Some kids naturally love to read, and others… need a little encouragement. As a parent of a tween or teenager, it can be tricky to figure out what books are actually appropriate—especially when it comes to fantasy. While the genre is full of imagination and adventure, many fantasy books also dive into darker themes and more adult situations that aren’t always a great fit for younger readers.
Whether you’re trying to spark an interest in reading or your child already has the reading bug and just needs their next pick, this list offers something for a wide range of interests. Best of all, you can feel confident knowing these fantasy books are engaging, age-appropriate, and parent-approved.
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These books are perfect for fueling the imagination of your growing tween or teen. Recommended for ages 12 to 15, they’re ideal for late middle school through early high school readers and feature main characters who fall right within that same age range—making the stories easier to connect with and enjoy.
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1. A Wizard’s Guide To Defensive Baking
by T. Kingfisher
Fourteen-year-old Mona isn’t like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can’t control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt’s bakery making gingerbread men dance.
But Mona’s life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona’s city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona’s worries…
2. The Ruins of Gorlan
(The Ranger’s Apprentice Book #1)
by John Flanagan
They have always scared him in the past — the Rangers, with their dark cloaks and shadowy ways. The villagers believe the Rangers practice magic that makes them invisible to ordinary people. And now 15-year-old Will, always small for his age, has been chosen as a Ranger’s apprentice. What he doesn’t yet realize is that the Rangers are the protectors of the kingdom. Highly trained in the skills of battle and surveillance, they fight the battles before the battles reach the people. And as Will is about to learn, there is a large battle brewing. The exiled Morgarath, Lord of the Mountains of Rain and Night, is gathering his forces for an attack on the kingdom. This time, he will not be denied….
3. The Fire Within
(The Last Dragon Chronicles Book #1)
by Chris D’Lacey
A magical adventure about the power of dragons…
When David moves in with Elizabeth Pennykettle and her eleven-year-old daughter, Lucy, he discovers a collection of clay dragons that come to life. David’s own special dragon inspires him to write a story, which reveals the secrets behind a mystery. In order to solve the mystery and save his dragon, David must master the magic of the fire within – not only with his hands but also with his heart.
The Last Dragon Chronicles
A magical story about mysterious hand crafted clay dragons who have unusual powers.
4. The Raven Moonstone
(The Moonstone Legacy Book #1)
by VJ Garske
He had a wonderful childhood until he didn’t.
After losing his parents in a freak accident, Noah struggles with his emotions. He copes by believing life is easier if he doesn’t think about certain things. But, when the eccentric librarian hands him an ancient text, accidental magic gets Noah into trouble with consequences impossible to ignore. Not to mention the spiders and goats!
Questions bubble to the surface regarding his parents’ death, and he vows to discover the truth.
Was it nefarious magic or corporate greed?
Everyone in town has a secret, but the biggest secret is the one his parents took to their grave.
A fast-paced, heartwarming, humorous, Americana coming-of-age adventure where nothing is what it seems in the quirky town of Sweetwater. An enchanting, hometown fantastical adventure of warring wizards and witches for the entire family.
5. Keeper of The Lost Cities
(Keeper of The Lost Cities Book #1)
by Shannon Messenger
Twelve-year-old Sophie has never quite fit into her life. She’s skipped multiple grades and doesn’t really connect with the older kids at school, but she’s not comfortable with her family, either. The reason? Sophie’s a Telepath, someone who can read minds. No one knows her secret—at least, that’s what she thinks…
But the day Sophie meets Fitz, a mysterious (and adorable) boy, she learns she’s not alone. He’s a Telepath too, and it turns out the reason she has never felt at home is that, well…she isn’t. Fitz opens Sophie’s eyes to a shocking truth, and she is forced to leave behind her family for a new life in a place that is vastly different from what she has ever known.
But Sophie still has secrets, and they’re buried deep in her memory for good reason: The answers are dangerous and in high-demand. What is her true identity, and why was she hidden among humans? The truth could mean life or death—and time is running out.
6. Infinity
(Chronicles of Nick Book #1)
by Sherrilyn Kenyon
At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.
Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead. But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he’s next on the menu.
As if starting high school isn’t hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?
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7. Fire & Flood
(Mythverse Book #1)
by Kate Karyus Quinn
At Mount Olympus Academy, a little learning is a dangerous thing…
Revenge. That’s why I decided to join the assassination class at Mount Olympus Academy. A monster killed my father and grandmother – and I’m going to make them pay.
But first I have to learn how.
I’m Edie. Once I was just a normal girl with asthma and a bad back. Now, though, I’m at a school taught by Greek gods. My classmates are vampires, witches, and shifters. We’re all training to fight in the war between the gods and monsters.
There’s also…Val. He’s a vampire, but he’s different from the others. Plus, he’s got secrets too.
I get secrets. The wings that sprout from my back were hidden from me my entire life. I also sometimes breathe fire. But no one – including me – can figure out what I fully shift into. Honestly…a part of me doesn’t want to know.
But if I’m going to avenge my family, I need to figure it out before I flunk out.
Fire & Flood is a young adult magic academy fantasy novel with non-stop action. It contains a spunky heroine, one best friend with the gift of sight…to see tomorrow’s lunch menu, a mean-girl vampire roommate with a carnivorous plant, and a meet-cute with her roommate’s hot twin brother that almost kills them both.
8. The Arkadians
by Lloyd Alexander
Three unusual companions—one fantastic journey!
Lucian is on the run from a pair of murderous soothsayers. Joy-in-the-Dance knows magic and marvels, and is on a quest. Fronto is a poet-turned-donkey who wants to break the spell that turned him into an animal. The three of them join forces and set out through Arkadia—on an amazing trip that will change their lives.
“Master storyteller Alexander keeps the action brisk, packs the text with a riveting collection of weird characters, fantastic settings, plot twists, derring-do, heroes, villains, magic, prophecy, humor, shipwrecks, fires—what more could readers ask for?”—Kirkus Reviews
9. Nobody’s Princess
(Princess of Myth Book #1)
by Esther Friesner
She is beautiful, she is a princess, and Aphrodite is her favorite goddess, but something in Helen of Sparta just itches for more out of life. Not one to count on the gods—or her looks—to take care of her, Helen sets out to get what she wants with steely determination and a sassy attitude. That same attitude makes Helen a few enemies—such as the self-proclaimed “son of Zeus” Theseus—but it also intrigues, charms, and amuses those who become her friends, from the famed huntress Atalanta to the young priestess who is the Oracle of Delphi.
In Nobody’s Princess, author Esther Friesner deftly weaves together history and myth as she takes a new look at the girl who will become Helen of Troy. The resulting story offers up adventure, humor, and a fresh and engaging heroine you cannot help but root for.
10. Fablehaven
(Fablehaven Book #1)
by Brandon Mull
For centuries mystical creatures of all description were gathered into a hidden refuge called Fablehaven to prevent their extinction. The sanctuary survives today as one of the last strongholds of true magic. Enchanting? Absolutely. Exciting? You bet. Safe? Well, actually, quite the opposite.
Kendra and her brother, Seth, have no idea that their grandfather is the current caretaker of Fablehaven. Inside the gated woods, ancient laws keep relative order among greedy trolls, mischievous satyrs, plotting witches, spiteful imps, and jealous fairies. However, when the rules get broken — Seth is a bit too curious and reckless for his own good — powerful forces of evil are unleashed, and Kendra and her brother face the greatest challenge of their lives. To save their family, Fablehaven, and perhaps even the world, Kendra and Seth must find the courage to do what they fear most.
11. The Summoning
(Darkest Powers Book #1)
by Kelley Armstrong
Chloe Saunders used to have a relatively normal life.
But now she finds herself in the middle of some really strange situations because:
~She suddenly starts seeing dead people.
~She gets locked up in a group home for unstable teens.
~The group home isn’t what it seems.
My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.
All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don’t even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost—and the ghost saw me.
Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won’t leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a “special home” for troubled teens. Yet the home isn’t what it seems. Don’t tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It’s up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House… before its skeletons come back to haunt me.
12. Loki’s Wolves
(Blackwell Pages Book #1)
by K. L. Armstrong
In Viking times, Norse myths predicted the end of the world, an event called Ragnarok, that only the gods can stop. When this apocalypse happens, the gods must battle the monsters–wolves the size of the sun, serpents that span the seabeds, all bent on destroying the world.
The gods died a long time ago.
Matt Thorsen knows every Norse myth, saga, and god as if it was family history–because it is family history. Most people in the modern-day town of Blackwell, South Dakota, in fact, are direct descendants of either Thor or Loki, including Matt’s classmates Fen and Laurie Brekke.
However, knowing the legends and completely believing them are two different things. When the rune readers reveal that Ragnarok is coming and kids–led by Matt–will stand in for the gods in the final battle, he can hardly believe it. Matt, Laurie, and Fen’s lives will never be the same as they race to put together an unstoppable team to prevent the end of the world.
13. A Cat’s Guide to Bonding With Dragons
(Dragoncat Series Book #1)
by Chris Behrsin
The unlikely duo who might just save the world
Ben must be the hungriest cat ever…
One moment, he was enjoying a breakfast of salmon trimmings in his home in South Wales. The next, he was teleported across time and space onto the cold stone floor of an evil warlock.
Locked in through day and night, Ben may have to serve him for a while. Locked in the warlock’s tower through day and night, Ben will hate this, especially having to hunt those infernal demon rats when the warlock doesn’t feed him well at all.
Meanwhile, in a distant academy, a dragon is bored out of her mind. Unable to wear a saddle, no human dares mount her. Is there anyone in this land who can ride her into battle against the forces of the evil warlocks? Somehow, she doubts she’ll ever find a suitable bond.
Unless there is another creature with enough dexterity to fulfil that role. One, perhaps, who is currently sprinting right out of a warlock’s front door…
14. The Screaming Staircase
(Lockwood & Co. Series Book #1)
by Jonathan Stroud
When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in . . .
For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.
Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.
Set in a city stalked by specters, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humor and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again . . .
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