See Book List Scott Reintgen
As you know, when you’re standing in front of thirty teenagers who would rather be anywhere else—including a dentist’s chair or a pit of fire—you know that the greatest sin you can commit isn’t a typo. It’s being boring.
Scott Reintgen (it’s pronounced Rankin, by the way) clearly learned that lesson in the trenches. He didn’t just leave the classroom; he took the “back-row dreamers”—the kids who doodle dragons in the margins of their algebra homework—and actually gave them the keys to the spaceship.
The “Back-Row” Origin Story
Scott spent years in North Carolina’s public schools, which is basically the hero’s journey but with more standardized testing and mystery meat in the cafeteria. He noticed something annoying: his students loved epic adventures, but the heroes in those books rarely looked like the kids sitting in his desks.
So, he did the logical thing. He stopped just teaching the “classics” (which, let’s be honest, usually involve a lot of Victorian orphans or men staring at the sea) and started writing the books his students actually wanted to steal from the library. He sold his first series, Nyxia, in a major auction in 2015, which is the writer’s version of winning the lottery, only with much more coffee and existential dread.
The Philosophy: Why Not Both?
Scott’s whole vibe is rooted in a very specific kind of “underdog” philosophy. He writes because he thinks inspiration shouldn’t be a gated community. His themes usually boil down to: “What are you willing to trade to win?” and “Why is the giant corporation trying to kill us?” (A question we all ask every time we look at our phone bills).
He explores the “Price of Ambition,” which is a fancy way of saying his characters are constantly in high-stakes competitions where the silver medal is usually “not dying.” It’s representation with a purpose—making sure every kid feels “vibrant and victorious,” even if they’re currently struggling with pre-calculus.
The Style: High-Octane (And Other Adjectives for “Fast”)
If Scott’s writing were a car, it wouldn’t have a brake pedal. It would just be an engine and a very loud stereo. His style is “high-octane,” which is marketing-speak for “this book will give you a minor heart arrhythmia.”
He’s a master of the narrative hook. He uses short, punchy chapters that make you say, “Okay, just one more,” until it’s 3:00 AM and you’ve forgotten your own name. He avoids “info-dumping” (that tedious thing where an author spends six pages explaining how a magic toaster works) and instead just throws you into the fire. He even teaches a writing course on this at ItsPronouncedRankin.com, because apparently, some people need to be told not to bore their audience to tears. Who knew?
The Catalog: From Alchemy to Mars
His bibliography is a bit of a genre-hopping fever dream. You’ve got the Nyxia Triad (space competition), the Waxways series (dark fantasy), and his middle-grade stuff like Talespinners.
But we have to talk about the current heavyweight: The Last Dragon on Mars.
It’s exactly what it sounds like, which is to say, it’s awesome. It’s about a kid named Lunar Jones living on a rusting, dusty Mars who finds—you guessed it—a dragon. It spent 22 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, which is longer than most of my New Year’s resolutions last. It’s also a nominee for the 2026-27 Truman Book Award here in Missouri.
The twist? It’s a “sci-fi and fantasy mash-up,” which finally answers the age-old question: What happens if you put a mythical fire-breathing beast in a vacuum?. Scott Reintgen has basically built a career on the idea that the “back row” deserves the front seat—and honestly, considering the view from the front, I think he’s onto something.