Magic, Fantasy, and Science Fiction: Diverse Books for Middle Grades and YA

Genna is a fifteen-year-old girl who wants out of her tough Brooklyn neighborhood. But she gets more than she bargained for when a wish gone awry transports her back in time. Facing the perilous realities of Civil War–era Brooklyn, Genna must use all her wits to survive. This time-travel novel tells the story of a fearless young woman’s fight to hold on to her individuality and her humanity in two different worlds.

For 400 years, Earth has been a barren wasteland. The few humans that survive scrape together an existence in the cruel city of Pocatel – or go it alone in the wilderness beyond, filled with wandering spirits and wyrms. They don’t last long. 13 year-old pickpocket Leandro and his sister Gabi do what they can to forge a life in Pocatel. The city does not take kindly to Cascabel like them – the descendants of those who worked the San Joaquin Valley for generations. When Gabi is caught stealing precious fruit from the Pocatelan elite, Leando takes the fall.

On the day of a rare super blue blood moon eclipse, twelve-year-old Amira and her little brother, Hamza, can’t stop their bickering while attending a special exhibit on medieval Islamic astronomy. While stargazer Amira is wowed by the amazing gadgets, a bored Hamza wanders off, stumbling across the mesmerizing and forbidden Box of the Moon. Amira can only watch in horror as Hamza grabs the defunct box and it springs to life, setting off a series of events that could shatter their world — literally.

Amira and Hamza have returned from Qaf, the magical Jinn world, as triumphant heroes — and life has been pleasantly quiet. Too quiet. Hamza is determined to have one last monumental, epic adventure before summer ends. But when sneaking off to explore an old, abandoned castle goes from life-changing adventure to potentially deadly, Amira and Hamza find themselves in the middle of another dangerous quest to save the worlds. One they didn’t bargain for. The siblings are brought face to face with the evil dev, Ahriman, angry and out for revenge.

Product Description: She's fierce, she's sassy…and she sticks to walls! Fiona Avery (Amazing Spider-Man) and Mark Brooks (Marvel Age Spider-Man) launch a new series of teen-friendly comics set in the current Marvel Universe featuring an unforgettable heroine.

Product Description: Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima comes to stay with his family in New Mexico during World War II. She is a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic. Under her wise wing, Tony will probe the family ties that bind and rend him, and he will discover himself in the magical secrets of the pagan past — a mythic legacy as palpable as the Catholicism of Latin America. And at each life turn there is Ultima, who delivered Tony into the world…and will nurture the birth of his soul. Winner of the Premio Quinto Sol.

Martika begins having strange dreams about jungles and jaguars just before her quinceañera. Her mother brings her to Tía Tellin — the neighborhood bruja, or witch, to help sort out what she sees. Martika is astonished to learn that Tía Tellin is her great aunt and that they are both descended from a long line of Mayan healers, whose powers include psychic divination. When the daughter of her mother's client is kidnapped, Martika's visions help guide the search for the missing girl. — Booklist

In the midst of his mother's struggle with cancer, fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold has the opportunity to take the trip of a lifetime. Accompanying his fearless grandmother, a magazine reporter for International Geographic, Alexander sets off on an expedition to the remote world of the Amazon. On this mission he meets Nadia, the young daughter of their local guide and together they begin a magical and mystical adventure.

Product Description: Eleven-year-old Diego wins a district-wide writing contest for sixth graders. When an author visits his school to award his prize, a handsome, glistening black dragon, Diego Ramirez has no idea how much his life is about to change. As the statue, who is the leader of the dragons living within the sun's fire, comes to life, he becomes quite mischievous and leads Diego on an unexpected adventure.

In Eagle Pass, Texas, Grace struggles to understand the echoes she inherited from her mother — visions which often distort her reality. One morning, as her sister, Mercy, rushes off to work, a disturbing echo takes hold of Grace, and within moments, tragedy strikes. Attending community college for the first time, talking to the boy next door, and working toward her goals all help Grace recover, but her estrangement from Mercy takes a deep toll.

When free-spirited werecat Yoshi sets out to find his missing sister, he's shocked to discover that she's the key suspect in a murder investigation. Meanwhile, sarcastic werepossum Clyde and his human pal Aimee have set out to do a little detective work of their own, sworn to avenge the brutal killing of a friend. When all three are snared in an underground kidnapping ring, they end up on a remote tropical island ruled by a species that's unusual even by shape-shifter standards.

The second installment of New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith’s thrilling Feral series delivers danger, romance, and suspense in an all new action-packed adventure. The adopted daughter of two respectable human parents, Kayla is a werecat in the closet. All she knows is the human world. When she comes out to her boyfriend, tragedy ensues, and her determination to know and embrace her heritage grows.

The explosive finale to the Feral series by New York Times best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith. Anti-shifter sentiment is at an all-time high when Kayla’s transformation to werecat is captured on video and uploaded for the world to see. Suddenly she becomes a symbol of the werebeast threat and—along with fellow cat Yoshi, lion-possum Clyde, and human Aimee—a hunted fugitive. Meanwhile, a self-proclaimed weresnake has kidnapped the governor of Texas and hit the airwaves with a message of war.

Aiko Cassidy is fourteen and lives with her sculptor mother in a small Midwestern town. For most of her young life Aiko, who has cerebral palsy, has been her mother's muse. But now, she no longer wants to pose for the sculptures that have made her mother famous and have put food on the table. Aiko works hard on her own dream of becoming a great manga artist with a secret identity. When Aiko's mother invites her to Paris for a major exhibition of her work, Aiko at first resists.

Edward feels ready to move in with his dad’s girlfriend and her son, Nathan. He might miss having his dad all to himself, but even if things in their new home are a little awkward, living with Nathan isn’t so bad. And Nathan is glad to have found a new guardian for Dew, the young water monster who has been Nathan's responsibility for two years. Now that Nathan is starting to lose his childhood connection to the Holy Beings, Edward will be the one to take over as Dew’s next guardian. But Edward has a lot to learn about taking care of a water monster. And fast.

What is the secret history connecting the SQ to the Ancient Maya? Book 4 of the Infinity Ring series includes a full-color Hystorian's Guide — the key to unlocking the fourth episode of the action-packed Infinity Ring game.

Dak, Sera, and Riq have fixed the Great Breaks in history . . . but the SQ isn't beaten yet, and the biggest, boldest Infinity Ring adventure of all time has just begun!

Kiki Kallira has always been a worrier. Did she lock the front door? Is there a terrible reason her mom is late? Recently her anxiety has been getting out of control, but one thing that has always soothed her is drawing. Kiki's sketchbook is full of fanciful doodles of the rich Indian myths and legends her mother has told her over the years. One day, her sketchbook's calming effect is broken when her mythological characters begin springing to life right out of its pages.

Fresh off the exciting discovery that her sketches of a beautiful kingdom and band of rebel kids have come to life in another world, Kiki Kallira has an unexpected visitor. One of those rebel kids has come into the real world to ask for her help — again. The river Kaveri, a crucial source of water for Mysore, has suddenly vanished! With no water to grow food or for wildlife to drink, Kiki's kingdom is doomed.

On the morning of her 12th birthday, Kiranmala is just a regular sixth grader living in Parsippany, New Jersey...until her parents mysteriously vanish and a drooling rakkhosh demon slams through her kitchen, determined to eat her alive. Turns out there might be some truth to her parents' fantastical stories — like how Kiranmala is a real Indian princess and how she comes from a secret place not of this world. To complicate matters, two crush-worthy princes ring her doorbell, insisting they've come to rescue her.

When the Demon Queen shows up in her bedroom, smelling of acid and surrounded by evil-looking bees, twelve-year-old Kiranmala is uninterested. After all, it's been weeks since she last heard from her friends in the Kingdom Beyond, the alternate dimension where she was born as an Indian princess. But after a call to action over an interdimensional television station and a visit with some all-seeing birds, Kiran decides that she has to once again return to her homeland, where society is fraying, a terrible game show reigns supreme, and friends and foes alike are in danger.

Kiranmala must leave the Kingdom Beyond and travel to her hometown of Parsippany to save Prince Lal, who has been spirited to the unlikeliest of places — a tree in the yard of her best-enemy-for-life. She also faces evil serpents (of course!), plus a frightening prophecy about her role in the coming conflict between good and evil. Most troubling of all, though, is the way reality all around her seems to waver and flicker at odd moments. Could it be that the Anti-Chaos Committee's efforts are causing a dangerous disruption in the multiverse?

Young Plum is shocked to discover that she's been accepted to the Guardian Academy on Lotus Island, an elite school where kids learn how to transform into Guardians, magical creatures who are sworn to protect the natural world. The Guardian masters teach Plum and her friends how to communicate with animals and how to use meditation to strengthen their minds and bodies. All the kids also learn to fight, so they can protect the defenseless if needed. To her dismay, Plum struggles at school.

Plum and her friends are traveling to the misty Bokati Island. There they will study with the mysterious Guardian Master Em, who is the keeper of the ancient forest there. The field trip comes just in time for Plum, who still can’t figure out why she’s so different from the other Novices on Lotus Island. At first, Plum doesn’t know what to make of this quiet and sometimes gloomy place. But it doesn't take long to discover that Bokati is brimming with an incredible array of fascinating animals and plants.

In the hottest hour of the hottest day of the year, a fateful wind blows into Oaxaca City. It whistles down cobbled streets and rustles the jacaranda trees before slipping into the window of an eleven-year-old girl named Clara. Unbeknownst to her, Clara has been marked for la Lotería. Life and Death deal the Lotería cards but once a year, and the stakes could not be higher. Every card reveals a new twist in Clara’s fate — a scorpion, an arrow, a blood-red rose. If Life wins, Clara will live to a ripe old age.

Momentos mágicos, or magic moments, can come in many forms. For storyteller Olga Loya, magic occurs every time an ancient story is passed from teller to listener. The sixteen stories here are full of momentos mágicos.  Presented in equally vibrant English and Spanish, they include stories of the supernatural, such as the Mexican tale of La Llorona, the Wailing Woman; of animals and tricksters, such as the Mayan story of how Monkey tricked Crocodile; of strong women, like Blanca Flor (White Flower); and myths, such as La Diosa Hambrienta, the hungry goddess.

Who protects our precious fields of corn? What leaps from the darkness when you least suspect it? Which spirit waits for little kids by rivers and lakes? From the ahuizotl to the xocoyoles—and all the imps, ghosts and witches in between—this illustrated bilingual encyclopedia tells you just what you need to know about the things that go bump in the night in Mexico and the US Southwest.

Milagros de le Torre hasn’t had an easy life: ever since her father sailed away with pirates she’s been teased at school, and her family struggles to make ends meet. Still, Milagros loves her small island in the Caribbean, and she finds comfort in those who recognize her special gifts. But everything changes when marauders destroy Milagros’s island and with it, most of the inhabitants. Milagros manages to escape in a rowboat where she drifts out to sea with no direction, save for the mysterious manta rays that guide her to land.

Nura longs for the simple pleasure of many things, but with her mom hard at work in a run-down sweatshop and three younger siblings to feed, Nura must spend her days earning money by mica mining. Local rumor says there's buried treasure in the mine, and Nura knows that finding it could change the course of her family's life forever. Her plan backfires when the mines collapse and four kids, including her best friend, Faisal, are claimed dead. Nura refuses to believe it and shovels her way through the dirt hoping to find him.

It is 2035. Teens, armed only with their ideals, must wage war on the power elite. Young heroes decide that they are not too young or too powerless to change their world in this gripping, futuristic young adult novel by the New York Times bestselling author of the Printz Award–winning Monster.

Intrigue and mystery, ancient lore, and action-packed fantasy come together in this debut novel, the first book in the Prophecy trilogy. Kira, the greatest warrior in all of the Seven Kingdoms, a girl with yellow eyes — she’s the only female in the king's army, and she’s also the prince's bodyguard. A demon slayer and an outcast, she's hated by nearly everyone in her home city of Hansong. And she's their only hope.

Warrior continues the saga of Kira, the fierce demon slayer introduced in Prophecy, a fantasy adventure novel set within an alternate history of feudal Korea. Kira must continue her quest for the two remaining treasures in order to fulfill the Dragon King's prophecy and bring peace to her land. In this installment, the teen attempts to retrieve a legendary jeweled dagger from the clutches of a dragon while continuing to serve as bodyguard to her nephew, the crown prince.

In this final installment of the Prophecy series, Kira continues her quest to collect the lost treasures, unite the Seven Kingdoms, fulfill the ancient prophecy, and defeat the evil forces invading their lands. Along the way, she also confronts her romantic feelings for her friend and would-be suitor Jaewon, saves her cousin the crown prince of Hansong from an evil dragon, and battles armies of demons.

"In pre-Castro Cuba, wealthy Don Rigol exerts almost total control over his rural town. However, when he lays claim to a mountain that the villagers consider theirs and starts clearing the jungle for his coffee plantation, he encounters unexpected opposition. Ernestina, a classmate of Rigol's spoiled daughter, joins her friend Enriquito in efforts to save the wild horses on the mountain. They soon realize that Rigol's real goal is to locate the gold mentioned in Taino legend.

It all begins on the night Rea turns twelve. After a big fight with her twin brother Rohan on their birthday, Rea's life in the small village of Darjeeling, India, gets turned on its head when Rohan is nowhere to be found. Rea and her friend Leela meet Mishti Daadi, a wrinkly old fortune-teller whose powers of divination set them off on a thrilling and secret quest. In the shade of night, they portal into an otherworldly realm and travel to Astranthia, a land full of magic and whimsy.

Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu — but only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng's majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high?

Princess Jade has grown up in exile, hidden away in a monastery while her stepmother, the ruthless Xifeng, rules as Empress of Feng Lu. But the empire is in distress and its people are sinking into poverty and despair. Even though Jade doesn't want the crown, she knows she is the only one who can dethrone the Empress and set the world right. Ready to reclaim her place as rightful heir, Jade embarks on a quest to raise the Dragon Lords and defeat Xifeng and the Serpent God once and for all. But will the same darkness that took Xifeng take Jade, too?

Product Description: Not far into our future, the dazzling technology that runs our world turns against us. Controlled by a childlike — yet massively powerful — artificial intelligence known as Archos, the global network of machines on which our world has grown dependent suddenly becomes an implacable, deadly foe. At Zero Hour — the moment the robots attack — the human race is almost annihilated, but as its scattered remnants regroup, humanity for the first time unites in a determined effort to fight back. Note: Author Daniel Wilson is a tribally enrolled Cherokee.

This brilliant sci-fi romp with Cuban influence poses this question: What would you do if you had the power to reach through time and space and retrieve anything you want, including your mother, who is no longer living (in this universe, anyway)?

How did a raw chicken get inside Yasmany's locker?

Sierra Santiago was looking forward to a fun summer of making art, hanging out with her friends, and skating around Brooklyn. But then strange things start to happen. Sierra soon discovers a supernatural order called the Shadowshapers, who connect with spirits via paintings, music, and stories. But someone is killing the shadowshapers one by one. Diversity and themes of social justice and identity are skilfully woven into this urban fantasy novel.

Ever since Solimar was a little girl, she has gone to the ouamel forest bordering her kingdom to observe the monarch butterflies during their migration, but always from a safe distance. Now, on the brink of her quinceañera and her official coronation, Solimar crosses the dangerous creek to sit among the butterflies. There, a mysterious event gives her a gift and a burden — the responsibility to protect the young and weak butterflies with her magical rebozo, or silk shawl. Solimar is committed to fulfilling her role, and has a plan that might have worked.

The daughter of a star and a mortal, Sheetal is used to keeping secrets. Pretending to be “normal.” But when an accidental flare of her starfire puts her human father in the hospital, Sheetal needs a full star’s help to heal him. A star like her mother, who returned to the sky long ago. Sheetal’s quest to save her father will take her to a celestial court of shining wonders and dark shadows, where she must take the stage as her family’s champion in a competition to decide the next ruling house of the heavens — and win, or risk never returning to Earth at all.

Product Description: When Odilia and her four sisters find a dead body in the swimming hole, they embark on a hero's journey to return the dead man to his family in Mexico. But returning home to Texas turns into an odyssey that would rival Homer's original tale. With the supernatural aid of ghostly La Llorona, Odilia and her little sisters travel a road of tribulation to their long-lost grandmother's house. Along the way, they must outsmart a witch and her Evil Trinity.

Clip and Sadie Chu couldn’t be more different. Popular, athletic Clip wants to become his school’s first seventh-grade soccer captain, while brainy star student Sadie is determined to prove that she can do anything her boastful brother can. They have just one thing in common: they love laser tag. Like, really love it. When the Blackwood Gaming Arena comes to town, bringing virtual reality headsets and state-of-the-art courses, they couldn’t be more excited ― or competitive.

A new adventure begins for Elliot and Uchenna when Professor Fauna bursts into their classroom with a frightening report from the Texas-Mexico border: something has completely drained the blood from

Time travel, romance, and historical elements are used to tackle tough topics, such as slavery, racism, and war. The story picks up right where the previous book, A Wish After Midnight, left off. Genna and Judah find themselves separated by distance within two different time periods and right in the middle of war and tragedy on American shores. While Judah remains in Weeksville, NY, during the 1860s, he decides to fight against slavery in the American South during the Civil War.

Pinki hails from a long line of rakkhosh resisters, demons who have spent years building interspecies relationships, working together to achieve their goal of overthrowing the snakey oppressors and taking back their rights. But she has more important things to worry about, like maintaining her status as fiercest rakkhosh in her class and looking after her little cousins. There is also the teeny tiny detail of not yet being able to control her fire breathing and accidentally burning up school property.

Pinki never expected to be the leader of the resistance — in fact, she’s gone on record spitting at the idea. But as domination and persecution of rakkosh continues, she summons her courage for a triumphant return to reluctant leadership in this thrilling sequel. Readers will be brought back into the fantastical world of the Kingdom Beyond, where there are always serpents to fight, riddles to solves, and a corrupt government to overthrow.

Product Description: Matteo Alacrán was not born; he was harvested. His DNA came from El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium — a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster — except for El Patrón. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself. As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive.

Indir is a Dreamer, descended from a long line of seers; able to see beyond reality, she carries the rare gift of Dreaming truth. But when the beloved king dies, his son has no respect for this time-honored tradition. King Alcan wants an opportunity to bring the Dreamers to a permanent end ― an opportunity Indir will give him if he discovers the two secrets she is struggling to keep. As violent change shakes Indir’s world to its core, she is forced to make an impossible choice: fight for her home or fight to survive.

Jitsu. Once the center of human expansion into distant space, this world was isolated for the better part of a century, a theocratic government rising to fill the void left by its former corporate owners. Now, as Jitsu begins to open itself to the rest of humanity, Brando D’Angelo di Makomo accepts a teaching position on the arid planet. He finds himself drawn to controversial architect Tenshi Koroma and her religious reform movement.

Twins Teri and Miwa Miranda are happy and popular high school students on the independent world of Terego. Their family is beloved by the community: their sweet half-brother Jakobo, caring stepmother Rhea, and doting father Nando, a model citizen in all aspects of his life. But every bit of that life is a lie. In reality, Nando Miranda is Brando D'Angelo, a wanted fugitive, raising the clones of his murdered wife and daughter, hoping he won't be discovered. Now the armed forces of the Consortium have finally tracked him down.

When Uchenna and Elliot’s classmate publishes an article in the school newspaper about the Schmoke Brothers, Professor Fauna notices something alarming in a photo. Mounted on the wall of the Schmoke’s living room is a single spiral horn that he’s certain could have come from only one animal — a unicorn! To save these magical creatures — and to finally see a unicorn themselves — the Unicorn Rescue Society heads to the rugged mountains of Pakistan.  
 

Tom is his Chinese grandmother's somewhat reluctant apprentice in magical arts, but after she dies while defending a mysterious coral rose from evil foes, the eighth grader finds himself enmeshed in a dangerous world where Chinese myth is a reality.

Powerful magic saves Tom's life but weakens the Guardian of the phoenix egg, the tiger Mr. Hu. The egg can bring peace to the world — or its destruction. Only the tiger's apprentice, Tom, can now keep the egg safe. But Tom is just a beginner at magic and is more likely to make a mistake than save the world. So Tom, Mr. Hu, and their motley crew of friends flee to the underwater dragon kingdom with the egg. They soon discover that nothing is as it seems and an unstoppable evil is advancing. When the egg is stolen, Tom and his friends must risk everything to recover it.

Tom has always been a reluctant apprentice. But since his grandmother's death, he's assisted the tiger Mr. Hu in guarding the magical phoenix egg. When the phoenix hatches prematurely, Tom faces his greatest challenge of all. The phoenix believes Tom is his mother, and suddenly it's Tom's turn to be a good teacher and parent, which is especially hard when your child has the power to destroy the earth.

All Nestor Lopez wants is to live in one place for more than a few months and have dinner with his dad. When he and his mother move to a new town to live with his grandmother after his dad’s latest deployment, Nestor plans to lay low. He definitely doesn’t want to anyone find out his deepest secret: that he can talk to animals. But when the animals in his new town start disappearing, Nestor's grandmother becomes the prime suspect after she is spotted in the woods where they were last seen.

Gul has spent her life running. She has a star-shaped birthmark on her arm, and in the kingdom of Ambar, girls with such birthmarks have been disappearing for years. Gul's mark is what caused her parents' murder at the hand of King Lohar's ruthless soldiers and forced her into hiding to protect her own life. So when a group of rebel women called the Sisters of the Golden Lotus rescue her, take her in, and train her in warrior magic, Gul wants only one thing: revenge. Cavas lives in the tenements, and he's just about ready to sign his life over to the king’s army.

With King Lohar dead and a usurper queen in power, Gul and Cavas face a new tyrannical government that is bent on killing them both. Their roles in King Lohar's death have not gone unnoticed, and the new queen is out for blood. What she doesn't know is that Gul and Cavas have a connection that runs deeper than romance, and together, they just might have the strength and magic to end her for good. Then a grave mistake ends with Cavas taken prisoner by the government. Gul must train an army of warriors alone.

Product Description: When twelve-year-old Izzy discovers a beat-up baseball marked with the words "Becausemagic" while unpacking in yet another new apartment, she is determined to figure out what it means. What secrets does this old ball have to tell? Her mom certainly isn't sharing any, especially when it comes to Izzy's father, who died before Izzy was born. But when she spends the summer in her Nana's remote New Mexico village, Izzy discovers long-buried secrets that come alive in an enchanted landscape of watermelon mountains, whispering winds, and tortilla suns.