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Aru Shah and the End of Time
Aru lights a museum lamp to impress classmates and wakes an ancient threat. The jokes come quickly, and the quest gives her a team and a place in a story drawn from the Mahabharata. Start here for the closest match to Percy’s irreverence and sense of loyalty.
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Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (2019)
9.0/10on Open Library
Published
Tristan punches a hole into a world where figures from West African stories and African American folklore include Anansi and John Henry. His grief and boxing background matter to the adventure. Pick it for a quest built as much around telling stories well as fighting.
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Dragon Pearl (2019)
6.5/10on Open Library
Published
Min, a young fox spirit, slips away from home to find her brother in a future shaped by Korean folklore. Shape-shifting and ghosts matter alongside spaceships. Read it for a mythic adventure that feels like a space mystery once the pursuit gets going.
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The Storm Runner
Zane’s New Mexico home sits near a volcano with a connection to a Maya god. The story gives him a prophecy he does not particularly want to fulfill and sends him out with a companion who has secrets of her own. Pick it for fast-moving middle-grade adventure with a prickly hero.
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The Red Pyramid (2010)
8.5/10on Open Library
Published
Carter and Sadie Kane have to work together after an experiment at the British Museum releases the Egyptian god Set. Start the Kane Chronicles here for a sibling-led quest with two narrators and the author’s familiar knack for letting old gods interrupt a modern city.
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The Sword of Summer (2015)
8.7/10on Open Library
Published
Magnus Chase learns a lost weapon is his birthright when a fire giant threatens Boston. Pick this first Asgard book for the closest follow-up to Percy’s comic voice if you want to explore Norse myth. The search for the sword gives you a reason to meet people in and beyond the city.
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Race to the Sun
Nizhoni can spot monsters, which makes it hard to ignore the man who turns up around her father. She sets out with family and friends in a contemporary quest informed by Diné stories. Choose it for a young hero learning to trust something she already knows how to see.
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Paola Santiago and the River of Tears (2020)
6.0/10on Open Library
Published
Science-loving Paola would rather explain a strange event than assume her mother’s stories about La Llorona are true. A missing friend forces her to take the river and the stories seriously. Pick it for a friendship-centered quest that can get genuinely eerie.
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City of the Plague God
New Yorker Sikander Aziz has to deal with a Mesopotamian plague god and ends up working with Gilgamesh. The setting includes his family’s deli and the city he wants to protect. Try it for the same pleasure as watching an ancient myth interrupt an ordinary afternoon.
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The Lords of Night (2022)
8.0/10on Open Library
Published
Ren handles shadows and has an interest in alien sightings, so a message about a sighting pulls her into a much older conflict. Pick this Storm Runner spin-off for a new lead who has to work with strangers to prevent the awakening of gods tied to Mexica tradition.
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The Last Fallen Star
Riley wants to practice the healing magic that runs in her adoptive Korean American family. An attempt to borrow magic puts her sister in danger and sends Riley looking for the godrealm’s last fallen star. Pick it for a family rescue with plenty of magical detours.
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The Spirit Glass
Corazon already gets brief visits with her parents’ spirits, thanks to a soul key. When a vengeful ghost steals it, she has to learn to make another. Choose it for a Filipino folklore adventure about a young healer and what her family can pass down after a loss.
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Serwa Boateng's Guide to Vampire Hunting
Serwa has trained to face supernatural dangers, but school introduces threats for which her training offers little help. Pick it for vampire hunting rooted in Ghanaian folklore with time left over for friendships, jokes, and a hero learning what adults have kept from her.
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Pahua and the Soul Stealer
Pahua can see spirits and has to learn what she can do after a dangerous one threatens her brother. Try it for a contemporary adventure drawing on Hmong folklore, with shaman training and a rescue that gives all the strange encounters a purpose.
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The Jumbies (2015)
10.0/10on Open Library
Published
Corinne discovers that her island’s jumbie stories can explain a stranger who has come to her home. Caribbean folklore supplies both the danger and a way to understand it. Try this for a stormier, slightly scarier first step after Percy Jackson.
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Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls (2021)
Published
Cece studies forbidden magic to bring home her kidnapped sister and learns to work with a criatura on the way. Pick it for an adventure grounded in Mexican folklore, with the choice of how to treat someone else’s monster at the center.
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The Serpent's Secret
On her twelfth birthday, Kiranmala discovers the tales she heard at home are useful preparation for a demon turning up in New Jersey. Pick it for bright, funny middle-grade pacing and a new world drawn from Bengali stories.
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Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind (2023)
Published
Momo learns that her mother belongs to the world of Japanese gods and that she has to act before visiting spirits get out of hand. Read it for a companion-heavy quest with fox magic and a young narrator finding out which family stories to believe.
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The Dragon Warrior (2019)
10.0/10on Open Library
Published
Faryn steps into a quest drawn from Chinese legend when she unexpectedly takes on the role of a dragon warrior. The gods and dangerous encounters keep the pace moving. Pick it for middle-grade adventure built around proving what kind of warrior you intend to be.
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Abeni's Song (2023)
Published
Abeni has to learn from the witch who takes her away after a raider’s song lures children out of their village. Pick it for a fantasy rooted in African and African diasporic folklore, with a rescue that rewards listening and patience as much as boldness.
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The Epic Crush of Genie Lo (2017)
10.0/10on Open Library
Published
Genie’s plans for college get interrupted by a newcomer tied to the Monkey King and a crowd of demons from Chinese mythology. Choose this older teen read for a sharper comic voice and an ordinary school schedule that just keeps colliding with old stories.
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