Melanie Crowder Books In Order

Publication Order of Lighthouse Keepers Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Melanie Crowder is an accomplished published American author, speaker, and educator.

She attended the Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she graduated with her MFA in writing in 2011. She has written several novels since then, starting with her debut novel Parched in 2013. That was followed in 2015 by Audacity, then by her novel A Nearer Moon, Three Pennies, An Uninterrupted View of the Sky, Mazie, and Jumper. She also earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Trinity Western University.

Melanie Crowder is also the creator and author of the Lighthouse Keepers series of fictional novels. This series kicked off in 2018 with the publication of the first novel, The Lighthouse Between the Worlds. The second novel was published in 2019 and is titled A Way Between Worlds.

Crowder is also the co-author of a book of poems along with writer Megan Benedict called Great Gusts that was released in 2024.

Melanie has a special place in her heart for the West Coast but now resides in Colorado, the place she calls home.

Crowder’s writing has received great reviews and awards. Her writing has been featured in such places as The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Her historical YA novel Mazie was said by Kirkus Reviews to deserve a ‘standing ovation’. Her contemporary YA novel Jumper was also called ‘riveting’.

The author is also expanding her work to include picture books for younger readers. Meanwhile, her work continues to rack up accolades. The novel Audacity, a YA historical novel in Verse, received the Bulletin Blue Ribbon and Jefferson Cup, as well as being picked to be a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. Three Pennies was picked as a New York Public Library best book for Kids.

An Uninterrupted View of the Sky was a finalist for the Walden Award, and A Nearer Moon was picked by Kirkus Reviews as a Best Book of the Year, and Bank Street College and the New York Public Library Followed. Parched was a Junior Library Selection, and The Lighthouse between the Worlds was a finalist for a Colorado Book Award.

While there isn’t tons of information about the author in interviews, Crowder admits this is because she is a fairly private person. She likes her comfortable home and has great friends and family, so she likes to keep the details of her life mostly to herself. She does share things about herself with readers, though. Since she moved to Colorado, Crowder admits that she misses the ocean. She also has a cat that is called Cleo by herself and Coco Bean by her kids, names that the cat doesn’t really answer to. When she’s not busy working on a book, she can likely be found on her bike.

Crowder says that her favorite part of writing is when the inspiration and ideas for a book line up and the potential for the story becomes an ‘ever-expanding, all-encompassing thing’. It’s a vision of creative energy, and she works to try and capture that pure energy on the page.

Crowder’s favorite part of publishing is when she gets to see the cover. She has to get rid of any ideas that she already might have about what it looks like so that she can be impressed by the version that the design team generates. Crowder says that it’s a fun process and she’s been lucky enough to get some amazing covers for her books out of the process!

The Lighthouse Between the Worlds is the first book in Melanie Crowder’s Lighthouse Keepers series. The book was first published in 2018. If you have been looking for a fun adventure book to keep you occupied, give this first in the series a try!

Main character Griffin’s life is occupied by tending to the lighthouse along with his father. The lighthouse is located off of the Oregon coast, and the two go through the same routine each day.

The pair do not usually enjoy any visitors, but that’s all right because they prefer it that way. When a group of strangers wearing odd clothing shows up, Griffin is surprised but also starts to see that the lighthouse has been keeping many secrets.

Griffin would have never suspected that the lighthouse he cares for also has a portal that can take people to new worlds, some of them strange and dangerous. Neither does he know that there exists a group known as the Society of Lighthouse Keepers who are dedicated to protecting the world from invasion by the enemy.

When Griffin’s father is pulled into another world through the lighthouse lens, Griffin doesn’t know what to do. His father has disappeared and the Society is not telling Griffin what is going on. He’s on his own to try and figure out things and find his dad, armed only with the book his parents gave him full of strange notes. Griffin will do whatever it takes to get his dad back, no matter what’s waiting for him behind the portal. Can he brave the unknown and save his father too? Read this book to find out!

A Way Between Worlds is the second book in the Lighthouse Keepers series of fictional novels by Melanie Crowder. The second novel was published in 2019.

Fi and Griffin once again are on a quest to try and keep worlds from being invaded. If you loved the first book in this series, check out the entertaining sequel!

As it turns out, their world isn’t the only one that exists, and all of the worlds that are out there are actually in huge danger. Griffin was just barely able to get away from Somni, a world torn apart by war. Together with his new friend Fi he has found himself directly in the middle of a war that could hurt Earth and its people but also different worlds too.

The lighthouse connects the worlds and serves as a portal to them. Each of the worlds has its own unique magic, and the Somni rulers want it for their own. Griffin and Fi must find out how to stop the invaders and keep the Somni conquerors from taking the magic, going through worlds to try and find their own gifts and save multiple worlds as a result. Will they be successful? Read this book to find out!