3 Middle Grades Fantasy Books I Really Liked
The Time of Green Magic by Hilary McKay
★ ★ ★ ★ ½
I stan Hilary McKay, y’all, and I was so glad to get my greedy little hands on the advance copy of her new book. What I love about Hilary McKay (I think) is the way her big, messy, complicated families are big, messy, and complicated — there's no attempt to simple them up. Some people change and some people don’t, some people get better, some get worse, but everyone is ultimately accepted for who they actually are. I love that.
So in The Time of Green Magic, a new family is forming: When Theo and Polly fall in love, they move their two families together into a rambling old house covered with ivy (and at the very top of their budget). Theo’s daughter Abi is used to being an only child and having her Granny around — but now Granny’s gone back to live with her sister in Jamaica, and Abi’s stuck with two annoying brothers instead: Polly’s sons, grumpy teen Max, who is in the middle of a stupid fight with his best friend (that he knows is stupid but that he can’t bring himself to end), and little Louis, who wants to spend every minute with Abi and Max and can’t understand why they don’t want him around. Voracious reader Abi is the first to discover that there’s something strange happening in their new house — when she drifts deep into a book set on the ocean, she returns to reality with a salt-water-wet book in her hands — but lonely Louis is the one who nurtures the magic, when a mysterious and dangerous creature creeps through his window at night.
In some ways, this reminds me of Edgar Eager and Eva Ibbotsen — there’s magic here, but it’s matter-of-fact, everyday magic that believably flies under the radar of busy parents. Underneath the everyday, though, there’s this wonderful sense of eerie mystery, a reminder that the world is more magical than we assume. But it’s also pure McKay in the way that Abi, Max, and Louis become a family — a big, messy, complicated family, which is a kind of magic all its own.
Oh, I loved it. If you are in the mood for something warm and whimsical, give this one a go.
Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston
★ ★ ★ ★ ½
I can’t wait for the follow-up to Amari and the Night Brothers, and that’s about the highest praise I can offer.
Amari’s big brother Quinton is a legend in the Rosewood low-income housing project where they grew up: Not only did Quinton get into the fanciest prep school in town, he was also accepted to two Ivy League colleges and ended up with a mysterious government job. Amari’s brother is her hero — and so when he suddenly goes missing, she’s devastated. In her search for clues, she finds a ticking suitcase in her brother’s closet (surely it wasn’t always there?) and a nomination for the summer tryouts at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs.
Quinton’s weird nomination opens up a world Amari never imagined — suddenly, she’s roommates with a weredragon, full of dangerous magic, and learning that there’s a whole magical world to explore. She’s determined to seize this opportunity to find out what happened to Quinton — but to do that, she’s going to have to follow in her brother’s footsteps and ace the summer Junior Agent competition against kids who’ve been training for this their whole lives. But that’s OK: Amari’s never run from a challenge before, and she’s not going to start now.
I loved so many things about this book, but one of the things I loved most was how effortlessly B.B. Alston demonstrates that a book can be a fabulous fantasy and also have strong family relationships, address racism, classism, and feminism, and refuse to settle for easy binaries of good and evil. In a middle grades book, y’all! The story doesn’t miss a beat, but it’s full of good, challenging questions and important discussions. This really may be that middle grades fantasy series you’ve been looking for — it was for me.
The Language of Ghosts by Heather Fawcett
★ ★ ★ ★ ½
The Language of Ghosts is a middle grades charmer, and practical, competent Noa is one of my new favorite heroines. When the novel begins, she’s utterly unmagical, but she’s the one who solves problems through observation and critical thinking. Noa’s always assumed that the magic skipped her, and she’s content to keep life running behind the scenes — which is no small task when your parents have been murdered, your family has been forced into exile, and your big brother is working to retake the throne. This requires him to channel the dark side of his magical abilities, however, and Noa becomes more and more worried that the darkness is overtaking him. She’s also worried because it turns out the magic hasn’t skipped her after all, and she has abilities that have been forgotten from magical lore. Her ability may be exactly what Julian needs to win the war — but it may also be the power that pushes him over to the dark side.
I really loved this book — the family relationships feel real, and I definitely identify with Noa, who is managing everything behind the scenes and not getting much credit for her work! In fact, in a lot of ways, this a family story that just happens to take place in a world where magic is real. This gives the story an emotional heft that plenty of middle grades fantasy don’t have — because we’re invested in Noa and her siblings, we genuinely care how the adventure turns out. Cleverly, the author uses these emotions to push toward a finale that is — if not surprising — pretty satisfying. My only complaint: The pacing is a little weird. It takes a long time for the story to get going, and then the ending feels kind of rushed. I liked it, though, and definitely recommend it for middle grade readers who like their magic with an emotional anchor.
Looking for a middle grades fantasy for your next homeschool readaloud? We review three of our newer faves: The Time of Green Magic, Amari and the Night Brothers, and The Language of Ghosts.