Fantasy
Today is 12/2/2008
Watership Down (YA/ADA)
by Richard Adams
Chronicles the adventures of a group of rabbits searching for a safe place to establish a new warren where they can live in peace.
The Game of Sunken Places (YA/AND)
by M. T. Anderson
When two boys stay with an eccentric relative at his mansion in rural Vermont, they discover an old-fashioned board game that draws them into a mysterious adventure.
Abarat (YA/BAR)
by Clive Barker
Candy Quackenbush of Chickentown, Minnesota, one day finds herself on the edge of a foreign world that is populated by strange creatures, and her life is forever changed.
The Lost Years of Merlin #1 (series) (YA BAR)
by T. A. Barron
A young boy who has no identity nor memory of his past washes ashore on the coast of Wales and finds his true name after a series of fantastic adventures.
Flame #1 (YA/BEL)
Book one of "The Farsala Trilogy"
by Hilari Bell
The prosperous land of Farsala is both feared and respected. It has enjoyed peace. Now a new enemy approaches Farsala borders, one that neither fears nor respects its name and legend.
The Folk Keeper (J/BIL) (YA/BIL)
by Franny Billingsley
Orphan Corinna disguises herself as a boy to pose as a Folk Keeper, one who keeps the Evil Folk at bay, and discovers her heritage as a seal maiden when she is taken to live with a wealthy family in their manor by the sea.
Faerie Wars (YA/BRE)
by Herbie Brennan
Henry finds his life taking a whole new dimension when he and his friend, old Mr. Fogarty, become involved with Prince Pyrgus Malvae who has been sent from the faerie world in order to escape the treacherous Faeries of the Night.
Firegold (YA/CAL)
by Dia Calhoun
Thirteen-year-old Jonathon, feared and hated by the brown-eyed Valley people because of his blue eyes, tries to find answers to his true identity in the Red Mountains, home of the Dalriada, a mountain people with magnificent horses, mystical powers, and blue eyes like his.
The Seeing Stone (YA/CRO)
Book one of the “The Arthur Trilogy”
by Kevin Crossley-Holland
In late twelfth-century England, a thirteen-year-old boy named Arthur recounts how Merlin gives him a magical seeing stone which shows him images of the legendary King Arthur, the events of whose life seem to have many parallels to his own.
So You Want to be a Wizard (YA/DUA)
Sequals: Deep Wizardry, High Wizardry, and A Wizard Abroad
by Diane Duane
Thirteen-year-old Nita, tormented by a gang of bullies because she won't fight back, finds the help she needs in a library book on wizardry which guides her into another dimension.
The City of Ember (YA/DUP)
Sequel: The People of Sparks
by Jeanne DuPrau
The city of Ember was built as a last refuge for the human race. Now, 200 years later, the great lamps that light the city are beginning to flicker. When Lina finds part of an ancient message, she's sure it holds a secret that will save the city.
Inkheart (YA/FUN)
Sequel: Inkspell (YA FUN)
by Cornelia Funke
Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service.
Wise Child (YA FUR)
Sequel: Juniper
by Monica Furlong
Abandoned by both her parents, nine-year-old Wise Child goes to live with the witch woman Juniper, who begins to train her in the ways of herbs and magic.
Stravaganza: City of Masks (YA/HOF)
Book one of the "Stravaganza" trilogy
by Mary Hoffman
While sick in bed with cancer, Lucien begins making journeys to a place in a parallel world that resembles Venice, Italy, and he becomes caught up in the political intrigues surrounding the Duchessa who rules the city.
Into the Wild (YA/HUN)
Book one of the “Warriors” series
by Erin Hunter
For generations, four clans of wild cats have shared the forest. When their warrior code is threatened by mysterious deaths, a house cat named Rusty may turn out to be the bravest warrior of all.
Redwall (YA JAC)
Book one of the "Redwall Series"
by Brian Jacques
When the peaceful life of ancient Redwall Abbey is shattered by the arrival of the evil rat Cluny and his villainous hordes, Matthias, a young mouse, determines to find the legendary sword of Martin the Warrior which, he is convinced, will help Redwall's inhabitants destroy the enemy.
Castle in the Air (YA/JON)
by Diana Wynne Jones
Having long indulged himself in daydreams more exciting than his mundane life as a carpet merchant, Abdullah unexpectedly purchases a magic carpet and his life changes dramatically as his daydreams come true and dangerous adventures become daily fare.
Howl’s Moving Castle (YA/JON)
by Diana Wynne Jones
Eldest of three sisters in a land where it is considered to be a misfortune, Sophie is resigned to her fate as a hat shop apprentice until a witch turns her into an old woman and she finds herself in the castle of the greatly feared wizard Howl.
Troll Fell (YA/LAN)
by Katherine Langrish
Forced to live with his evil identical-twin uncles after his father's death, twelve-year-old Peer tries to find a way to stop their plan to sell the neighbor's children to the trolls.
A Wizard of Earthsea (YA/LEG)
Book one of the Earthsea Series
by Ursula Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin's first book of Earthsea--a treasured classic novel of wisdom and wizardry--introduces a boy who grows to manhood while attempting to subdue the evil he unleashed on the world as an apprentice to the Master Wizard.
A Wrinkle in Time (J/LEN) and (YA/LEN)
Book one of the “Time Quartet”
by Madeleine L’Engle
It was a wild, stormy night when the unearthly visitor arrived to change the lives of Meg, her small brother, Charles, and their scientist mother, in this 1963 Newbery Medal winner.
Dragonsong (YA MCC)
Book one of the “Harper Hall Trilogy"
by Anne McCaffrey
Forbidden by her father to indulge in music in any way, a girl on the planet Pern runs away, taking shelter with the planet's fire lizards who, along with her music, open a new life for her.
The Blue Sword (YA/MCK)
Sequel: The Hero and the Crown
by Robin McKinley
Harry, bored with her sheltered life in the remote orange-growing colony of Daria, discovers magic in herself when she is kidnapped by a native king with mysterious powers.
The Squire’s Tale (YA/MOR)
Book one of "The Squire's Tale" series
by Gerald Morris
In medieval England, fourteen-year-old Terence finds his tranquil existence suddenly changed when he becomes the squire of the young Gawain of Orkney and accompanies him on a long quest, proving Gawain's worth as a knight and revealing an important secret about his own true identity.
Sabriel (YA/NIX)
Book one of the "Abhorsen Trilogy"
by Garth Nix
Sabriel, daughter of the necromancer Abhorsen, must journey into the mysterious and magical Old Kingdom to rescue her father from the Land of the Dead.
Alanna: the First Adventure (YA/PIE))
Book one of the “Song of the Lioness” series
by Tamora Pierce
Eleven-year-old Alanna, who aspires to be a knight even though she is a girl, disguises herself as a boy to become a royal page, a learning many hard lessons along her path to high adventure.
The Wee Free Men (YA/PRA)
Sequels: Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith
by Terry Pratchett
A young witch-to-be named Tiffany teams up with the Wee Free Men, a clan of six-inch-high blue men, to rescue her baby brother and ward off a sinister invasion from Fairyland.
The Golden Compass (YA/PUL)
Book one of the “His Dark Materials” trilogy
by Philip Pullman
Accompanied by her daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North.
Amulet of Samarkand (YA/STR)
Book one of the “Bartimaeus Trilogy”
by Jonathan Stroud
Set in modern-day London, this first book in a gripping new trilogy introduces young magician's apprentice Nathaniel. Humiliated by a hotshot wizard, Nathaniel summons the not-so-tame djinni, Bartimaeus, and sends him to steal the Amulet of Samarkand.
The Hobbit (YA/TOL)
by J. R. R. Tolkien
Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return.
Dragon’s Bait (YA/VAN)
by Vivian Vande Velde
Wrongly condemned of witchcraft, fifteen-year-old Alys is tempted to take revenge on her accusers when the dragon to which she has been sacrificed turns out to be an ally.
Dealing with Dragons (J/WRE) and (YA/WRE)
Book one of the “Enchanted Forest Chronicles"
by Patricia Wrede
Bored with traditional palace life, a princess goes off to live with a group of dragons and soon becomes involved with fighting against some disreputable wizards who want to steal away the dragons' kingdom.
Sword of the Rightful King (YA/YOL)
by Jane Yolan
Merlinnus the magician devises a way for King Arthur to prove himself the rightful king of England--pulling a sword from a stone--but trouble arises when someone else removes the sword first.