Fantasy for Middle School
compiled 3-28-07

Child of the Dark Prophecy / Barron, T.A.
YA SF BARR
Merlin planted a seed from which grew the Great Tree of Avalon, a land where all creatures live in harmony. But a prophecy has foretold the end of Avalon, and Merlin is no longer available to save this world. Who will?

Sign of the Qin / Bass, L.G.
YA SF/FAN BASS
The first in a series set in a society reminiscent of ancient China, The Sing of the Qin starts the story of an Emperor's son, born with the sign of outlaw. The Emperor orders the Princes' mother banned from the Court and tries to have his son assassinated. An assorted band of outlaws gather to protect the Prince against not only his father but the evil forces that are massing to take over the world.

The Fairy Tale Detectives / Buckley, Michael
YA MYS BUCK
After their parents disappear, sisters Daphne and Sabrina Grimm are placed with a grandmother they have never heard about. Then Granny reveals the truth: the Grimms are descended from the famous storytelling brothers, and Ferryport Landing is a magical town, populated with "Everafters," characters straight from fairy tales. When a mystery rears up, Granny Relda and the sisters Grimm are on the case.

The Supernaturalist / Colfer, Eoin
YA SF COLF
Cosmo lives in the Clarissa Frayne Institute for Parentally Challenged Boys, an orphanage. At Clarissa Frayne the boys are used as test subjects for all sorts of dangerous products. Cosmo has to escape or die, although, in the dog-eat-dog world of Satellite City, living outside Clarissa Frayne may be just as dangerous as staying.

Foundling / Cornish, D. M.
YA SF/FAN CORN
Rossamund Bookchild lived in an orphanage, plagued daily by his peers for his girly name, and dreamed of going to sea. Instead he's hired to be a lamplighter on the highway. Sounds boring to him, but he soon has his fill of monsters!

Dr. Ernest Drake's Dragonology : the complete book of dragons / Drake, Ernest, ed.
YA 398.2454 DR
Dr. Ernest Drake has done a considerable amount of study on dragons around the world and this is the definitive guide to identifying and researching them. Make sure you take proper precautions, though, in your dragon study - all of which Dr. Drake has kindly outlined for us novice dragonologists as well.

By These Ten Bones / Dunkle, Clare B.
YA SF/FAN DUNK
In Maddie's small Scottish Highland village, any visitors are a cause for excitement. But Maddie is particularly excited when Ned and Paul come to town, since Paul is a handsome, intriguing young man. But when a monster comes, can Maddie save the village, Paul and herself?

The Hollow Kingdom / Dunkle, Clare B.
YA SF DUNK
Kate and Emily are orphans who have been taken in a distant relative and are now living in Hallow Hill. There are scary stories about young women disappearing from Hallow Hill but Kate and Emily love it there. Until the day that Kate gets a feeling that someone is watching her. Her guardians dismiss her fears, and even think she may be going insane. But the Goblin King shows himself to Kate and tells her that she will be his bride.

The Sea of Trolls / Farmer, Nancy
YA SF/FAN FARM
Jack is ill-suited to the life of a farm boy, and is very happy when the village bard chooses him as an apprentice. The happiness is short-lived, however, when he finds out that and evil half-troll queen wants revenge on the bard, and everyone associated with him.

Once Upon A Marigold / Ferris, Jean
YA F FERR
Edric the troll lives off of things he finds in the forest. Finding a small boy named Christian, however, is more than he bargained for.

East / Pattou, Edith
YA SCIFI/FAN PATT
Beauty and the Beast set in a Scandinavian country. This wonderful tale brings together the standard Beauty story with other folk tales to build an enchanting tale of Rose's quest for adventure.

Johnny and the Dead / Pratchett, Terry
YA SF/FAN PRAT
Johnny likes to walk home through the cemetery, until the day that he knocks on the door of a crypt and the guy inside answers!

Wee Free Men / Pratchett, Terry
YA SCIFI/FAN PRAT
When monsters invade her world from Fairyland and her brother disappears, Tiffany goes off to find him. She'll have to fight against flying fairies, dream-spinning dromes, grimhounds and dreams that trap the dreamer. But, luckily, Tiffany is not alone. She's surrounded by pictsies, little blue men who speak with such a strong accent that sometimes Tiffany can't even understand them, although they make it clear that they're famous for "stealin' and drinkin' and fightin'!" It's pretty impressive that Tiffany can organize and lead them at all, much less that she tries to overcome the powerful Elf Queen armed only with an iron frying pan.

The Lightning Thief / Riordan, Rick
YA SF/FAN RIOR
Percy Jackson is living proof that the Greek gods are alive and well. He's just found out he's a half-blood: half-deity, half-human. His human half is his loving mother. Nobody knows who his deity dad is. But when he finds that out, he also finds out that he is the key to avoiding an all-out Mt. Olympus war.

The Truth-Teller's Tale / Shinn, Sharon
YA SF/FAN SHIN
Adele and Edela are mirror twins: exactly alike, except one is left-handed, one right-handed, one has a blue left eye and a green right eye and the other is vice versa. And one is a Truth-Teller, bound to tell the truth at all times, and the other is a Safe-Keeper, required to keep secrets, no matter how horrible.

Now You See It… / Vande Velde, Vivian
YA SF VAND
Wendy isn't as blind as a bat; there are bats that can see better than she can. Which is why, when her new glasses break, she's all too happy to wear the dorky pair of sunglasses that she had found, which, coincidentally, match her prescription. But she begins to see things that no one else can see: cheerful corpses, frightening crones disguised as teenyboppers, and portals to other worlds; places where people are all too aware of the magical properties of her new shades, and will do anything to get them.

Secret Hour / Westerfeld, Scott
YA SF WEST
Jessica has just moved to Bixby, Oklahoma from Chicago. Among all the day-to-day adjustments, Jessica finds out that she is a "midnighter", a person born at exactly midnight, and who can experience an additional hidden hour that all others miss. Having the world to yourself sounds pretty good, until Jess finds out from other midnighters that there are evil things in the secret hour, too.