🎯 Where Should I Start?
ⓘ About Frances O'Roark Dowell
Frances O’Roark Dowell is a young adult romance, general fiction, and children’s fiction novelist from North Carolina. The author was born in 1964 in Berlin Germany and lived in Europe for many years, given that her father was a lawyer with the United States Army while she was growing up. Since Frances’s grandfather was an officer in the army for years, she finds some of the inspiration for her novels from military themes. Given that she made use of military themes in her novel, she was a guest speaker at the Vietnam War exhibit in 2017, where she spoke about her life growing up in a military family.
All Book Series by Frances O'Roark Dowell
Sam the Man & the Cell Phone Plan
Latest in the series · book 5 of 5 · published 2019
The Sound of Your Voice, Only Really Far Away
Latest in the series · book 3 of 3 · published 2013
A Friendship Album Christmas
Latest in the series · book 2 of 2 · published 2025
? Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Frances O'Roark Dowell?
Frances O’Roark Dowell is a young adult romance, general fiction, and children's fiction novelist from North Carolina. The author was born in 1964 in Berlin Germany and lived in Europe for many years, given that her father was a lawyer with the United States Army while she was growing up. Since Frances’s grandfather was an officer in the army for years, she finds some of the inspiration for her novels from military themes.
Which Frances O'Roark Dowell series should I start with?
The best place to start is The Secret Language of Girls series, the earliest of Frances O'Roark Dowell's multi-book series: it opens with The Secret Language of Girls (2004) and runs to 3 books across 2004–2013, ending with The Sound of Your Voice, Only Really Far Away (2013). Frances O'Roark Dowell's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.
How many books has Frances O'Roark Dowell written?
Frances O'Roark Dowell has 27 books catalogued in this guide, published between 2000 and 2025. 12 of them belong to 3 named series — the largest being the Sam the Man series with 5 books — and 15 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.
In what order should Frances O'Roark Dowell's series be read?
Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Frances O'Roark Dowell's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are The Secret Language of Girls (2004–2013, 3 books), Phineas L. MacGuire (2006–2014, 4 books) and Sam the Man (2016–2019, 5 books).
How are Frances O'Roark Dowell's books organised into series?
This guide splits Frances O'Roark Dowell's 27 books into 3 named series and 15 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Sam the Man (5 books, 2016–2019); Phineas L. MacGuire (4 books, 2006–2014); The Secret Language of Girls (3 books, 2004–2013).