Many readers fell in love with the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan when the first book came out in 2005. Since then, the adventures and excitement of this demigod have brought about many new characters, stories, and many new series in the same genre!
For readers who want friendship, mythology, fantasy, and dangerous adventures like Percy Jackson's, we have 30 book suggestions that can transport you to a magical land of fairy tales and new characters to follow along with.
1. The Skyward Series
This 3-book series by the bestselling author Brandon Sanderson is great for tweens and teens with big dreams who like to read about underdogs. Spensa is a young girl who wishes to be a pilot and protect her world, but there are many obstacles in her way, including her father's shady past.
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2. The Sapphire Eruption (The Sword's Choice)
A coming of age tale where two young rulers must prove their strength and ability to reign over their kingdoms. The prince of the fire kingdom and the princess of the water kingdom are not going to be handed their thrones. They must fight for it, and destroy anything or anyone in their paths.
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3. The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
For fans of the beloved bestselling franchise Harry Potter, comes this 6-book series about an unusual and cast-aside character named Nicholas Flamel. He claimed to have created an elixir of life, and he's not the only one with big plans for it.
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4. The Smartest Kid in the Universe
If only we could all be like Jake. Eat a bunch of jellybeans and become the smartest person in the world! Well, in this 2-book series by acclaimed kid's author Chris Grabenstein, we see that being smart isn't all it's cracked up to be. Now there are tons of very powerful and scary people looking to use his big brain for their own diabolical plans.
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5. Akata Witch (The Nsibidi Scripts)
Sunny doesn't quite know where she belongs. She is an African girl with albino skin, and just recently discovered she has magical powers. In this new world of good and evil, can Sunny and her new gifted friends track down some crooked characters and figure out how to control their powers?
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6. The Legend of Greg (An Epic Series of Failures)
Who knew our next heroic adventurer would be a dwarf? Chris Rylander brings us this hilarious 3-book action series starring Greg, a young boy who has just found out that not only is he actually a dwarf, but they have an underground world below Chicago and are getting ready to fight their old enemies, the Elves.
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7. The Eye of Ra
Do your adventure readers love stories rooted in Egyptian mythology? This 3-book series is about a brother and sister who somehow time travel back to ancient Egypt through the hills in their backyard, and don't know how to get back home. Will they be able to survive the dangerous environment and their new "friends"?
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8. The Dragon Flyers
Dragon lovers get ready for a bright action-adventure series starring these magical creatures and the brave humans that fly them! David has a lot to learn about dragons before he gets accepted into the Dragon Flyer's Club. Will he learn all he needs to keep his dragon and friends safe, or will he strike out on his own and risk it all?
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9. Masterminds
Imagine discovering your sweet little town is actually the brainchild of a criminal mastermind group. This 3-book compelling story tells the journey of how Eli rode his bike to the edge of the city's limits and realized they weren't in a perfect utopia, they were trapped!
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10. The Ballad of Perilous Graves
Alex Jennings brings us a whimsical adventure of life in the magical town of Nola where young Perry has begun to feel a dark change in his beloved city. The mystical piano in charge of the city's beat has lost its songs of power and something about the haints is off. Can Perry figure out what's going on and save the town he loves?
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11. A Tale of Magic
Chris Colfer enchants readers with his 3-book fantasy series about a young girl Brystal, who discovers there is magic all around her. Unfortunately, where she lives they aren't supposed to talk about magic, so if she wants to learn more, she must be enrolled at the academy of magic! Before long, there is real trouble her and her classmates need to fight against...but are they ready?
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12. Hook's Daughter: The Untold Tale of a Pirate Princess
An exciting spin on the classic series of Peter Pan, with Captain Hook's daughter as the star! Rommy is anxious at school waiting for her father's annual summer visit, but he never shows. With her newfound fencing skills, she decides to venture out and go looking for him. What she ends up discovering might be more than she was looking for.
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13. The Inheritance Games
This puzzling series of books starts with young Avery receiving a letter from a mysterious billionaire who just died and left her with all his fortune. Who was this man, and why did he give it all to her? His family is asking the same thing about Avery when she is told she must move into his estate with them. Will she be able to solve this cooky old man's riddles before his grandsons make matters worse?
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14. Artemis Fow
A series of 8 chapter books by Eion Colfer about a young millionaire who likes to get himself into mischief. Artemis, the flawed protagonist, makes a big mistake when he decides to kidnap a fairy named Holly Short who happens to be an important Captain in the government.
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15. Aru Shah and the End of Time
The first of 5 books in this whimsical series that brings the mythological Pandava brothers of Hindu poetry to the modern world. Aru Shah is a 12-year-old girl with an archeologist mom that winds up unleashing an ancient demon from a cursed lamp. Can Aru fix her mistake, unfreeze her friends, and convince the Pandava spirits to help her?
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16. The Outcasts: Brotherband Chronicles
A thrilling follow-up series for readers who loved Percy Jackson, set in the same world as the Ranger's Apprentice series. This group of outcast boys needs to find a way to survive the treacherous "games" against the large and strong Skandians who don't play fair on the high seas.
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17. Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky
This 3-book series starts off with a terrible car accident killing Tristan Strong's best friend Eddie, leaving only his journal behind. One night Tristan is awakened by a monster trying to steal the journal. The struggle to get it back leads to Tristan punching a hole into MidPass, an evil and dangerous place. Can he close the portal with the help of some famous characters from African mythology?
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18. Seventh Grade vs. the Galaxy
This 2-book middle-grade series takes boarding school to a whole new level. Jack and his classmates are just trying to survive the end-of-school tests on the spaceship they call home when they are attacked. Luckily Jack's dad built a light-speed engine that can blast them across the galaxy...unfortunately, he did not teach them how to reverse.
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19. The Wizards of Once
From the bestselling author Cressida Cowell comes a daring tale of bravery and two worlds colliding in this 4-part series. Where society is divided between warriors and wizards, the prince of wizards can't do magic, and the princess of warriors loves spells. They meet in the forest pursuing a dangerous witch and their adventure begins!
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20. Charlie Hernández & the League of Shadows
This 3-book trilogy series is very similar to Rick Riordan's work with a Latin American spin on folklore and mythology! Charlie's grandma has told him countless stories about mythological creatures and their intentions for mankind, but Charlie never thought they actually existed...until now.
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21. The Boring Days and Awesome Nights of Roy Winklesteen
Set your alarm clocks for 2 am, read your bedtime stories, and get ready for some epic adventures with Roy in this 2-book middle-grade series. What Roy sees from his window in the middle of the night is no ordinary sight, and when he ventures to check it out, he gets thrown into a whole new world! But will he survive to tell the tale in the morning?
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22. Stealing Magic (The Legacy of Androva)
In a world of magic, there is a surprisingly long list of rules about using it. Jax likes to mess with boundaries, especially when it comes to Shannon. One day he goes too far and lets out an ancient spirit with a vengeance. Can they capture it and make things right again?
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23. The Serpent's Secret (Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond)
Kiranmala is a regular 12-year-old girl living in New Jersey, until one night a crazy-looking demon breaks into her house and her parents vanish. Slowly, all the stories her parents told her before are starting to feel real and she is taken to a mysterious world by 2 boys who claim to be princes, and say she's a princess!
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24. Dragon Pearl
Based on the stories of Korean mythology, this 2-book series tells the tale of Min, a young girl who also happens to be a fox spirit. She is sick of mundane life in her family's house, so when her older brother is accused of abandoning his fleet, she runs away to figure out what is really going on.
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25. Girl Giant and the Monkey King
Thom is a teenage girl who is insanely strong, which is making it very difficult for her to fit in at her middle school. One day she releases a clever monkey king out of jail (oops!) and in exchange, asks him to take away her super-strength. What could go wrong?
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26. Titans
In this powerful and complicated world of Titans, Olympians, and humans, there is a lot of history that dictates the boundaries these groups don't dare cross. Astraea is a Titan girl starting at a new school where she discovers a human boy in the garden. How did he get there and how can she get him home without causing another devastating war.
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27. The Emerald Atlas (The Books of Beginning)
These 4 kids are not just orphaned siblings cast aside but have special protection that keeps them safe from evil. As their world turns to chaos and darkness, will they be able to work together and set things right?
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28. Savvy
Mib is the youngest in her gifted family, and she is just days away from her 13th birthday when her powers will show up. It is now she finds out her dad was in a terrible accident and her attempt to go visit him turns into an adventure of a lifetime!
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29. The Jumbies
What are Jumbies...are you sure you want to know? Read this 3-book series and help Corinne discover the secret plans of a temptress to take over Corinne's island home and give it to the Jumbies forever!
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30. The Storm Runner
In this 3-book series of adventure and mystery, we meet Zane, a crippled boy, and his dog Rosie. They enjoy hiking to the top of the dormant volcano in his village to escape from it all. Until one day he meets Brooks, a girl who tells Zane about a legend that involves his family, that leads the 3 on a journey they could have never imagined.
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