Maureen Doyle McQuerry
Maureen Doyle McQuerry has published 7 books across 4 series. The recommended reading order starts with Wolfproof (2006).
Maureen Doyle McQuerry knew at six years old she would be a writer. Or a detective. Poetry opened the door to fiction for her, leading her into worlds laced with magic. Her work spans genres but holds one constant: books for readers who want something more. She writes for children and adults who crave stories that shimmer at the edges. McQuerry is a 2000 McAuliffe Fellow for Washington state and an award-winning poet whose work appears in Southern Review and Atlanta Review. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, she now lives on an island near Seattle, though she once called the banks of the Columbia River home.
For twenty years, she taught teens and adults, and she still loves to lead a good discussion. Her fiction includes The Peculiars, a YALSA and Bank Street best book, the Time Out of Time duet, and the Big Ideas for Little Philosophers series. She also wrote Before Between & After and the Big Ideas for Little Environmentalists series.
Shelf & Shadows
Order of Non-Fiction Books
- Tagsnon-fictionyoung-adulthistorical-fictionDescriptionAn educator stands at the threshold between lesson plan and lived experience. The classroom hums with potential. This guide exists in that charged space—the moment before understanding clicks and the moment after it transforms. Maureen Doyle McQuerry constructs a resource that refuses to flatten teaching into formula. The guide pulses with the recognition that education is messy, human, and essential. It offers frameworks without prescribing outcomes, questions without neat answers. McQuerry understands that the best teaching happens in the liminal zones—between curiosity and knowledge, between silence and speech, between the student who walked in and the one who will walk out changed. For educators navigating the complex terrain of the contemporary classroom, this guide provides both map and compass. It acknowledges the weight of the work while honoring its profound possibility.Publication date2020
Order of Standalone Novels
- Tagsyoung-adultfantasyromancehistorical-fictionDescriptionThis is a book that understands what it means to feel like you don't quite fit—and then asks what happens when that feeling might be literally true. Maureen Doyle McQuerry crafts a world where the strange and the ordinary brush against each other, where being different isn't just adolescent angst but something deeper, something that might run in your blood. Lena Mattacascar has always known she's odd. Her hands and feet are too large, her fingers too long, and she's spent her whole life trying to hide what makes her peculiar. When she turns eighteen, she sets out to find her father in the remote town of Scree, hoping for answers about who—and what—she really is. What she discovers is a place where the line between human and goblin blurs, where her peculiarities might not be flaws but heritage. Alongside a librarian's son with secrets of his own and a young inventor, Lena is drawn into a mystery that spans worlds. The atmosphere here is all fog and gaslight, a Victorian-tinged fantasy that feels both familiar and unsettling. McQuerry doesn't rush the revelations; she lets the strangeness seep in slowly, building a story about identity, belonging, and the courage it takes to accept yourself when you're not sure what that self might be. It's a peculiar journey worth taking.Publication dateMarch 18, 2014Amazon rating4/5Print length384LanguageEnglishPublisherHarry N. Abrams
- Tagsyoung-adultchildrenhistorical-fictionDescriptionMaureen Doyle McQuerry crafts a story that exists in the liminal space its title suggests. The terrain here is uncertain. Emotional. The kind of ground that shifts beneath your feet when everything you thought was solid proves otherwise. A family fractures. The cause: a terrible accident, the kind that cleaves time into before and after. McQuerry maps the aftermath with precision, tracking how grief moves through a household like weather. Each family member navigates their own private storm. Guilt, anger, and the desperate need for absolution collide. The prose doesn't flinch from the hard questions: What do we owe each other when tragedy strikes? How do we forgive the unforgivable? This is a novel about the architecture of family—how it's built, how it breaks, whether it can be rebuilt. McQuerry writes with restraint, letting silence do as much work as speech. The pacing is deliberate. Contemplative. Readers looking for easy answers won't find them here. What they will find is an honest examination of how people survive the unsurvivable, how they learn to live in that strange country between what was and what comes next. It's a story that trusts its readers to sit with discomfort, to understand that healing isn't linear and forgiveness isn't always clean.Publication dateFebruary 5, 2019Amazon rating3.7/5Print length304LanguageEnglishPublisherBlink
Order of Time Out Of Time Books
- TagsfantasyDescriptionWhat happens when the boundaries between myth and reality begin to blur, and the stories we thought were safely contained in old books step through into our world? Beyond the Door opens a portal into a richly atmospheric tale where three young friends discover that the legends they've studied aren't merely history—they're warnings. Maureen Doyle McQuerry weaves a world where ancient magic pulses beneath the surface of the everyday, where Celtic mythology and Arthurian lore aren't distant echoes but living, breathing forces that demand attention and courage. The air here feels thick with possibility and danger, as if at any moment the veil between worlds might tear completely, and the shadows cast by standing stones might lengthen into something far more sinister than tricks of light. This first book in the Time Out of Time series balances wonder with genuine stakes, inviting readers into a story that respects both the weight of old magic and the very real fears of young people thrust into circumstances far beyond their understanding. McQuerry's prose moves with the rhythm of folklore itself, patient and deliberate, building a sense of inevitability as her characters are drawn deeper into a conflict that has been brewing for centuries. It's a story for those who've always suspected that the old tales matter more than we've been told, and that some doors, once opened, change everything.Publication dateMay 12, 2015Amazon rating4.2/5Print length400LanguageEnglishPublisherAmulet Paperbacks
- TagsfantasyDescriptionAncient magic hums beneath the surface of the ordinary world. You can feel it if you know where to look. The Telling Stone pulls you into that liminal space where myth bleeds into reality and three young friends discover they're caught in something far older and more dangerous than they imagined. This is the kind of story that makes you believe in hidden doorways and forgotten powers. Maureen Doyle McQuerry weaves Celtic mythology into a contemporary adventure that crackles with urgency. The stakes are real. The friendships are tested. And the Telling Stone itself—a mysterious artifact with the power to reveal truths and unlock ancient secrets—becomes both guide and threat. The Order of Time Out Of Time series understands that the best fantasy doesn't just transport you to another world. It shows you the magic already lurking in this one. McQuerry's prose moves with confidence, balancing wonder with genuine peril. Her characters aren't chosen ones stumbling through prophecy. They're kids who have to choose courage when the world tilts sideways. If you love stories where the past refuses to stay buried and every choice reverberates across time, this will pull you in and hold you fast.Publication dateMay 12, 2015Amazon rating4.3/5Print length368LanguageEnglishPublisherAmulet Books
Order of Wolfproof Books
- Tagsfantasychildrensci-fiDescriptionThis is a book that understands the weight of old magic and the way danger can seep into the ordinary world like fog through a cracked window. Maureen Doyle McQuerry builds a world where ancient protections matter, where the line between myth and reality blurs in ways that feel both unsettling and inevitable. The atmosphere here is thick with folklore and threat—wolves aren't just wolves, and safety is never guaranteed. The story follows characters who must navigate a world where wolfproof charms and old knowledge become necessary tools for survival. McQuerry weaves together the tension of a quest with the intimacy of personal stakes, creating a narrative that feels both epic and deeply human. There's a richness to the mythology here, a sense that these dangers have roots stretching back centuries. The pacing moves between quiet dread and urgent action, keeping you alert to every shadow. If you're drawn to stories where folklore has teeth and the past refuses to stay buried, this one will sink its claws in deep.Publication dateJanuary 1, 2006Amazon rating4.8/5Print length183LanguageEnglishPublisherIdylls Pr
- Tagsfantasysci-fiDescriptionWhat if the stories you thought were myths were actually memories, and the world you know is only one layer of reality? In this installment of the Order of Wolfproof Books series, Maureen Doyle McQuerry invites readers into a realm where ancient magic brushes against the modern world, and a group of young people must navigate the dangerous spaces between. The Travelers Market is a place of wonder and peril, where the ordinary rules don't apply and every transaction carries weight beyond mere commerce. As our protagonists venture deeper into this hidden world, they'll discover that some bargains can't be undone, and that protecting the balance between realms demands more courage than they knew they possessed. McQuerry weaves mythology and contemporary adventure with a deft hand, creating a story that feels both timeless and urgent. Fans of the series will find familiar threads deepening here, while the stakes climb higher and the mysteries grow darker. This is fantasy that trusts its readers, offering complexity and consequence in equal measure.Publication dateJanuary 1, 2008Amazon rating5/5Print length225LanguageEnglishPublisherIdylls Pr
Frequently Asked Questions about Maureen Doyle McQuerry
Maureen Doyle McQuerry has written books in several series and standalone novels. The Wolfproof series includes Wolfproof (2006) and Travelers Market (2008). The Time Out Of Time series includes Beyond the Door (2015) and The Telling Stone (2015). Her standalone novels are The Peculiars (2014) and Between Before and After (2019). The Between Before and After Educator's Guide was published in 2020. For the Wolfproof series, begin with Wolfproof. For the Time Out Of Time series, begin with Beyond the Door. Standalone novels can be read at any time.
A good starting point for Maureen Doyle McQuerry is Wolfproof, the first book in the Wolfproof series, published in 2006. Alternatively, readers can begin with The Peculiars, a standalone novel from 2014. The Time Out Of Time series begins with Beyond the Door, published in 2015. Between Before and After, another standalone novel, was published in 2019. The order of reading depends on whether a reader prefers to start with a series or a standalone work.
Not all of Maureen Doyle McQuerry's books need to be read in a specific order. Her standalone novels, The Peculiars (2014) and Between Before and After (2019), can be read independently. However, the books within her series, Wolfproof and Time Out Of Time, are intended to be read in the order they were published to follow the narrative. Wolfproof is the first in its series, followed by Travelers Market. Beyond the Door begins the Time Out Of Time series, followed by The Telling Stone.
Maureen Doyle McQuerry writes both standalone novels and books within series. Her standalone novels include The Peculiars (2014) and Between Before and After (2019). She has also written two series. The Wolfproof series consists of Wolfproof (2006) and Travelers Market (2008). The Time Out Of Time series includes Beyond the Door (2015) and The Telling Stone (2015). This offers readers a choice between interconnected stories and individual narratives.
Maureen Doyle McQuerry has written a total of seven books that are available to readers. This includes two standalone novels: The Peculiars (2014) and Between Before and After (2019). She has also authored two series. The Wolfproof series comprises Wolfproof (2006) and Travelers Market (2008). The Time Out Of Time series includes Beyond the Door (2015) and The Telling Stone (2015). Additionally, an educator's guide for Between Before and After was published in 2020.
The first book Maureen Doyle McQuerry wrote was Wolfproof, published in 2006. This novel is the first in the Wolfproof series. It introduces readers to the world and characters of this particular sequence of books. Following Wolfproof, Travelers Market was published in 2008, concluding the series. McQuerry later went on to write other series and standalone novels.
Maureen Doyle McQuerry's most recent book is the Between Before and After Educator's Guide, published in 2020. This guide is associated with her 2019 standalone novel, Between Before and After. While not a narrative work for young readers, it represents her latest published material. Her most recent novel for readers was Between Before and After.
Maureen Doyle McQuerry writes young adult fiction. Her novels often explore themes of identity, family, and navigating difficult circumstances. The books in the Wolfproof series and the Time Out Of Time series are generally categorized as young adult fantasy or speculative fiction. Her standalone novels, such as The Peculiars and Between Before and After, also fall within the young adult category, sometimes with elements of magical realism or mystery.
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We verified the reading order for Maureen Doyle McQuerry's books by cross-referencing official publication dates, ISBN databases, and publisher catalogs.
Last verified: April 2026
Shelf & Shadows. (…). “Maureen Doyle McQuerry Books in Order.” Retrieved …, from https://www.shelfandshadows.com/authors/maureen-doyle-mcquerry