Also by this author: Smoking Mirrors, Princess Inc.
Genres: Children's Fiction (Tween), Coming of Age
I was about 6 months pregnant when Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was released. I read the book aloud to the baby in my belly.
When this baby was 5 he wanted a Harry Potter party. I went a bit nuts…. chocolate frogs, pretzel wands, snitch pins, Harry glasses, lighting bolt tattoos, Hogwarts cake and Harry Potter piggy banks. I even had a Wizard stopped by to entertain the kids. It was such a great party. I gave my boy wizard a trunk of hardback Harry Potter books for his birthday, waiting with anticipation for the day he would want to read them.
My magical day finally arrived this past week, when he asked me, “Mom, where are my Harry Potter books? I want to read them.”
“YAY,” I screamed loudly inside, I was so happy, I had been waiting for this day since I read him HBP in my belly! I quickly grabbed his trunk from the closet and gave it to him. He has been reading everyday since.
(Michael, age 5)
As an former English/Reading Teacher and current librarian, I am always looking for books for my patrons to read. I search high and low and try to find great books, popular ones and some that may not quite be on the radar quite yet.
My son has never had a problem finding books, he loves to read, but he has a very specific taste. He is a boy and boys as a whole are a reluctant reader group. They like non-fiction for the most part. They like books about dinosaurs, cars, wars, books that give them facts. Don’t get me wrong, they like fiction too but these fiction books that want to have a place in our boys hands need to have action, they need to be able to capture the imagination of our boys in the first few pages and keep it. As a mother of two boys who is a librarian, I search for books for every boy. When I read, I read with specific questions in my mind; questions that will help me determine if this particular books will be well received with boys, then I question age levels and reading ability that way I know who I can pitch the book to. YES, I LOVE MY JOB!
I know my 9 year old son will be preoccupied with Harry Potter for at least the next 6 months or he may decide to take a break between books and read other things, so I decided to have his next books ready! Parents, we have to strike while the iron is hot!
Here are just a few books to read after Harry Potter for Middle Grade Readers! Some of these recommendations are by some of the best Texas Authors!
All of these books below can be enjoyed by both boys, girls and adults alike! They are all pretty amazing!
The Smoking Mirror (Garza Twins Book One) by David Bowles (Texas Author)
Carol and Johnny Garza are 12-year-old twins whose lives in a small Texas town are forever changed by their mother’s unexplained disappearance. Shipped off to relatives in Mexico by their grieving father, the twins soon learn that their mother is a nagual, a shapeshifter, and that they have inherited her powers. In order to rescue her, they will have to descend into the Aztec underworld and face the dangers that await them.
The Scorched Series by Mari Mancusi (Texas Author)
Sixteen-year-old Trinity Foxx is used to her grandfather’s crazy stories, so she never believed the latest treasure he brought home was a real dragon’s egg. Not until their home is invaded by soldiers trying to steal it and a strange boy who tells her the world as she knows it will be wiped out in a fiery dragon war–unless they work together to stop it. Meantime, there’s a different voice whispering to Trinity, calling to her, telling her what to do…the dragon inside her egg is not ready to give up without a fight.
Shattered
A Girl at the End of the World.
Two Brothers Fighting For Opposite Sides.
And a Dragon Who Can Save Them All…
Or Set the World on Fire.
Trinity’s world changed forever the day she stole Emmy’s egg. Now she’s on the run with the last living dragon and twin brothers from a war-torn future. Connor may have betrayed his mission to kill Emmy, but he’ll do whatever it takes to prevent the coming dragon apocalypse. Coddling a temperamental dragon on its away to being the size of a house is no way to keep them safe. But Caleb can’t stand to see Emmy trapped and miserable…
When a video of Emmy flying over the skies of West Texas goes viral, the government closes in—and the future they’ve risked everything for is about to go up in flames.
Smoked
Once upon a time the world burned.
Until a girl and her dragon smothered the flame.
But the spark that ignited the apocalypse never went out.
And the scorch is about to begin…
When Team Dragon rescues Emmy from the government lab, they think the future is finally safe. But they soon discover that Emmy has a secret-a secret so dangerous it could trigger the very apocalypse Connor and Caleb were sent back in time to prevent.
As a dragon hunter, Connor has committed his life to saving the world. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do to complete his mission…even if it meant betraying his brother and losing Trinity’s heart. Even if it meant doing the unthinkable.
But a desperate choice meant to prevent The Scorch, may be the spark that sets the world aflame once more.
The epic conclusion to the genre-bending Scorched series, which Melissa de la Cruz, New York Times bestselling author of the Blue Bloods series, called “A heart-pounding, twisty, time-travel fantasy.”
Tut by P.J. Hoover (Texas Author)
Tut: The Story of My Immortal Life is a funny, fast-paced novel for young readers by P.J. Hoover which chronicles the mischievous adventures of King Tut, now an immortal eighth-grader living in Washington, D.C..
You’d think it would be great being an Egyptian demigod, but if King Tut has to sit through eighth grade one more time, he’ll mummify himself.
Granted the gift of immortality by the gods–or is it a curse?–Tut has been stuck in middle school for ages. Even worse, evil General Horemheb, the man who killed Tut’s father and whom Tut imprisoned in a tomb for three thousand years, is out and after him. The general is in league with the Cult of Set, a bunch of guys who worship one of the scariest gods of the Egyptian pantheon–Set, the god of Chaos.
The General and the Cult of Set have plans for Tut… and if Tut doesn’t find a way to keep out of their clutches, he’ll never make it to the afterworld alive..
Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall (Texas Author)
When Odilia and her four sisters find a dead body in the swimming hole, they embark on a hero’s journey to return the dead man to his family in Mexico. But returning home to Texas turns into an odyssey that would rival Homer’s original tale. With the supernatural aid of ghostly La Llorona via a magical earring, Odilia and her little sisters travel a road of tribulation to their long-lost grandmother’s house. Along the way, they must outsmart a witch and her Evil Trinity: a wily warlock, a coven of vicious half-human barn owls, and a bloodthirsty livestock-hunting chupacabras. Can these fantastic trials prepare Odilia and her sisters for what happens when they face their final test, returning home to the real world, where goddesses and ghosts can no longer help them? Summer of the Mariposas is not just a magical Mexican American retelling of The Odyssey, it is a celebration of sisterhood and maternal love.
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
This epic work of the imagination has captured the hearts of millions of readers worldwide since it was first published more than a decade ago. Its special story within a story is an irresistible invitation for readers to become part of the book itself. And now this modern classic and bibliophile’s dream is available in hardcover again.
The story begins with a lonely boy named Bastian and the strange book that draws him into the beautiful but doomed world of Fantastica. Only a human can save this enchanted place–by giving its ruler, the Childlike Empress, a new name. But the journey to her tower leads through lands of dragons, giants, monsters, and magic–and once Bastian begins his quest, he may never return. As he is drawn deeper into Fantastica, he must find the courage to face unspeakable foes and the mysteries of his own heart.
Readers, too, can travel to the wondrous, unforgettable world of Fantastica if they will just turn the page.
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Matteo Alacran was not born; he was harvested with the DNA from El Patron, lord of a country called Opium. Can a boy who was bred to guarantee another’s survival find his own purpose in life? And can he ever be free?
The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi & Holly Black
The Grace children discover the faerie world is closer than you think in this repackage of the first book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Spiderwick Chronicles.
After finding a mysterious, handmade field guide in the attic of the ramshackle old mansion they’ve just moved into, Jared; his twin brother, Simon; and their older sister, Mallory, discover that there’s a magical and maybe dangerous world existing parallel to our own—the world of faerie.
The Grace children want to share their story, but the faeries will do everything possible to stop them…
Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty
This New York Times Bestseller is a spooky mystery-thriller about an unusual girl who lives secretly in the basement of the grand Biltmore Estate.
“Never go into the deep parts of the forest, for there are many dangers there and they will ensnare your soul.”
Serafina has never had a reason to disobey her pa and venture beyond the grounds of Biltmore Estate. There’s plenty to explore in the shadowed corridors of her vast home, but she must take care to never be seen. None of the rich folk upstairs know that Serafina exists; she and her pa, the estate’s maintenance man, have secretly lived in the basement for as long as Serafina can remember.
But when children at the estate start disappearing, only Serafina knows who the culprit is: a terrifying man in a black cloak who stalks Biltmore’s corridors at night. Following her own harrowing escape, Serafina risks everything by joining forces with Braeden Vanderbilt, the young nephew of Biltmore’s owners. Braeden and Serafina must uncover the Man in the Black Cloak’s true identity before all of the children vanish one by one.
Serafina’s hunt leads her into the very forest that she has been taught to fear. There she discovers a forgotten legacy of magic that is bound to her own identity. In order to save the children of Biltmore, Serafina must seek the answers that will unlock the puzzle of her past.
