If You Liked Harry Potter... Try These!

(Updated 04/08)

Gift of the Unmage (Worldweavers)
by Alma Alexander
The seventh child of two seventh children, Thea has been watched from near and far for signs of magical greatness, but, alas, none have appeared. Her disappointed father finally brings her to a place where she meets Grandma Spider, a woman who shows her that she has the ability to weave dreams and stories and a new life for herself. (Sequel:  Spellspam)

The Book of Three (The Prydain Chronicles)
by Lloyd Alexander
Taran, the assistant pig keeper, longs to be a hero.  He begins his journey with a strange assortment of companions on a dangerous mission to save beloved land, Prydain.  (Other books in the series:  The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, The Taran Wanderer, and The High King)

The Game of Sunken Places
by M. T. Anderson
When two boys stay with an eccentric relative at his mansion in rural Vermont, they discover an old-fashioned  board game that draws them into a mysterious adventure

Midnight Magic
by Avi
In Italy in 1491, Mangus the magician and his apprentice are summoned to the castle of Duke Claudio to determine if a ghost is haunting his daughter.

The Search for Happily Ever After
by Patricia Baehr
Tired of not measuring up to her sisters, Ketti finds herself transported through a wormhole to a land of fairy tale characters where she helps Cinderella's coachman-rat achieve his happily ever after.

The Lost Years of Merlin
by T.A. Barron
A young boy who has neither identity nor memory of his past washes ashore on the coast of Wales and finds his true name after a series of fantastic adventures.  (Other books in the series:  The Merlin Effect, The Seven Songs of Merlin, The Fires of Merlin, and The Wings of Merlin)

The Anybodies
by Julianna Baggott
After learning that she is not the biological daughter of boring Mr. and Mrs. Drudger, Fern embarks on magical adventures with her real father and finally finds “a place that feels like home.”

The Last Unicorn
by Peter Beagle
A bumbling magician, a feisty old woman, and a young girl investigate why the unicorns are missing.

The Dark Secret of Weatherend
by John Bellairs
Fourteen-year-old Anthony Mundy and the town librarian try to prevent an evil wizard from turning the world into an icy wasteland.

The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet
by Eleanor Cameron
A mystery man inspires two boys to build a spaceship which takes them to the planet of Basidium to help the mushroom people.

Gregor the Overlander (Series:  The Underland Chronicles)
by Suzanne Collins
When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by an ancient prophecy.  (Other books in the series:  Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane and Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, Gregor and the Code of Claw)

The Warrior Heir

by Cinda Williams Chima
An apparently ordinary 16-year-old boy turns out to have magical powers that make him a target of a covert society of wizards, enchanters, and warriors called the Weir. (Sequel:  The Warrior Heir)

The Boggart
by Susan Cooper
After visiting the castle in Scotland which her family has inherited and returning home to Canada, twelve-year-old Emily finds that she has accidentally brought back with her a boggart, an invisible and mischievous spirit with a fondness for practical jokes.  (Sequel:  Boggart and the Monster)

The Field Guide (Series:  The Spiderwick Chronicles)
by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
When the Grace children go to stay at their Great Aunt Lucinda's worn Victorian house, they discover a field guide to fairies and other creatures and begin to have some unusual experiences.   (Other books in the series:  The Seeing Stone, Lucinda’s Secret, The Ironwood Tree, and The Wrath of Mulgarath)

The City of Ember
by Jeanne DuPrau
The City of Ember was built as the last refuge for the human race.  Two hundred years later, the lights are beginning to flicker.  When twelve-year-old Lina finds part of an ancient message, she is certain it holds a secret that will save the city.  She and her friend Doon must decipher the message before the lights go out forever.   (Sequel:  The People of the Sparks)

Knight's Wyrd
by Debra Doyle
Will sets out on a series of dangerous adventures after a wizard predicts that he will meet his death before a year has passed.

So You Want to be a Wizard (The Young Wizard Series)
by Diane Duane
Thirteen-year-old Nita finds the help she needs in a library book on wizardry and is guided into another dimension where she earns her degree in wizardry.  (Other books in the series:  Deep Wizardry, High Wizardry, A Wizard Abroad, The Wizard’s Dilemna, Wizard’s Holiday, and Wizards at War)

Half Magic
by Edward Eager
Jane, Mark, Katharine, and Martha find a coin that grants half of every wish they make.  (Sequels:  Magic By the Lake, Magic or Not?, The Time Garden, and Knight’s Castle)

The Dark Green Tunnel
by Allan Eckert
Three children find an entrance to another world which is peopled with centaurs, gnomes, a wizard, and a wicked king.

The Neverending Story
by Michael Ende
Bastian travels through the aptly-named realm of Fantastica to complete a noble quest. 

Dragon Rider
by Cornelia Funke
After learning that humans are headed toward his hidden home, Firedrake, a silver dragon, is joined by a brownie and an orphan boy in a quest to find the legendary valley known as the Rim of Hea ven, encountering friendly and unfriendly creatures along the way, and struggling to evade the relentless pursuit of an old enemy.

Sorcerers of the Nightwing (The Ravenscliff Series; bk. 1)

by Geoffrey Huntington

All his life, Devon March, 14, has known he has special talents and that the monsters under the bed and in the closet are real.  When his father/guardian dies, Devon learns that he is a sorcerer in the Order of the Nightwing, an order that uses mysticism and magic to guard Hellholes and defend against the evil spirits of the world. (Sequel:  Demon Witch)

The Secret of Platform 13
by Eva Ibbotson
Odge, a young hag, accompanies an old wizard, a gentle fey, and a giant ogre on their mission through a magical tunnel to rescue their King's son.

Which Witch?
by Eva Ibbotson
The Great Wizard of Arriman announces a competition among the witches of Todcaster to see who will be his bride.

Redwall
by Brian Jacques
When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villains, Matthias, a young mouse.  They are determined to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy.  (Sequels:  Mossflower; Mattimeo; Mariel of Redwall; and others.)

Howl's Moving Castle
by Diana Wynne Jones
In the land of Ingary, such things as spells, invisible cloaks and seven league boots are everyday things.  Nothing is quite what it seems to be.  (Sequel:  Castle in the Air)

Charmed Life (Chronicles of Chrestomanci)
by Diana Wynne Jones
Eric, better known as Cat, can't even work a simple spell like turning people into toads, but his sister can.  She can do even more than that.  Cat watches his sister closely and one day she plans to unleash a magic so potent and terrible that it will rock their world and no one can stop her.  (other books in the series:  Witch Week, The Magicians of Caprona, The Lives of Christopher Chant, Conrad’s Fate)

The Dark Lord of Derkholm

By Diana Wynne Jones

Derk, an unconventional wizard, and his magical family become involved in a plan to put a stop to the devastating tours of their world arranged by the tyrannical Mr. Chesney. (Sequel:  Year of the Griffin)

The Phantom Tollbooth
by Norton Juster
Milo journeys through a land where he leans the importance of words and numbers and finds a cure for his boredom.

The Akhenaten Adventure (Series:  Children of the Lamp)
by Philip Kerr
When twelve-year-old twins Philippa and John discover that they are descended from a long line of djinn, their mother sends them away to their Uncle Nimrod, who takes them to Cairo where he starts to teach them about their extraordinary powers.  (Sequels:  The Blue Djinn of Babylon, The Cobra King of Kathmandu )

A Wizard of Earthsea
by Ursula LeGuin
A boy grows to manhood while attempting to subdue the evil he unleashed on the world as an apprentice to the Master Wizard.  (Other books in the series:  Tehanu and The Farthest Shore)

A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeline L'Engle
Meg Murry and her friends become involved with unearthly strangers and a search for Meg's father, who has disappeared while engaged in secret work for the government.  (Other books in the series:  A Wind in the Door, A Swiftly Tilting Planet)

Ella Enchanted
by Gail Levine
In this unique version of the Cinderella story, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Series:  The Chronicles of Narnia)
by C.S. Lewis
Four English school children find their way through the back of a wardrobe into the magic land of Narnia and assist Aslan, the golden lion, to triumph over the White Witch, who has cursed the land with eternal winter.  (Also in the series:  The Magician's Nephew, The Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle)

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld
by Patricia McKillip
A sorceress raises an abandoned baby, only to discover that his real father is the greatest enemy of the man she loves.

The Blue Sword
by Robin McKinley
Harry is kidnapped by the King of the Damarians, and also comes reluctantly to realize that they possess the same mysterious powers.  (Sequel:  The Hero and the Crown)

Midnight for Charlie Bone (Series:  Children of the Red King)
by Jenny Nimmo
Charlie Bone’s life with his widowed mother and two grandmothers undergoes a dramatic change when he realizes that he can hear people in photographs talking.  (Sequels:  Charlie Bone and the Time Twister, Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy, Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors, Charlie Bone and the Hidden King, and Charlie Bone and the Beast)

Sabriel (The Abhorsen Trilogy)
by Garth Nix
Sabriel, daughter of the necromancer Abhorsen, must journey into the mysterious and magical Old Kingdom to rescue her father from  the Land of the Dead.  (Other books in the series:  Lirael, Daughter of the Clayr and Abhorsen)

Mister Monday (Series:  The Keys to the Kingdom)
by Garth Nix
Arthur is supposed to die at a young age, but is saved by a mysterious key. The key causes bizarre creatures to come from another realm, bringing with them a plague. Arthur must learn the truth about himself and the key before a man name Mister Monday takes the key. (Sequel: Grim Tuesday, Drowned Wednesday, and Sir Thursday)

The Hounds of Morrigan
by Pat O'Shea
The ancient book Pidge found brings the evil Queen Morrigan and her two witchlike assistants to his door, threatening the future of the world.

Eragon (Series:  Inheritance)
by Christopher Paolini
In Aagaesia, a fifteen-year-old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons,  elves, and monsters.  (Sequel:  Eldest and Brisingr)

Sandry's Book (Circle of Magic Series)
by Tamora Pierce
Four young misfits find themselves living in a strictly disciplined temple community where they become friends while also learning to do crafts and to use their powers, especially magic. (Other books in the series:  Tris's Book, Daja's Book, and Briar's Book)

Alanna: the First Adventure (Song of the Lioness Series)
by Tamora Pierce
Call it fate, call it intuition, or just call it common sense, but somehow young Alanna knows she isn't meant to become some proper lady cloistered in a convent. Instead, she wants to be a great warrior maiden--a female knight.  (Other books in the series:  In the Hand of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, and The Lioness Rampant)

The Perilous Gard
by Elizabeth Marie Pope
While imprisoned in a remote castle in 1588, a young girl becomes involved in a series of events that lead to an underground labyrinth peopled by the last practitioners of druid magic.

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials Series)
by Philip Pullman
Accompanied by her animal-like daemon, Lyra tries to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from being the subject of experiments.  (Other books in the series:  The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass, and Lyra’s Oxford)

Princess Nevermore
by Diane Curtis Regan
When a fifteen-year-old Mandrian princess makes a wish in the wizard's circle, she winds up on earth alone and without the ability and desire to return home.

Magyk (Series:  Septimus Heap)
by Angie Sage
After learning that she is the Princess, Jenna is whisked from her home and carried toward safety by the Extraordinary Wizard, those she always believed were her father and brother, and a young guard known only as Boy 412--pursued by agents of those who killed her mother ten years earlier.  (Sequelsl:  Flyte, Physik, and Queste)

The Book of Dead Days
by Marcus Sedgwick
With the help of his servant and an orphan girl, a magician named Valerian searches graveyards, churches, and underground waterways for a book he hopes will save him from a pact he has made with evil.  (Sequel:  The Dark Flight Down)

The Wizard's Apprentice
by S.P. Somtow
A wizard recruits a rich teenager form Los Angeles to be his next apprentice.

The Amulet of Samarkand (Series:  The Bartimeus Trilogy)
by Jonathan Stroud
Nathaniel, a magician's apprentice, summons up the djinni Bartimaeus and instructs him to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from the powerful magician Simon Lovelace. (Other books in the series:  The Golem’s Eye, and Ptolemy’s Gate)

The Hobbit
by J.R.R. Tolkien
The adventures of the well-to-do hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who lived happily in his comfortable home until a wandering wizard granted his wish.

The Castle in the Attic
by Elizabeth Winthrop
William is given a toy medieval castle as a gift, and is magically transported to another world of wizards and dragons.  Here he must fight a battle between good and evil.

Dealing with Dragons (The Enchanted Forest
by Patricia Wrede
The Princess Climorene, sick and tired of doing the proper thing, runs away from home.  She ends up volunteering to work for the dragon Kazul, who allows her to do improper things like studying Latin, learning magic spells and making cherry jubilee.  (Other books in the series:  Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, and Talking to Dragons)

Sorcery and Cecelia, or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot:  Being the Correspondence of Two Young Ladies of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals in London and the Country
by Patricia Wrede
In 1817 in England, two young cousins, Cecilia living in the country and Kate in London, write letters to keep each other informed of their exploits, which take a sinister turn when they find themselves confronted by evil wizards.

Wizard's Hall
by Jane Yolen
A young apprentice wizard saves the wizard's training hall by trusting and believing in himself.

Passager (Series:  The Young Merlin Trilogy)
by Jane Yolen
A foundling rediscovers his identity through the help of the falconer who adopts him.  (Other books in the series:  Hobby and Merlin)  

A Plague of Sorcerers
by Mary Zambreno
When a magic plague begins to take its toll of the wizards in the Empire, Jermyn, a newly-apprenticed wizard, and Delia, his skunk familiar, must find a way to stop it.

Journeyman Wizard
by Mary Zambreno
Jermyn goes to Land's End to study wizardry under the famous spellmaker, Lady Jean, and experiences magical mayhem and mystery.