David Arnold
David Arnold has published 6 books across 2 series. The recommended reading order starts with Kids of Appetite (2016).
David Arnold writes contemporary fiction novels for young readers. Before turning to writing, he worked as a freelance musician and producer, a preschool teacher, and a stay-at-home dad. Kindness and community are central to his life and his work. Arnold made his debut as a published author in 2015 with Mosquitoland, a novel that has since been translated into over a dozen languages. His other books include I Loved You in Another Life, The Electric Kingdom, Kids of Appetite, and The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik. He has received the Southern Book Prize and the Great Lakes Book Award, and was named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start. Arnold lives in Lexington, Kentucky, with his wife and son.
Shelf & Shadows
Order of Graphic Novels
- Tagsgraphic-novelsDescriptionWhat does it mean to truly see someone—not just their surface, but the light they carry within? David Arnold and José Pimienta collaborate to explore this question in a graphic novel that pulses with quiet wonder and emotional truth. This is a story about connection in a world that often feels isolating, about the luminous threads that bind us when we dare to look closely. Arnold's prose sensibility translates beautifully to the visual medium, anchored by Pimienta's evocative artwork. The narrative unfolds with intimacy and grace, inviting readers into moments of vulnerability and recognition. It's a meditation on what makes us human—our fears, our hopes, the ways we reach across the darkness toward one another. The graphic format amplifies the story's emotional resonance, allowing silence and image to speak as powerfully as words. This isn't a loud book. It doesn't need to be. It works in whispers and glances, in the spaces between panels where meaning blooms. For readers seeking something contemplative and visually arresting, something that lingers long after the final page, this collaboration delivers a tender, necessary reminder: we are all luminous beings, if only we take the time to see.Publication dateSeptember 3, 2024Amazon rating4.1/5Print length256LanguageEnglishPublisherViking Books for Young Readers
Order of Standalone Novels
- Tagsyoung-adultchildrencrimemysteryDescriptionVictor Benucci is on the run with a ragtag crew of misfits, and somewhere between a diner and a police interrogation room, he's trying to piece together how he got here. His father just died. His face bears the mark of Moebius syndrome, a condition that freezes half his features in permanent stillness. And now he's sitting across from a detective, unspooling the strange, tender story of how he met Mad, a girl with a fierce heart and secrets of her own, and joined her band of outcasts who call themselves the Kids of Appetite. The narrative moves between Victor's present-day interrogation and the recent past, tracing the days after his father's death when everything familiar fell away. What emerges is a story about found family, the weight of grief, and the unexpected places we discover belonging. Arnold writes with a keen eye for the beauty in brokenness, crafting characters who are funny, flawed, and achingly real. This is a book that understands how it feels to be on the outside looking in, and how sometimes the people who save us are the ones society has already written off. Quirky without being precious, heartbreaking without wallowing, Kids of Appetite is a love letter to anyone who's ever felt like they don't quite fit.Publication dateJanuary 1, 2016Amazon rating4.5/5Print length335LanguageEnglishPublisherViking Childrens Books
- Tagsyoung-adultnon-fictionDescriptionThis is a book about what happens when everything you thought was solid ground gives way beneath you, and the only thing left to do is run toward the one person who might still feel like home. Mim Malone has been uprooted from Ohio to Mississippi, medicated into compliance, and expected to accept a new stepmother and a life that feels like someone else's bad dream—until she learns her mother is sick back in Cleveland, and suddenly the choice becomes clear: steal away on a Greyhound bus and make the thousand-mile journey north, no matter what it takes. What unfolds is a road trip that refuses to follow the map, populated by the kind of strange and tender souls you only meet when you're running from one life toward another. Mim's voice is sharp and funny and aching, her journey equal parts escape and reckoning, as she's forced to confront not just the distance between Mississippi and Ohio but the deeper questions about love, loyalty, and her own unraveling sense of self. This is a story about the lies we tell to survive, the truths we can't outrun, and the messy, complicated work of figuring out what it means to be whole when everything around you insists you're broken.Publication dateMarch 1, 2016Amazon rating4.3/5Print length384LanguageEnglishPublisherSpeak
- TagschildrenDescriptionNoah Hypnotik walks into a hypnotist's office and walks out changed. Something happened in that chair. Something he can't quite remember, can't quite shake. The world tilts sideways after that session. Reality bends. Noah starts seeing things—visions, maybe, or memories that don't belong to him. His friends notice he's different, distant, but they don't know how to reach him. He's not sure he wants to be reached. This is David Arnold at his most daring—a surrealist portrait that blurs the line between what's real and what's imagined. The prose moves like a fever dream, disorienting and beautiful. It's about the invisible wounds we inflict on the people we love, the careless ways we damage each other without meaning to. And it's about the stubborn loyalty of friendship, the way people hold on even when you're slipping away. Strange and tender and utterly unique, this is a book that trusts you to sit with uncertainty. It doesn't offer easy answers about what happened to Noah or why. Instead, it asks you to feel the weight of his confusion, his longing, his slow unraveling. Arnold has written something rare here—a story that hurts and heals in equal measure, that understands how fragile we all are, and how desperately we need each other anyway.Publication dateMay 22, 2018Amazon rating4.4/5Print length432LanguageEnglishPublisherViking Books for Young Readers
- Tagspost-apocalypticyoung-adultsci-fiDescriptionWhat does it mean to find beauty when the world has been exterminated? David Arnold's *The Electric Kingdom* asks this question in the aftermath of the Fly Flu, a plague that has reduced civilization to scattered survivors wandering a darkened earth. Among them: eighteen-year-old Nico and her dog, following her father's map toward a mythical portal; Kit, a young artist who grew up in the husk of an abandoned cinema; and the Deliverer, a figure who lives Life after Life, trying to stitch the fractured world back together. Their paths converge in the woods of post-apocalyptic New England, where swarms of infected Flies still roam and every encounter carries the weight of chance and consequence. This is a novel about what endures. Arnold weaves together art and storytelling, using multiple perspectives to build a mosaic of survival that feels both intimate and expansive. The prose moves between the lyrical and the stark, capturing the strange tenderness that can emerge in ruin. Each character is on a quest—not just for safety, but for meaning, for connection, for something worth preserving. *The Electric Kingdom* is a sweeping meditation on eternal life and fleeting moments, on the stories we tell to make sense of chaos. It's a book that insists, quietly but firmly, that even in the wreckage, one person might still find beauty in another. And that might be enough.Publication date2021Amazon rating4.3/5LanguageEnglishPublisherListening Library
- Tagsyoung-adultromanceDescriptionSome loves feel older than memory itself. David Arnold's "I Loved You In Another Life" explores the uncanny pull between two people who can't shake the feeling they've known each other before—across lifetimes, across impossible distances. Evan Taft has always been different. He experiences the world through a rare neurological condition that blurs his senses in unexpected ways. When he meets Shosh Bell, the connection is immediate and inexplicable. She feels it too. The certainty that this isn't their first meeting, that their souls have collided before. Arnold weaves a narrative that moves between timelines and identities, tracing the thread of connection that binds these two across centuries. It's a story about reincarnation, yes, but more urgently about what it means to recognize someone at the deepest level. About whether love can transcend the boundaries of a single life. This is contemporary YA that refuses to play it safe. Arnold asks big questions about fate, identity, and the nature of human connection. His prose is lyrical without being precious, grounded in the specific details of Evan's sensory experience. The result is a love story that feels both intimate and cosmic, a meditation on whether we're destined to find certain people no matter how many lives we live.Publication dateSeptember 3, 2024Amazon rating4/5Print length352LanguageEnglishPublisherViking Books for Young Readers
Frequently Asked Questions about David Arnold
David Arnold writes standalone novels and a graphic novel. His standalone novels can be read in any order. The graphic novel, Luminous Beings, is a separate work and does not need to be read in sequence with his novels. You might choose to read Luminous Beings based on your interest in graphic novels or its publication year, but it is not part of a larger narrative series with his novels.
A good starting point for David Arnold's books is Mosquitoland. This 2016 novel introduces readers to his characteristic voice, which blends humor with explorations of complex emotional landscapes. It follows a teenage girl on a cross-country bus trip to confront her father. Other standalone novels like Kids of Appetite or The Electric Kingdom are also suitable entry points, offering distinct narrative experiences.
David Arnold's standalone novels do not need to be read in a specific order. Each of his novels, such as Mosquitoland, Kids of Appetite, The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik, The Electric Kingdom, and I Loved You In Another Life, tells a complete story with its own cast of characters. Readers can pick up any of these books and enjoy a self-contained narrative.
David Arnold writes standalone novels and a graphic novel. His published works include Mosquitoland, Kids of Appetite, The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik, The Electric Kingdom, and I Loved You In Another Life, all of which are self-contained stories. He also co-wrote the graphic novel Luminous Beings.
David Arnold has written six books. This includes five standalone novels: Mosquitoland (2016), Kids of Appetite (2016), The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik (2018), The Electric Kingdom (2021), and I Loved You In Another Life (2024). He also co-wrote the graphic novel Luminous Beings, published in 2024.
The first books David Arnold wrote were published in 2016. These include the standalone novels Mosquitoland and Kids of Appetite, both released in the same year. These novels established his approach to storytelling, often featuring young protagonists navigating significant life challenges with a blend of humor and emotional depth.
David Arnold's most recent book is I Loved You In Another Life, published in 2024. This novel continues his exploration of themes relevant to young adults, often featuring characters grappling with identity, loss, and connection. The graphic novel Luminous Beings was also published in 2024.
David Arnold writes young adult novels that often explore themes of identity, loss, family, and mental health with a distinctive blend of humor and emotional depth. His books are characterized by unique narrative structures and memorable characters. He has also ventured into graphic novels, broadening his storytelling forms.
We verified the reading order for David Arnold's books by cross-referencing official publication dates, ISBN databases, and publisher catalogs.
Last verified: July 2026
Shelf & Shadows. (…). “David Arnold Books in Order.” Retrieved …, from https://www.shelfandshadows.com/authors/david-arnold