Singer * ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (novelization) (1994), writing as A. L. Singer * ''The Swan Princess'' (novelization) (1994), writing as A. L. Singer * ''The Amazing Panda Adventure'' (novelization) (1995), writing as A. L. Singer * ''The Baby-Sitters Club'' (novelization) (1995), writing as A. L. Singer * ''Sleepy Hollow'' (novelization) (1999) (/ * M. Night Shyamalan's ''The Sixth Sense: A Novelization'' (2000) (/) * ''The Road to El Dorado'' (novelization) (2000) (/) * ''Smiler's Bones'' (February 1, 2005) * '' Batman Begins: The Junior Novel'' (June 2005) (/) * ''wtf'' (November 10, 2009) * ''Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am'' (February 7, 2012), with Harry Mazer

Awards

* ''Last Stop'', the first book in Lerangis's science fiction/mystery series ''Watchers'', was selected by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

as a 1999 Best Book for Reluctant Readers. * ''War'', the fourth book in the series ''Watchers'', was selected by the

International Reading Association The International Literacy Association (ILA), formerly the International Reading Association (IRA), is an international global advocacy and member professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dialo ...

and the Children's Book Council as a 2000 Children's Choice book.2000 Children's Choice Books
. Retrieved on 2008-02-03. * Lerangis's 2006 historical novel ''Smiler's Bones'' was a

Junior Library Guild Junior Library Guild, formerly the Junior Literary Guild, is a commercial book club devoted to juvenile literature. It was created in 1929 as one of the enterprises of the Literary Guild, an adult book club created in 1927 by Samuel W. Craig and H ...

selection and was named among the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...

Best Books for Teens 20062006 New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age
Retrieved on 2008-02-03. and the Bank Street Best Books of 2006. * ''Somebody Please Tell Me Who I Am'' was awarded the 2013

Schneider Family Book Award The Schneider Family Book Award is an award given by the American Library Association (ALA) recognizing authors and illustrators for the excellence of portrayal of the disability experience in literature for youth. There is a category for children ...

from the

, given to "honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences" 2013 ALA Schneider Family Award
/ref> and was also chosen that year for the

ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults The American Library Association's Best Fiction for Young Adults, previously known as Best Books for Young Adults (1966–2010), is a recommendation list of books presented yearly by the YALSA division (Young Adult Library Services Association Th ...

list.2013 ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults
/ref> * The ''Seven Wonders'' series books have been named Junior Library Guild selections

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lerangis, Peter 1955 births American children's writers The Baby-Sitters Club Harvard University alumni Writers from Brooklyn American male novelists People from Freeport, New York Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state)