Fantasy Flavors
Fantasy is a BROAD genre with many flavors! Use the subtitles to find the magical story just for you.
For more ideas, try the Firsts in a Fantasy Series list!
Animal Magic
Humans with powers to communicate with or transform into animals.
Animas: Legacy of the Claw - C.R. Grey
The Cat at the Wall - Deborah Ellis
The Dog Ray - Linda Coggin
Elementals #1: Ice Wolves - Amie Kaufman
Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls - Lynne Jonell
Flora & Ulysses - Kate DiCamillo
Gabriel Finley & the Raven’s Riddle - George Hagen
Lionboy - Zizou Corder
The Second Life of Abigail Walker - Frances O’Roark Dowell
Wild Magic [series] - Tamora Pierce
Creature Features
Crazy critters on the loose.
How to Catch a Bogle [series] - Catherine Jinks
Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist [series] - Robin LaFevers
The Ickabog - J.K. Rowling
The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst - Jaclyn Moriarty
Dragons!!
Need I say more?
The Adventurer’s Guide to Dragons - Wade Albert White
A Creature of Moonlight - Rebecca Hahn
Dragon Rider - Cornelia Funke
Dragon Slippers - Jessica Day George
Dragonsdale - Salamanda Drake
Elementals #1: Ice Wolves - Amie Kaufman
The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom [series] - Christopher Healy
The Invisible Tower - Nils Johnson-Shelton
Iron Hearted Violet - Kelly Barnhill
The Last Dragonslayer - Jasper Fforde
Petra K. and the Blackhearts - M. Henderson Ellis
A Tale of Two Castles - Gail Carson Levine
Fairies / The Fae
Tiny creatures from Irish/British folklore, that often aren’t very nice...
Artemis Fowl [series] - Eoin Colfer
Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg - Gail Carson Levine
The Fairy Tale Matchmaker - E.D. Baker
A Nearer Moon - Melanie Crowder
The Peculiar - Stefan Bachmann
Philippa Fisher’s Fairy Godsister - Liz Kessler
13 Treasures - Michelle Harrison
Fantastical Worlds
Magical worlds different from our own.
Balance Keepers: The Fires of Calderon - Lindsay Cummings
Beautiful Blue World - Suzanne LaFleur
The Book of Story Beginnings - Kristin Kladstrup
Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact - A.J. Hartley
Fablehaven [series] - Brandon Mull
Falling In - Frances O’Roark Dowell
Finding Serendipity - Angelica Banks
The Glass Sentence [series] - S.E. Grove
Grey Griffins [series] - Derek Benz
Inkheart [series] - Cornelia Funke
The Islands of Chaldea - Diana Wynne Jones
The Journey to Dragon Island - Claire Fayers
The Mark of the Dragonfly - Jaleigh Johnson
My Diary from the Edge of the World - Jodi Lynn Anderson
Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes - Jonathan Auxier
Sea of the Dead - Julia Durango
Stoneheart [series] - Charlie Fletcher
The 13th Reality: The Journal of Curious Letters - James Dashner
Ulysses Moore: The Door to Time - Pierdomenico Baccalario
For more ideas, try the Firsts in a Fantasy Series list!
Fantasy “Lite”
Lighthearted and/or humorous stories featuring just a little bit of magic.
Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scary Tales - Kiersten White
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
A Clatter of Jars - Lisa Graff
Confessions of an Imaginary Friend - Michelle Cuevas
Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg - Gail Carson Levine
Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble - Anna Meriano
The Magical Misadventures of Prunella Bogthistle - Deva Fagan
Matilda - Roald Dahl
Seriously Hexed - Tina Connolly
Suddenly Supernatural - Elizabeth Kody Kimmel
Tuesdays at the Castle - Jessica Day George
Fractured Fairytales
Retellings of famous fairytales.
Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scary Tales - Kiersten White
Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale
The Cottage in the Woods - Bruce Coville
Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine
The Frog Princess - E.D. Baker
The Goose Girl + Enna Burning - Shannon Hale
Into the Woods - Lyn Gardner
Jack - Liesl Shurtliff
Just Ella - Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Land of Stories [series] - Chris Colfer
Letters From Rapunzel - Sara Lewis Holmes
The Princess Tales [series] - Gail Carson Levine
Reckless - Cornelia Funke
Rump - Liesl Shurtliff
Storybound - Marissa Burt
A Tale Dark & Grimm [trilogy] - Adam Gidwitz
The Wide-Awake Princess - E.D. Baker
Beasts and Beauty: Dangerous Tales - Soman Chainani
Little People
Thumbelina, is that you?
By the Grace of Todd - Louise Galveston
Lilliput - Sam Gayton
Magical Schools
In case you didn’t get your Hogwarts letter...
The Exceptionals - Erin Cashman
The Magisterium [Series] - Holly Black
Miss Ellicott’s School for the Magically Minded - Sage Blackwood
The School for Good and Evil [series] - Soman Chainani
Wandmaker’s Apprentice - Ed Masessa
Alternate History
Oddity - Eli Brown
Mermaids & Underwater Adventures
Underwater creatures, both good and bad.
Fish Girl [graphic novel] - Donna Jo Napoli
Ingo - Helen Dunmore
Keeper - Kathi Appelt
Not as We Know - Tom Avery
The WaterFire Saga [series] - Jennifer Donnelly
The Tail of Emily Windsnap [series] - Liz Kessler
Princes & Princesses With Attitude
This ain’t no happily ever after!
Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale
The Castle Behind Thorns - Merrie Haskell
A Creature of Moonlight - Rebecca Hahn
Ever - Gail Carson Levine
The False Prince [series] - Jennifer A. Nielsen
Icefall - Matthew J. Kirby
Iron Hearted Violet - Kelly Barnhill
The Mad Wolf's Daughter - Diane Magras
Once Upon a Marigold [series] - Jean Ferris
Princess Academy [series] - Shannon Hale
The Princess Curse - Merrie Haskell
The Runaway Princess - Kate Coombs
A Tale of Two Castles - Gail Carson Levine
Tuesdays at the Castle - Jessica Day George
The Two Princesses of Bamarre - Gail Carson Levine
The Wolf Princess - Cathryn Constable
Quests
Protagonist goes on a journey to find something, and become a hero! High adventure!
Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg - Gail Carson Levine
Have Sword, Will Travel - Garth Nix & Sean Williams
Iron Hearted Violet - Kelly Barnhill
The Mad Wolf's Daughter - Diane Magras
Once Upon a Marigold [series] - Jean Ferris
The Stone Girl's Story - Sarah Beth Durst
The Two Princesses of Bamarre - Gail Carson Levine
Supernatural Powers
A human in our world gains otherworldly powers... sometimes with consequences.
All the Answers - Kate Messner
A Clatter of Jars - Lisa Graff
Confessions of an Imaginary Friend - Michelle Cuevas
Matilda - Roald Dahl
The Night Garden - Polly Horvath
Seriously Hexed - Tina Connolly
Suddenly Supernatural - Elizabeth Kody Kimmel
A Tangle of Knots - Lisa Graff
Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbitt
The Wish - Gail Carson Levine
The Verdigris Pawn - Alysa Wishingrad
Witches & Sorcerers
Are you a good witch or a bad witch?
The Book without Words - Avi
Dragon’s Green - Scarlett Thomas
Goldeline - Jimmy Cajoleas
Grayling’s Song - Karen Cushman
The Islands of Chaldea - Diana Wynne Jones
The Jumbies - Tracey Baptiste
The Last Apprentice [series] - Joseph Delaney
Love Sugar Magic: A Dash of Trouble - Anna Meriano
The Magical Misadventures of Prunella Bogthistle - Deva Fagan
Monstrous - MarcyKate Connolly
The Problim Children - Natalie Lloyd
Seriously Hexed - Tina Connolly
Seven Sorcerers - Caro King
Unfamiliar Magic - R.C. Alexander
Witchlanders - Lena Coakley
The Witches - Roald Dahl
The Witch’s Boy - Kelly Barnhill
The Year I Flew Away - Marie Arnold
World Folklore, Legends, & Mythology
Stories based on myths and folklore from around the world.
African Legends & Myths
Akata Witch - Nnedi Okorafor
Asian Legends & Myths
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon - Grace Lin
European Folklore
The Dollmaker of Krakow - R.M. Romero
The Door by the Staircase - Katherine Marsh
Greek/Roman Myths + Atlantis
Anatopsis - Chris Abouzeid
Goddess Girls [series] - Joan Holub
Iris, Messenger - Sarah Deming
Mark of the Thief [series] - Jennifer A. Nielsen
Medusa Jones - Ross Collins
Myth-O-Mania [series] - Kate McMullan
Nobody’s Princess - Esther Friesner
Pandora Gets Jealous [series] - Carolyn Hennesy
Percy Jackson & the Olympians [series] - Rick Riordan
Seven Wonders #1: The Colossus Rises - Peter Lerangis
Indian Myths
The Conch Bearer - Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Savage Fortress - Sarwat Chadda
Middle Eastern, Egyptian Myths, & Arabian Nights
Children of the Lamp [series] - P.B. Kerr
The Golden Dreams of Carlo Chuchio - Lloyd Alexander
The Red Pyramid [Kane Chronicles series] - Rick Riordan
Shadow Spinner - Susan Fletcher
TUT: The Story of My Immortal Life - P.J. Hoover
Native American Myths & Legends
Coyote Tales - Thomas King
Diamond Willow - Helen Frost
Norse Myths
Keeper of Myths - Jasmine Richards
Magnus Chase [series] - Rick Riordan
Odd and the Frost Giants - Neil Gaiman
Odin’s Raven - K.L. Armstrong
The Sea of Trolls - Nancy Farmer