Neal Wooten Books in Order
Explore Neal Wooten books in order, with quick summaries, series notes, and easy where-to-start tips across his sci-fi, memoir, and animal stories.
Last updated: July 10, 2026
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Neal Wooten books in publication order
20 books
The Mysterious Backyard Meeting
by Neal Wooten
2008
Penny, the curious detective, and her sleepy sister Rio notice a secret gathering of animals in their backyard. Their first case is a gentle chapter-book mystery that lets young readers follow clues from a dog's-eye view.
John MacArthur and the Christian Evolution
by Neal Wooten
2010
This short nonfiction book asks whether Christian beliefs have shifted in response to modern debates over evolution. Wooten uses John MacArthur as a springboard for a broader argument about faith and change.
Reternity
by Neal Wooten
2011
Max, the son of a reverend, arrives at university torn between his Christian upbringing and his love of science. A nearly impossible assignment leads him and Professor Nowak toward a discovery that could change everything.
Three of Hearts
by Neal Wooten
2011
Fresh out of high school, Leo befriends a homeless Vietnam veteran living in a car near Fort Payne. As he learns about a long-ago pact between three wounded soldiers, he gets pulled into the last chapter of their story.
It's a Republican Life
by Neal Wooten
2012
After the 2012 election, furious conservative Zack Meadows meets a strange figure who turns out to be his guardian demon. His wish for a world without government becomes a sharp, absurd political parody.
My Brother, My Judge
by Neal Wooten
2012
Rival brothers Trevor and Dustin Davis turn a bet about courtroom outcomes into something much bigger. When Trevor creates verdict-predicting technology, ambition, politics, and murder push the brothers into a chilling legal future.
The Balance
by Neal Wooten
2014
Piri has spent his life in a tightly controlled city high above the earth. When an accident sends him to the surface, new people, new love, and a terrible truth force him to choose where he stands.
Animals of the MIA Foundation
by Neal Wooten
2015
This coloring book highlights animals born with birth defects who were given a chance to live and thrive. It is gentle, hopeful, and closely tied to a rescue mission built around care and second chances.
Brad's Pit
by Neal Wooten
2015
This full-color collection follows Brad and his dog Chief through shelter adoption, dog park trips, vet visits, thunderstorm panic, and big dreams. It is a light, funny look at life with a pit bull and the people who love him.
Famous Dogs of Facebook
by Neal Wooten
2015
Part photo book, part coloring book, this collection pairs well-known online dogs with pages readers can color themselves. It is a cheerful, low-stress celebration of canine personalities and the communities built around them.
I'm Not Defective
by Neal Wooten
2015
Tiny Josh is born with a cleft palate and marked for euthanasia, until rescuer Tina Lythgoe steps in. His story becomes a warm, kid-friendly reminder that being different is not the same as being broken.
Josh and His Critters
by Neal Wooten
2015
Built around the rescue world that shares its name, this book introduces Josh and the many animals who need help around him. It has a warm, advocacy-minded spirit that should appeal to younger animal lovers.
Mazeberry
by Neal Wooten
2015
A compact activity book built around mazes, Mazeberry is a playful detour from Wooten's fiction. It is made for readers who like quick visual challenges and the simple satisfaction of finding the way through.
Mr. Fancy Pants
by Neal Wooten
2015
Glenda Mosner takes in an English bulldog puppy with spina bifida after euthanasia is recommended. Munster's story is sweet, sad, and inspiring without hiding the work it takes to help a disabled dog thrive.
Pit Bulls vs. Aliens
by Neal Wooten
2015
In a future shaped by rising heat and looming disaster, humans face a threat far beyond ordinary politics. Wooten leans into pulpy sci-fi fun and asks whether Earth's unlikeliest heroes might have four legs and blocky heads.
Granny Dollar
by Neal Wooten
2017
In 1926, an elderly Cherokee woman named Nancy Emmaline Callahan Dollar emerges from the woods near a school on Lookout Mountain. Her hard, legendary life turns into a vivid story of survival, memory, and regional history.
The Insomniant
by Neal Wooten
2017
This playful holiday picture book turns a sleepless ant into the center of the story. It looks like a gentle read-aloud built around bedtime trouble, humor, and a small hero with a very big problem.
Wallace and Roo
by Neal Wooten
2017
Wallace is no ordinary pit bull, and Roo is the human who sees what he can become. Their friendship grows into a sweet, energetic story about rescue, trust, and finding a talent that changes both of their lives.
Wallace's Hidden Talent
by Neal Wooten
2018
Wallace keeps surprising everyone, and Roo learns how much patience and practice matter. This cheerful follow-up is about confidence, teamwork, and letting a special dog show what he can do.
With the Devil's Help
by Neal Wooten
2022
Wooten blends memoir and true crime as he traces his poor Sand Mountain childhood alongside the buried history of his grandfather. Family violence, secrecy, and survival build toward a hard, haunting revelation.
Where to start with Neal Wooten
If you want science fiction with faith and big ideas: Reternity → The Balance → Pit Bulls vs. Aliens
If you prefer suspense with rivalry, law, and technology: My Brother, My Judge → It's a Republican Life
If you want Southern stories with heart and history: Three of Hearts → Granny Dollar → With the Devil's Help
If you want dog-centered reads for younger readers: Wallace and Roo → Wallace's Hidden Talent → The Mysterious Backyard Meeting
Neal Wooten sub-series and character series
Fudge Shop Mysteries books in order
Explore this series
Reternity
by Neal Wooten
2011Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 2
Three of Hearts
by Neal Wooten
2011Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 1
It's a Republican Life
by Neal Wooten
2012Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 4
My Brother, My Judge
by Neal Wooten
2012Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 3
The Balance
by Neal Wooten
2014Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 5
Brad's Pit
by Neal Wooten
2015Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 8
I'm Not Defective
by Neal Wooten
2015Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 6
Pit Bulls vs. Aliens
by Neal Wooten
2015Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 7
Fudge Shop Mysteries books in chronological order

Three of Hearts
by Neal Wooten
2011Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 1
Reternity
by Neal Wooten
2011Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 2
My Brother, My Judge
by Neal Wooten
2012Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 3
It's a Republican Life
by Neal Wooten
2012Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 4
The Balance
by Neal Wooten
2014Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 5
I'm Not Defective
by Neal Wooten
2015Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 6
Pit Bulls vs. Aliens
by Neal Wooten
2015Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 7
Brad's Pit
by Neal Wooten
2015Fudge Shop Mysteries, Book 8
Penny and Rio books in order
Explore this seriesWallace and Roo books in order
Explore this seriesNeal Wooten collections, short stories, and related book types
Standalone Neal Wooten books
Author bio
Neal Wooten is from the Fort Payne area of Alabama and grew up on a pig farm on Sand Mountain, in the northeast corner of the state. That landscape never really left him. Even when his books head into science fiction, satire, or memoir, they keep pulling from the same deep well of small communities, stubborn people, local legend, and the kind of hard-earned humor that helps people get through rough years.
He was the first person in his family to graduate from high school.
From there he went to Auburn University, where he earned a B.S. in applied mathematics. The analytical side never disappeared. A lot of Wooten's fiction begins with a big premise, a system, or a question that sounds almost abstract at first, then slowly turns personal. He likes to ask what happens when ideas stop being theory and start affecting real people.
Before he built a long list of books, Wooten worked as a math teacher and later directed a math school in Milwaukee. He has also done stand-up comedy, drawn cartoons, written columns, and worked in publishing. That mixed background matters. It helps explain why his writing can move from serious to strange to dryly funny without losing its footing.
He does not stay in one lane for long.
His first published novel, Reternity, brought science fiction and Christian belief into the same story through a preacher's son whose academic life opens a door his family never expected. The book won eight national awards and put Wooten on the map as a writer willing to test big ideas instead of just borrowing familiar genre moves. Soon after came Three of Hearts, a more grounded story tied to northeast Alabama and Vietnam veterans, and My Brother, My Judge, which turns sibling rivalry and courtroom ambition into a tense story about technology, justice, and control.
That range kept expanding. The Balance imagines a rigid future society split between life above the clouds and life on the ground. Pit Bulls vs. Aliens goes louder and pulpier. Across very different plots, Wooten keeps circling a few favorite subjects: outsiders, belief, fairness, survival, and the moment when a person has to decide what matters more, comfort or truth.
Another side of his work is regional and deeply personal. Granny Dollar draws on Alabama history and folklore to tell the life story of Nancy Emmaline Callahan Dollar, a woman who became a local legend. With the Devil's Help moves even closer to home, blending memoir and true crime as Wooten writes about poverty, family violence, buried history, and the secrets passed down through generations. He has also served as curator of the Fort Payne Depot Museum, which fits neatly with his interest in place, memory, and the stories communities keep telling about themselves.
He also writes books with a softer, more openly animal-loving streak. Wallace and Roo follows the bond between a rescued pit bull and the human who believes in him. I'm Not Defective tells the story of Josh, a puppy born with a cleft palate who became an emblem of rescue and resilience. And Brad's Pit shows his cartoon side, using dogs and humor to get at bigger feelings without turning preachy.
Today Wooten lives in Milwaukee with his wife and dogs. That mix of Midwest home base and Alabama memory gives him two very different landscapes to work with. However much the genre changes, his books keep returning to the same things: people on the margins, ideas under pressure, and the small acts of grit that tell you who someone really is.
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