Fantasy and Science Fiction Alternatives to the Harry Potter Series

Perseus “Percy” Jackson is a 12-year-old New Yorker with dyslexia and ADHD. He has always felt like an outsider, but after his pre-algebra teacher transforms into an ancient Greek spirit and attacks him, he discovers the truth about his heritage: He is a demigod, the son of Poseidon.  

Perseus “Percy” Jackson is a 12-year-old New Yorker with dyslexia and ADHD. He has always felt like an outsider, but after his pre-algebra teacher transforms into an ancient Greek spirit and attacks him, he discovers the truth about his heritage: He is a demigod, the son of Poseidon. In this first book of a great series, Percy sets out on an epic quest across the United States to recover Zeus’ stolen master lightning bolt and prevent a war of mythical proportions. After that, grab the others books to see what other adventures await him.

This book series follows a human boy, Darren Shan, who becomes a half-vampire and assistant to vampire Larten Crepsley. Fast-paced and thrilling, this series features 12 books that will keep readers enthralled in this fantastical universe.

Centered on teenage twins Sophie and Josh Newman, this series features six books. The twins deal with an immortal alchemist, Nicholas Flamel who is being kept alive by making the elixir of life. The series also has an online game called The Codex Master. Smart reading, smart gaming — check it out!

This story follows Elliot, a grumpy, nerdy, arrogant, protagonist who crosses into a parallel magical land called The Borderlands filled with elves and mermaids. Inclusive and fun, don’t miss it!

After Jack Bishop participates in an epilepsy clinical trial, he emerges in a different body — that of a girl named Jacqueline from a previous era. At first, Jack believes he’s hallucinating. When realizes he’s not, he has to learn how to navigate these two identities and time periods, both to discover who he really is and save his town. The exploration around gender and sexuality is subtle in the book, but since the author is transgender, the experiences are authentic.

In a science experiment gone terribly wrong when Felix Yz was three years old, a hyperintelligent fourth-dimensional being became fused inside of him. The creature is friendly, but Felix won’t be able to grow to adulthood while they’re still melded together.

The story isn’t directly about a transgender storyline, but readers might get a sense of how a trans teen feels. Overall, it’s a unique and groundbreaking story about how we are all separate but also connected.

This collection of 17 LGBTQ+ historical fiction short stories centers queer characters — including a reimagining of the classic Little Red Riding Hood story that features a transgender soldier, an asexual girl discovering her identity amid the 1970s roller-disco scene, forbidden love in a sixteenth-century Spanish convent, and a story about two girls bonding over a shared grief sparked by Kurt Cobain’s death and falling in love.

Pet chronicles the relationship between Jam, a transgender teen who is loved and protected by her family and her entire community, and her best friend, Redemption, a mythical creature who’s come to protect her from a monster that no one else in the novel seems able to admit exists. Jam often communicates in sign language.

Author Emezi is Nigerian and fills the book with African oral traditions of storytelling, and even sprinkles in Caribbean terms like “doux-doux” and dishes like salt fish with avocado. This is a lovely book about community, culture, and what safety really means.

This is the first book in a series that features LGBTQ heroes. In the first book, we meet Danny Tozer, a transgender teen girl who inherits the mantle of the superhero, Dreadnought. This gives her the chance to use superpowers to experience a feminine body and fight transphobic villains. The next book in the series introduces Kinetiq, a genderqueer superhero, who joins Danny’s fights against evil and helps Danny leave her abusive family.

The Witch Boy is a graphic novel series about 13-year-old Aster, a trans girl who must find the courage to embrace her powers as a witch, when her parents expect her to become a wizard. The book features transgender people and a diverse cast of characters.