About
Taylor Tyng is an American author of fantastical fiction for young readers. His first novel, CLARA POOLE AND THE LONG WAY ROUND, was called "an engrossing and inventive flight through the skies" by Kirkus Reviews and a "soaring debut with echoes of Jules Verne and Roald Dahl" by Booklist. It is book one in an ongoing series.
Taylor Tyng got to writing late. After spending his early years performing in LA rock clubs, Taylor created a design agency and a software company for the advertising and entertainment industries, surrounding himself with the art of storytelling. He's created designs that have traveled to space, written songs for film, played bit roles in bad movies, and occasionally does dumb things like rocketing down bobsled tracks or snorkeling in Iceland. As a lifelong dyslexic, Taylor never imagined becoming an author was on the list, which only proves how random and remarkable life's journey can be.
When Taylor isn't writing he is busy renovating a 1700s farmhouse that just might fall down. He lives outside Boston with his wife, two daughters, and a very busy miniature Australian Shepherd.
Featured Work
Clara Poole and the Long Way Round
Mr. Lemoncello meets the Amazing Race in this quirky high-octane balloon-racing middle grade around-the-world adventure.
When an unintended flight over Michigan in her class science project—a lawn chair held aloft by balloons—brings her instant celebrity, Clara Poole is invited to be the spokesperson for a round-the-world adventure race. But when her overprotective father refuses, Clara forges his signature in a moment of defiance and runs away to Paris to take her place in the skies. If only she’d read the fine print first.
Partnered with a veteran aeronaut who wants nothing to do with her, Clara faces down ten treacherous stages in a race around the world—capturing flags in the perilous mountains of Nepal; being a guest of honor at a maybe-wedding in the Saharan desert; flying through rings of fire in Hong Kong—all while learning the ropes alongside a colorful cast of international competitors.
But there are more dangers ahead. Someone is trying to sabotage the competition. And surviving this race means Clara must come to terms with the tragedy that set her fleeing to the skies in the first place, and accepting that forgiving herself isn’t a process she has to undertake alone.
Gorgeous prose and winning characters combine in this quirky, often-hilarious, sometimes heart-breaking, and thoroughly captivating middle grade adventure series starter from an incredible new talent.
Other Works
-
Clara Poole and the Wrong Way Up
2024
