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If You Liked Harry Potter, Try...
Middle Readers
- Alexander
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Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper to a famous oracular sow, sets out on a hazardous mission to save Prydain from the forces of evil. Sequels: The Black Cauldron and others.
- Avi
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In Italy in 1491, Mangus the magician and his apprentice are summoned to the castle of Duke Claudio to determine if a ghost is indeed haunting his daughter.
- Bath
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When 12-toed orphan Lucy Wickwright is brought to Castle Cant to be serving girl to the Baron's daughter, the Adorable & Honorable Pauline, she becomes involved with revolutionaries and uncovers surprising palace intrigues.
- Bode
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After learning that she is not the biological daughter of boring Mr. and Mrs. Drudger, Fern embarks on magical adventures with her real father and finally finds "a place that feels like home."
- Carmen
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When she finds the key to a secret passageway leading out of the walled city of Bridewell, twelve-year-old Alexa realizes her lifelong wish to explore the mysterious forests and mountains that lie beyond the wall.
- Colfer
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When a 12-year-old evil genius tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold, the fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll. Sequel: The Arctic Incident and others.
- Collins
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When 11-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophesy. Sequel: Gregor and the Prophesy of Bane.
- Cooper
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Three children set out to find King Arthur's grail, touching off a struggle between the forces of good and evil, the Light and the Dark. Sequels: The Dark is Rising, Silver on the Tree and others.
- Coville
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Small for his age but artistically talented, 12-year-old Jeremy Thatcher unknowingly buys a dragon's egg. Sequels: Jennifer Murdley's Toad, The Skull of Truth, and The Monster's Ring.
- Dahl
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A boy and his grandmother thwart the plans of England's witches to turn all children into mice.
- DiCamillo
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These are the adventures of Despereaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.
- DiTerlizzi
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When the Grace children go to stay at their Great Aunt Lucinda's worn Victorian house, they discover a field guide to fairies and other creatures and begin to have some unusual experiences. Sequels: The Seeing Stone, Lucinda's Secrets and others.
- DuPrau
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In the year 241, 12-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions. Sequel: People of Sparks.
- Eager
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Jane, Mark, Katharine and Martha find a coin that grants half of every wish they make. Sequels: Magic by the Lake and others.
- Farmer
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After Jack becomes apprenticed to a Druid bard, he and his little sister Lucy are captured by Viking Berserkers and taken to the home of King Ivar the Boneless and his half-troll queen, leading Jack to undertake a vital quest to Jotunheim, home of the trolls.
- Flanagan
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When fifteen-year-old Will is rejected by battleschool, he becomes the reluctant apprentice to the mysterious Ranger Halt, and winds up protecting the kingdom from danger. Sequels: The Burning Bridge
- Fletcher
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When twelve-year-old George accidentally decapitates a stone statue in London, England, he falls into a parallel dimension where he must battle ancient "live" statues and solve a dangerous riddle.
- Funke
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After learning that humans are headed toward his hidden home, Firedrake, a silver dragon, is joined by a brownie and an orphan boy in a quest to find the legendary valley known as the Rim of Heaven, encountering friendly and unfriendly creatures along the way and struggling to evade the relentless pursuit of an old enemy.
- Haptie
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Young Otto comes to the rescue when he discovers that his family and city are the last remnants of an ancient magical world now under threat from the Normal Police. Sequel: Otto and the Bird Charmers.
- Hardinge
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A twelve-year-old orphan, Mosca Mye, and her homicidal goose, Saracen, travel to the city of Mandelion on the heels of smooth-talking con-man Eponymous Clent, driven by her love of language to find a better life.
- Ibbotson
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Determined to be more than just an ordinary witch, Heckie, whose specialty is changing people into animals, settles in a small town determined to use her powers for good purposes.
- Jacques
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When the evil rat Cluny shatters life at ancient Redwall Abbey, Matthias determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior, which will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy. Sequels: Mossflower; Mattimeo; Mariel of Redwall; and others.
- Jones
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Christopher discovers that his dreams are so realistic that he can actually visit other worlds and bring things back from them for his beloved, yet mysterious, uncle. Also: Charmed Life and others.
- Juster
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Finding a car and a tollbooth in his bedroom, Milo drives off to rescue the lost princesses, Rhyme and Reason, aided by the Spelling Bee and a watchdog named Tock.
- Kerr
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When 12-year-old twins Philippa and John discover that they are descended from a long line of djinn, their mother sends them away to their Uncle Nimrod, who takes them to Cairo where he starts to teach them about their extraordinary powers.
- L'Engle
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When an atomic physicist disappears on a secret mission, his son, daughter and their friend go on an interplanetary journey through time and space to search for him. Sequels: The Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet and others.
- Levine
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In this unique version of the Cinderella story, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given her.
- Lewis
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Four English school children enter the magic land of Narnia through the back of a wardrobe and assist Aslan, the golden lion, in defeating the White Witch who has cursed the land with eternal winter. Sequels: The Magician's Nephew, Prince Caspian and others.
- Lowry
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Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives. Sequels: Gathering Blue, The Messenger.
- Nesbit
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While digging in a sandpit, the children discover a Psammead, a creature with mysterious powers who leads the children into adventure and excitement. Sequels: The Phoenix and the Carpet, The Story of the Amulet.
- Nimmo
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Charlie Bone's life with his widowed mother and two grandmothers undergoes a dramatic change when he discovers that he can hear people in photographs talking. Sequels: Charlie Bone and the Time Twister, Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy, Charlie Bone and the Hidden King, and others.
- Riordan
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After learning that he is the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea, twelve-year-old Percy is sent to a summer camp for demigods like himself, and joins his new friends on a quest to prevent a war between the gods. Sequels: The Sea of Monsters, The Titan's Curse.
- Stroud
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Nathaniel, a magician's apprentice, summons up the djinni Bartimaeus and instructs him to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from the powerful magician Simon Lovelace. Sequel: The Golem's Eye, Ptolemy's Gate.
- Vande Velde
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A young wizard, who runs a school to teach wizards, looks forward to a quiet summer off but is drawn into adventures with princesses, unicorns, and ghosts instead.
- Yolen
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A foundling rediscovers his identity through the help of the falconer who adopts him. Sequels: Hobby: The Young Merlin Trilogy, Book Two and Merlin: The Young Merlin Trilogy, Book Three.
Older Readers
- Anderson
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When two boys stay with an eccentric relative at his mansion in rural Vermont they discover an old-fashioned board game that draws them into a mysterious adventure.
- Delaney
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Young Tom, the seventh son of a seventh son, starts work as an apprentice for the village spook, whose job is to protect ordinary folk from "ghouls, boggarts, and all manner of wicked beasties." Sequel: Curse of the Bane
- Duane
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Thirteen-year-old Nita, tormented by a gang of bullies, finds the help she needs in a library book on wizardry, which guides her into another dimension. Sequels: High Wizardry, Deep Wizardry and others.
- Le Guin
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The young boy Sparrowhawk becomes apprentice to a Master Wizard and comes to realize that his fate may be far more important than he ever dreamed possible. Sequels: Tehanu and others.
- Lowry
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Lame and suddenly orphaned, Kira is mysteriously removed from her squalid village to live in the palatial Council Edifice, where she is expected to use her gifts as a weaver to do the bidding of the all-powerful Guardians. Sequel: Messenger.
- McKinley
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Harry, bored with her sheltered life in the remote orange-growing colony of Daria, discovers magic in herself when she is kidnapped by a native king with mysterious powers. Sequel: The Hero and the Crown.
- Nix
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Arthur is supposed to die at a young age, but is saved by a mysterious key. The key causes bizarre creatures to come from another realm, bringing with them a plague. Arthur must learn the truth about himself and the key before a man name Mister Monday takes the key. Sequels: Grim Tuesday, Drowned Wednesday and others.
- Paolini
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In Aagaesia, a 15-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic and power, peopled with dragons, elves and monsters. Sequel: Eldest.
- Pattou
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A young woman journeys to a distant castle on the back of a great white bear who is the victim of a cruel enchantment.
- Pratchett
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Long believed extinct, a superb specimen of draco nobilis (noble dragon) has appeared in Discworld's greatest city. Not only does this unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path, in rather short order it is crowned King. Sequels: Moving Pictures, The Truth: A Novel of Discworld and others.
- Pullman
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Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North. Sequels: The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass.
- Skye
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When fate brings fourteen-year-old Leven and thirteen-year-old Winter together, they discover that for mankind to continue dreaming, the gateway between reality and dreams needs to be found and demolished. Sequels: Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret.
- Wrede
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In 1817 in England, two young cousins, Cecilia of the country and Kate of London, write letters to keep each other informed of their exploits, which take a sinister turn when they find themselves confronted by evil wizards. Sequels: The Grand Tour Or The Purloined Coronation Regalia, The Mislaid Magician Or Ten Years After.
- Yancey
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Through a series of dangerous and violent misadventures, teenage loser Alfred Kropp rescues King Arthur's legendary sword Excalibur from the forces of evil.