6 New Magical Middle Grade Fantasy Novels
Happy Sunday, kidlit friends! While I love to read all genres, my favorite is fantasy. I grew up reading The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, and the Valdemar series, but there are so many more fantastic fantasy novels for middle grade readers nowadays. Here are some of them: two that released today and four that released earlier this year!
New Releases
The Crossbow of Destiny by Brandon Hoàng
This is an action-packed, Vietnamese fantasy adventure. It’s been a long time since Vietnamese American Freddie Lo has been to Vietnam, but her Ông ngoại (grandfather) is receiving an award and she and her family are returning. Once there, Ông ngoại tells her the legend of the Crossbow of Destiny, which turns out isn’t fictional. Her grandfather has been hiding the crossbow to keep it safe, and when he’s kidnapped, it’s up to Freddie and her friends to find it before the enemy.
Moko Magic: Carnival Chaos by Tracey Baptiste
This is another super fun urban fantasy where kids discover they have magical powers. This one is based on Afro Caribbean folklore. Misty recently moved from Trinidad to Brooklyn and is living with her aunt, uncle, and cousins until her mom can find a job. Then she and her cousins start seeing strange creatures, and they seem to have magical powers. Misty can see into the future. They learn that they’re from a long line of mokos, magical healers who help their community. Three mokos are born in each generation. It’s carnival season in Brooklyn, but an evil council member wants to shut it down. Saving the carnival will be their first challenge as mokos.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
And here are some more amazing new middle grade fantasy novels!
Jupiter Nettle and the Seven Schools of Magic by Sangu Mandanna, illustrated by Pablo Ballesteros
This middle grade graphic novel is great for kids who love magic schools. Jupiter has always wanted to attend the Seven Schools of Magic. Unfortunately, when she tests to join the school, her magic ability is very low, though she does pass the Earth Magic test. The Earth Mage accepts her as his apprentice—his only apprentice. While the other six schools have lots of students, she’s the only Earth magic student. Other students look down on Earth magic because it doesn’t require magical ability. What it does require is a lot of sweat to work with the magical creatures and garden. When a bully gets under Jupiter’s skin, she leaves the school. However, it turns out the school needs her now more than ever. This is the first book in a series.
The Girl Who Kept the Castle by Ryan Graudin
This is a fun, feminist middle grade fantasy. Faye is the groundkeeper’s daughter of Wizard West’s castle. There are four wizards who play a vital role in ensuring the continued, centuries-long imprisonment of the evil Shadow Queen witch. Because of the Shadow Queen, women aren’t allowed to practice magic. But Faye is quite good at magic and secretly practices it to help the castle grounds. She’s also quite good with the castle’s lazy dragon and the topiary. When the hapless Wizard West dies, his ghost haunts the castle. Faye informs him that he’s dead, and he curses her to become part cat. He has to pick a successor fast, or else the castle will fall. He decides to host a tournament for wealthy male tweens to compete to become the next Wizard West. This is a standalone fantasy.
Paper Dragons: The Fight for the Hidden Realm by Siobhan McDermott
I really enjoyed the world-building in this first book in a planned series. Twelve-year-old Yeung Zhi Ging is training to become an immortal in a secret underwater world after being raised by an elderly healer woman and being shunned by her village because her hair doesn’t glow around dragon scales. The students have to pass challenges to stay in the program. Meanwhile, the entire kingdom is being attacked by zombie-like creatures, and Zhi has some kind of special power to pull rails out of the sky, which might be instrumental in preventing the creatures from attacking magic users if she could only figure out how to use the powers.
Lei and the Invisible Island by Malia Maunakea
This is the second book in the Lei and the Legends series, which is based on Hawaiian mythology. The first book is Lei and the Fire Goddess. It’s just as action-packed as the first. Lei’s family’s aumakua, Kaipo—who is also her best friend—might remain a human after his pendant was stolen by Pele and her evil hawk companion. They have to find it fast, and they think it might be on an invisible island. Finding the island is the least of their worries, because when they do finally find it, evil creatures are waiting for them.
Bookish Good
Smokey Bear Puzzle by LanternPressArtwork
Smokey Bear’s 80th birthday was August 9th! I love this puzzle of him reading by the safely contained fire with some cubs. $35
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My daughter’s favorite fantasy series is Cat and Cat Adventures, graphic novels for early readers. She turned a notebook into a Cat and Cat-themed activity book!
If you’d like to read more of my kidlit reviews, I’m on Instagram @BabyLibrarians, X @AReaderlyMom, Bluesky @AReaderlyMom, and blog irregularly at Baby Librarians. You can also read my Book Riot posts. If you’d like to drop me a line, my email is kingsbury.margaret@gmail.com.
All the best,
Margaret Kingsbury
