Bio

Peter Lerangis is the author of more than 175 books, which have sold nearly 7 million copies and been translated into 35 different languages. These include nine New York Times Bestsellers: all five books of The Seven Wonders series (The Colossus Rises, Lost in Babylon, The Tomb of Shadows, The Curse of the King, and The Legend of the Rift); all of his contributions in the The 39 Clues series (The Sword Thief; The Viper’s Nest; and Vespers Rising , which was co-authored with Rick Riordan, Gordon Korman, and Jude Watson); and The Dead of Night, Book 3 in The 39 Clues: Cahills Vs. Vespers series.  His novel Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am, a collaboration with Harry Mazer, won the 1000640http://bit.ly/SPT_ALA2013 Schneider Award, presented by the American Library Association “for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for adolescent audiences,” and it was selected for the 1000640http://bit.ly/2013BFYA2013 Best Fiction for Young Adults list.  The Sword Thief was Amazon.com’s 1000640http://www.bit.ly/Sword_Thief_Amazon_Top_Five_2009#5 best-selling children’s book in 2009. In a five-city U.S. book tour in spring 2009, Peter 1000640http://www.the39clues.com/tourvideoblogged his own search for one of the Clues. He is also author of the hilarious, edgy YA novel wtf, and the Drama Club series, about a group of high school theater kids in a town where theater is big-budget and life-changing. His novel Smiler’s Bones, based on the true story of a Polar Eskimo boy orphaned in New York City at the turn of the 20th century, was selected as a N.Y. Public Library Best Books for Teens 2006, a Bank Street Best Books of 2006, and a Junior Library Guild pick. Peter was one of three authors, along with R. L. Stine and Marc Brown, invited by the White House to represent the U. S. in the first 1000640http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/firstlady/initiatives/russianbookfestival.htmlRussian Book Festival in 2003. Among his most popular titles are the Spy X and Watchers series, the two-book Antarctica adventure, a series of humorous chapter books (Abracadabra), two young-adult thrillers (The Yearbook and Driver’s Dead), four middle-grade novels (Spring Fever, Spring Break, It Came from the Cafeteria, and Attack of the Killer Potatoes, and many movie novelizations (The Sixth Sense, Sleepy Hollow). He is a Harvard graduate with a degree in biochemistry. After college he became a Broadway musical theater actor. He has run a marathon and gone rock-climbing during an earthquake, but not on the same day. He lives in New York City with his wife, musician 1000640http://www.tinadevaron.com/Tina deVaron, where they raised their two sons, Nick and Joe. Peter has conducted workshops and given presentations for the National Book Foundation, PEN, the International Literacy Association, BookExpo, the Southampton Writers Conference, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the Singapore Writers Festival, the Sharjah International Book Fair (United Arab Emirates), the Bal Sahitya Mahotsav Children’s Book Festival in Nepal, the Texas Book Festival, the Texas Library Association, the Southern California Booksellers Independent Booksellers Association, the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association, the Miami Book Fair, the Tucson Book Festival, the Decatur Book Festival, YALLfest, the Plum Creek Literacy Festival, the Morristown Book Festival, and the Highlights Foundation. Over the years he has visited schools in 42 states and 9 foreign countries and become known for his humorous, informative presentations. In his spare time, he likes to eat chocolate. Lots of it. Seriously, he loves chocolate.