Thematic Reading List: Tween Fantasy
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The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge By: M. T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin Uptight elfin historian Brangwain Spurge is on a mission: survive being catapulted across the mountains into goblin territory, deliver a priceless peace offering to their mysterious dark lord, and spy on the goblin kingdom — from which no elf has returned alive in more than a hundred years. Brangwain’s host, the goblin archivist Werfel, is delighted to show Brangwain around. They should be the best of friends, but a series of extraordinary double crosses, blunders, and cultural misunderstandings throws these two bumbling scholars into the middle of an international crisis that may spell death for them — and war for their nations. |
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Circus Mirandus By: Cassie Beasley Learning from his dying grandfather that a magical circus at the heart of his favorite bedtime stories is real, young Micah and his friend Jenny embark on a journey to claim a miracle from the circus’s wondrous magician, the Lightbender. |
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The Cryptid Catcher By: Lija Fisher Thirteen-year-old Clivo Wren learns that his recently deceased father was not an archaeologist as he was told, but rather a cryptid catcher, known for finding elusive mythological creatures, and now Clivo must pick up where his father left off and track down a cryptid whose blood grants immortality before the knowledge falls into the wrong hands. |
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The Dungeoneers By: John David Anderson When his gift for pickpocketing is noticed by the mysterious Finn Argos, Colm begins training to become a member of Thwodin’s Legions, a strange group of warriors, mages, and hunters who search for treasure. |
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Flora Segunda By: Ysabeau Wilce Fourteen-year-old Flora Fyrdraaca, whose mother is the Warlord’s Commanding General and whose father is mad, kindly helps her house’s magical–and long-banished–butler, unaware that he draws strength from the Fyrdraaca will. |
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Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: the sword of summer By: Rick Riordan Magnus Chase has seen his share of trouble. Ever since that terrible night two years ago, when his mother told him to run, he has lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, staying one step ahead of the police and truant officers. One day, Magnus learns that someone else is trying to track him down—his uncle Randolph, a man his mother had always warned him about. When Magnus tries to outmaneuver his uncle, he falls right into his clutches. Randolph starts rambling about Norse history and Magnus’s birthright: a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years. The more Randolph talks, the more puzzle pieces fall into place. Stories about the gods of Asgard, wolves, and Doomsday bubble up from Magnus’s memory. But he doesn’t have time to consider it all before a fire giant attacks the city, forcing him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents. Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die. |
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The Nethergrim By: Matthew Jobin An evil force has been awakened from years of sleep, and it is up to fourteen-year-old Edmund, an aspiring sorcerer, and his friends to stop it. |
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Pendragon By: D. J. MacHale The seemingly normal fourteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon is swept into an alternate dimension and becomes a Traveler, and it is up to him to travel from place to place to save not just Earth but the entire universe from the evil Saint Dane. |
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Remarkables By: Margaret Peterson Haddix Eleven-year-old Marin and her neighbor Charley hope that by preventing a disaster that occurred twenty years ago, they can save Charley’s dad from a future of guilt and self-destructive behavior. |
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Salt By: Maurice Gee Hari, one of the enslaved people from Blood Burrow, and Pearl, a member of the ruling families known as Company, forge an unusual alliance and become reluctant traveling companions, as they undertake a desperate pilgrimage to save the world from a terror beyond their greatest imaginings. |
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The Secret of the Unicorn Queen By: Josepha Sherman When her eccentric friend Dr. Reit invents an amazing transport into other worlds, Sheila McCarthy accidentally falls through the portal into the kingdom of Arren. There, Sheila finds herself part of a band of warrior-women. Astride unicorns, they gallop toward a dazzling city made of marble. But will they arrive in time to stop the evil king and his wicked wizard henchman from carrying out their deadly plans? And will Sheila ever be able to return home? |
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Shadow Weaver By: MarcyKate Connolly Twelve-year-old Emmeline possesses the unique ability to manipulate shadows, but when her magical powers are threatened by a noble family, she desperately turns to Dar, her shadow friend, who offers to save her if Emmeline makes Dar flesh again, but this bargain only puts Emmeline’s life in further jeopardy. |
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