George Ivanoff is a Melbourne author who’s written more than 100 books for kids and teens, including Monster Island, the interactive You Choose series, the RFDS Adventures, the OTHER WORLDS series, the Gamers trilogy, and the non-fiction Survival Guides; as well as a ton of school readers and educational books. George’s books and stories have been shortlisted for numerous awards and he’s even won a few of them. George drinks too much coffee, eats too much chocolate and watches too much Doctor Who. He has one wife, two children and an uncontrollable imagination.
Read more on his official website
George Ivanoff is an author. He lives in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.
He has written over 100 books for children and teenagers, including fiction and non-fiction. He has written school readers, library reference books, chapter books, novelettes, novels and even a short story collection. He has books on both the Victorian Premier’s and the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge booklists.
George’s latest novel, Monster Island, was published by Penguin Random House (under their Puffin imprint) on 30 May 2023.
With his latest series of books, George has entered the world of commercial non-fiction for children. The Survival Guides take a humorous and creative approach to presenting factual information.
OTHER WORDS is a series of four books in which George has ventured into the realms of science fiction and fantasy, two of his favourite genres, in order to tell stories about ordinary kids facing extraordinary circumstances.
George’s has written 13 books in his interactive You Choose series. You Choose: The Treasure of Dead Man’s Cove won the 2015 YABBA in the “Fiction for Younger Readers” category; and You Choose: Alien Invasion From Beyond the Stars won the 2023 YABBA in the same category.
His teen science fiction novel, Gamers’ Quest (2009), won a Chronos Award for speculative fiction. The sequel, Gamers’ Challenge (2011), was shortlisted for the same award. And the final book in the Gamers trilogy, Gamers’ Rebellion (2013), also won a Chronos Award. This trilogy has now been re-branded and re-released as Game On!, Level Up! and Game Over!
George has also written a series of realistic adventure books for kids — RFDS Adventures. The four books in this series were published in 2016.
George also writes short stories and articles for adults as well as kids. And he occasionally wanders in to the realm of media tie-in fiction. He has written official tie-in stories for The X-Files and Doctor Who, as well as novels and short stories that are spinoffs from Doctor Who.
Occasionally, George has been known to moonlight as an actor. He has had small roles in numerous productions including the television series Neighbours and the feature films Frozen Butterflies and William Kelly’s War. He recently guest starred in an episode of the audio series Night Terrace.
George eats too much chocolate, drinks too much coffee and watches too much Doctor Who.
He has one wife, two children, two cats and several chickens. And he is very content!
George Ivanoff is the author over 100 books for young people, including many education titles. He is best known for his You Choose books — a series of interactive books where the reader gets to make key decisions about how the story progresses. His latest book is the middle grade novel, Monster Island. He is also author of the non-fiction Survival Guides, the RFDS Adventures, Meet The Flying Doctors, the OTHER WORLDS series and the Gamers trilogy. He enjoys speaking to all age levels, from primary school students through to adults.
Melbourne.
I’ve worked in a comic book store, as an actor, as a projects officer and as a web development consultant. I even spent a few years handing out pamphlets for a jewellery store in the city, dressed in a tacky suit with plastic signs hanging from my front and back. I’m much happier as an author.
Fitting in (or not fitting in) is a recurring theme. A lot of my main characters are misfits because I was very much a misfit at school. I draw on that a lot.
My first book getting published way back in 1999. Having a short story in an official Doctor Who book. Winning a YABBA Award for You Choose: The Treasure of Dead Man’s Cove. Having my You Choose series reach its 10th book.
Most of my stuff has been published in Australia, but I’ve also had books in the UK, the US, and New Zealand. Recently I wrote some school readers for publication in Singapore.
Possibly. I have been known to occasionally moonlight as an actor. I once played a delivery man on Neighbours… I had three lines. And yes, I did get several cream pies slammed into my face on ABC3’s Studio 3 program.
Have I mentioned that I’m a Doctor Who fan? I usually carry around a sonic screwdriver toy. Yes, I’m a nerdy geek!
References of Media on this Page:
https://georgeivanoff.com.au/about-george/
https://bookedout.com.au/find-a-speaker/author/george-ivanoff/