Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First Light | 2007 | Rebecca Stead | Buy |
| 2 | When You Reach Me | 2009 | Rebecca Stead | Buy |
| 3 | Liar & Spy | 2012 | Rebecca Stead | Buy |
| 4 | Goodbye Stranger | 2015 | Rebecca Stead | Buy |
| 5 | Bob | 2018 | Rebecca Stead | Buy |
| 6 | The List of Things That Will Not Change | 2020 | Rebecca Stead | Buy |
| 7 | The Lost Library | 2023 | Rebecca Stead | Buy |
| 8 | The Experiment | 2025 | Rebecca Stead | Buy |
Rebecca Stead has published eight standalone novels for young readers since her 2007 debut, First Light. Her best-known book, When You Reach Me (2009), won the Newbery Medal and tells the story of a sixth-grader in 1970s New York City who receives mysterious notes that seem to predict the future. The novel draws on themes of time travel and friendship in ways that have kept it on school reading lists for over a decade.
Stead’s other novels cover a range of subjects while staying grounded in the everyday lives of kids. Liar & Spy (2012), which won the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, follows a boy who moves to a new apartment building and gets pulled into a spying game by his neighbor. Goodbye Stranger (2015) looks at seventh-grade friendships, while The List of Things That Will Not Change (2020) centers on a girl whose parents are divorced. More recently, The Lost Library (2023) and The Experiment (2025) have continued Stead’s run of thoughtful, character-driven fiction for middle-grade readers.