Out of This World Fantasy Adventure Books for Middle Grade Readers

Amari’s brother Quinton has been missing for a long time, but Amari refuses to believe he’s really gone. When she finds a suitcase in his closet that is making a ticking sound, she discovers an invitation to the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. Just like that, Amari learns that things like aliens, faeries, and other supernatural entities are real. This pushes her to earn a place at the Bureau because she thinks that working with there and harnessing her own magical ability will help her find her brother.

Despite what the villagers think, Xan the Forest Witch is a perfectly lovely person. But each year, the villagers leave a baby in the woods as a peace offering, and she must take the infant and find them a good home. She usually feeds the babies starlight, but when one baby accidentally gets moonlight and becomes magical, Xan instead raises the child herself, naming her Luna. When she turns 13, Luna’s magic will become dangerously powerful, and she’ll have to stop a young man who wants to kill a witch.

This delightful fantasy is inspired by the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata. Aru Shah is jealous that her classmates get to travel for their summer vacation, while she has to stay at the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, where her mother works. But when three kids from school show up where she is, Aru touches the Lamp of Bharata on a dare, releasing a demon and freezing everyone around her. Now she’ll have to find the reincarnations of the five legendary Pandava brothers and travel to the Kingdom of Death to undo what she’s done. How’s that for a summer vacation???

When Danny was young, he and his older sister Pili were placed in separate foster homes. She said she would come back for him, but as the years pass, Danny begins to doubt that she can. Adults say she ran away, but he thinks she’s in Rio Luna, an enchanted land in their favorite book of fairy tales. As a believer in magic and wonder, when Danny finds a map of Rio Luna in a book, he trusts it exists and heads out on an adventure to find his sister.

This adventure was written in 1974 by the award-winning actress, Dame Andrews! In this fantasy, the three Potter children learn that magic used to be prevalent in our world, but an extraordinary creature known as the Whangdoodle started a new land and took all the magic there. And now he is the last of his kind. With help from Professor Savant, the siblings learn how to get to Whangdoodleland and hope to meet the amazing Whangdoodle before he is gone. But they’ll have to get past all the unusual obstacles and creatures first.

Set in 1242 France, three children are on the run to escape persecution and prejudice, as well as to complete a mission. William, Jacob, and Jeanne each have their own reasons for leaving their homes, and soon, they cross paths. Joined by Jeanne’s greyhound that recently raised from the dead, they have grand adventures meeting kings, running from knights, and trying to stop a farting dragon.

This is an exciting adventure based in Chinese folklore! Minli lives in a hut in the Fruitless mountains, where her father tells her bedtime stories based on old folktales about magic, dragons, and the Old Man on the Moon. Learning that the Old Man has the answer to any question, Minli sets out to find him, hoping he can tell her how to help her family find a better situation. Along the way, she’ll meet magical creatures and befriend a dragon, who joins her on her search for the Old Man.

Last but not least, an unputdownable fantasy inspired by African American folk heroes and West African gods! After his best friend Eddie dies, Tristan is sent to spend the summer in Alabama with his grandparents. He brings Eddie’s notebook of stories with him, which he discovers a weird creature stealing his first night there. Tristan’s pursuit of the creature leads to a confrontation by the Bottle Tree, where he accidentally punches the tree. This opens a portal to the fantasy world MidPass, where he is dropped into the middle of a battle being fought by John Henry. Now, Tristan must help the inhabitants of MidPass find a way to close the hole in the sky.