Birth Date: | April 29, 1940 |
Birth Place: | Hartford, Connecticut, US |
Alma Mater: | University of Connecticut (BA) University of Hartford (MA) |
Occupation: | Fiction writer |
Notable Works: | A to Z Mysteries |
Website: | ronroy.com |
Ron Roy (born April 29, 1940) is an American writer of children's fiction, primarily mysteries for young readers. He is best known for the series A to Z Mysteries (from 1997), Capital Mysteries (from 2001), and Calendar Mysteries (from 2009).
Roy was born in Hartford, Connecticut, grew up in East Hartford, and has lived in Connecticut most of his life.[1] He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Connecticut and his master's degree in early childhood education from the University of Hartford.[2] He taught fourth grade for ten years until he sold his first book in 1978 and became a full-time writer.[3] His first several books were unpaged picture books.
See main article: A to Z Mysteries. The A to Z Mysteries are a series of chapter books for readers aged 6 to 9, comprising 26 books published from 1997 through 2005. The series is written by Ron Roy, with interior illustrations and original cover art by John Steven Gurney, and redesigned cover art (2015) by Stephen Gilpin. In each book in the series, three kids named Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose solve a mystery set in their fictional home town of Green Lawn, Connecticut (and sometimes in other locations in the USA). The average page length of the text of each book is approximately 80 to 90 pages.
1 | The Absent Author | 1997 | |
2 | The Bald Bandit | 1997 | |
3 | The Canary Caper | 1998 | |
4 | The Deadly Dungeon | 1998 | |
5 | The Empty Envelope | 1998 | |
6 | The Falcon's Feathers | 1998 | |
7 | The Goose's Gold | 1998 | |
8 | The Haunted Hotel | 1999 | |
9 | The Invisible Island | 1999 | |
10 | The Jaguar's Jewel | 2000 | |
11 | The Kidnapped King | 2000 | |
12 | The Lucky Lottery | 2000 | |
13 | The Missing Mummy | 2001 | |
14 | The Ninth Nugget | 2001 | |
15 | The Orange Outlaw | 2001 | |
16 | The Panda Puzzle | 2002 | |
17 | The Quicksand Question | 2002 | |
18 | The Runaway Racehorse | 2002 | |
19 | The School Skeleton | 2003 | |
20 | The Talking T-Rex | 2003 | |
21 | The Unwilling Umpire | 2004 | |
22 | The Vampire's Vacation | 2004 | |
23 | The White Wolf | 2004 | |
24 | The X'ed-Out X-Ray | 2005 | |
25 | The Yellow Yacht | 2005 | |
26 | The Zombie Zone | 2005 |
See main article: Capital Mysteries. The Capital Mysteries is a chapter book series for readers aged 6 to 9, comprising 14 books published from 2001 through 2012. The series is written by Ron Roy, with interior illustrations by Timothy Bush and cover art by Greg Swearingen. In each book in the series, two kids named KC and Marshall solve a mystery set in and around their home city of Washington, D.C. The plots often involve the president himself.
1 | Who Cloned the President | 2001 | |
2 | Kidnapped at the Capital | 2002 | |
3 | The Skeleton in the Smithsonian | 2003 | |
4 | A Spy in the White House | 2004 | |
5 | Who Broke Lincoln's Thumb? | 2005 | |
6 | Fireworks at the FBI | 2006 | |
7 | Trouble at the Treasury | 2006 | |
8 | Mystery at the Washington Monument | 2007 | |
9 | A Thief at the National Zoo | 2008 | |
10 | The Election Day Disaster | 2009 | |
11 | The Secret at Jefferson's Mansion | 2009 | |
12 | The Ghost at Camp David | 2010 | |
13 | Trapped on the DC Train | 2011 | |
14 | Turkey Trouble on the National Mall | 2012 |
The Calendar Mysteries is a chapter book series for first and second graders, comprising 13 books published from 2009 through 2014. The series is written by Ron Roy, with interior illustrations and cover art by John Steven Gurney. The main characters are cousins and younger siblings of Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose from the A to Z Mysteries series. The average page length of the text of each book is approximately 65 pages.
1 | January Joker | 2009 | |
2 | February Friend | 2009 | |
3 | March Mischief | 2010 | |
4 | April Adventure | 2010 | |
5 | May Magic | 2011 | |
6 | June Jam | 2011 | |
7 | July Jitters | 2012 | |
8 | August Acrobat | 2012 | |
9 | September Sneakers | 2013 | |
10 | October Ogre | 2013 | |
11 | November Night | 2014 | |
12 | December Dog | 2014 | |
13 | New Year's Eve Thieves | 2014 |
The A to Z Mysteries Super Editions is a chapter book series for readers aged 6 to 9, published from 2006. The series is written by Ron Roy, with interior illustrations and cover art by John Steven Gurney. A continuation of the popular original A to Z Mysteries series (the final volume of which was published in 2005), the Super Editions follow Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose as they travel to various locations around the US and solve mysteries. The average page length of the text of each book is approximately 130 pages.
1 | Detective Camp | 2006 | |
2 | Mayflower Treasure Hunt | 2007 | |
3 | White House White-out | 2008 | |
4 | Sleepy Hollow Sleepover | 2010 | |
5 | The New Year Dragon Dilemma | 2011 | |
6 | The Castle Crime | 2014 | |
7 | Operation Orca | 2015 | |
8 | Secret Admirer | 2015 | |
9 | April Fools' Fiasco | 2017 | |
10 | Colossal Fossil | 2018 | |
11 | Grand Canyon Grab | 2019 | |
12 | Space Shuttle Scam | 2020 | |
13 | Crime in the Crypt | 2021 | |
14 | Leopard on the Loose | 2022 |