Prompts

What are some captivating fantasy books for teens?

Whether you call it young adult fantasy, YA, or just fantasy – fictional worlds and magical elements have inspired readers for generations. They can be a gateway to reading in a way that real-world-based stories cannot.

What fantasy books do you recommend for teenagers (or even tweens or pre-teens) to hook them into the fantasy genre? These could be books set in a fictional universe, books with magic elements, or anything else that plays with magical realism to tell a compelling tale that school-aged readers can identify with.

Mistborn: The Final Empire

#1 of 3 in The Mistborn Saga: The Original Trilogly

2006 • 3,509 Readers • 534 pages 4.4

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

#1 of 8 in Harry Potter

1997 • 5,440 Readers • 309 pages 4.3

Eragon

#1 of 5 in The Inheritance Cycle

2002 • 1,595 Readers • 503 pages 3.6

Six of Crows

#1 of 2 in Six of Crows

2001 • 2,177 Readers • 465 pages 4.3

Redwall

#1 of 22 in Redwall

1986 • 428 Readers • 351 pages 4

Percy Jackson's Greek Gods

13 Camp Half-Blood Chronicles

2010 • 159 Readers • 318 pages 4.3

Nimona

2015 • 549 Readers • 272 pages 4.3

Cemetery Boys

#1 of 2 in Cemetery Boys

2020 • 488 Readers 4.1

Cinder

#1 of 4 in The Lunar Chronicles

2011 • 1,071 Readers • 448 pages 4

Tress of the Emerald Sea

#1 of 5 in Secret Projects

2023 • 1,734 Readers • 480 pages 4.5

The Eye of the World

#1 of 14 in The Wheel of Time

1990 • 1,948 Readers • 708 pages 4

A Wizard of Earthsea

#1 of 6 in Earthsea Cycle

1968 • 1,478 Readers • 210 pages 3.9

City of Bones

#1 of 6 in The Mortal Instruments

1999 • 1,352 Readers • 485 pages 3.6

Dealing with Dragons

#1 of 4 in Enchanted Forest Chronicles

1990 • 211 Readers • 232 pages 4.1

Carry On

#1 of 3 in Simon Snow

2015 • 638 Readers • 531 pages 4.1

Magician: Apprentice

#1 of 4 in The Riftwar Saga

1982 • 598 Readers • 485 pages 4

The Merciful Crow

#1 of 2 in The Merciful Crow

2019 • 149 Readers • 384 pages 4

Ender's Game

#1 of 6 in Ender's Saga

1985 • 2,558 Readers • 256 pages 4.2

Children of Blood and Bone

#1 of 3 in Legacy of Orïsha

2018 • 808 Readers • 544 pages 3.9

Raybearer

#1 of 2 in Raybearer

2020 • 285 Readers • 320 pages 4.4

Dragons of Autumn Twilight

#1 of 5 in Dragonlance: Chronicles

1984 • 290 Readers • 447 pages 3.7

A Game of Thrones

#1 of 7 in A Song of Ice and Fire

1996 • 3,287 Readers • 819 pages 4.4

Every Heart a Doorway

#1 of 9 in Wayward Children

2016 • 775 Readers • 174 pages 3.9

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin

#1 of 2 in A Song of Wraiths and Ruin

2020 • 218 Readers • 480 pages 4

Howl's Moving Castle

#1 of 3 in Howl's Moving Castle

1986 • 1,265 Readers • 448 pages 4.2

The Elfstones of Shannara

#2 of 3 in The Original Shannara Trilogy

1982 • 49 Readers • 458 pages 3.8

Goddess of the Night

#1 of 10 in Daughters of the Moon

2000 • 9 Readers • 304 pages 2.6

The Sum of All Men

#1 of 8 in The Runelords

1999 • 98 Readers • 613 pages 3.5

He Who Fights with Monsters

#1 of 11 in He Who Fights with Monsters

2021 • 147 Readers • 680 pages 4

Half a Soul

#1 of 3 in Regency Faerie Tales

2020 • 429 Readers • 368 pages 4.1

Night World No. 1

#1 of 10 in Night World

2008 • 60 Readers • 729 pages 3.6

Water & Fire

#1 of 6 in Circle of Magic

1993 • 107 Readers • 252 pages 3.9

The Dragonet Prophecy

#1 of 15 in Wings of Fire

2012 • 118 Readers • 224 pages 3.5

The Forbidden Game

#1-3 of 3 in The Forbidden Game

1997 • 13 Readers • 750 pages 3.7

Gardens of the Moon

#1 of 10 in Malazan Book of the Fallen

1999 • 1,180 Readers • 559 pages 4

The Reader

#1 of 3 in The Reader Trilogy

2016 • 68 Readers • 464 pages 3.7

Abandon

#1 of 2 in Abandon

2011 • 29 Readers • 304 pages 3.1

The Amulet of Samarkand

#1 of 3 in Bartimaeus

2003 • 288 Readers • 464 pages 4.1

The Alchemyst

#1 of 6 in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

2007 • 319 Readers • 400 pages 3.7

Wit'ch Fire

#1 of 5 in The Banned and the Banished

1998 • 21 Readers • 448 pages 3.8