This ‘What to Read After Percy Jackson’ booklist is presented in partnership with author Carole P. Roman.
What books are similar to the Percy Jackson series?
If you are a fan of how the Percy Jackson books mix mythology, magic, and real-world problems, then we have the perfect recommendations for what you should read next.
Here’s The Children’s Book Review’s list of recommendations:
Grady Whill and the Templeton Codex
Written by Carole P. Roman
Ages 8+ | 243 Pages
Publisher: Chelshire, Inc. | ISBN-13: 9781950080434
If there’s one thing every single student at Grady’s school wants, it’s to be accepted into the highly prestigious and mysterious Templeton Academy, a high school for superheroes. Grady hasn’t applied because he’s not good enough, and everyone knows it. Even if he was good enough, his Uncle Leo forbade him to attend. What Grady and his uncle don’t know is that Aarush, his best friend, has secretly applied for him.
When Grady is accepted, it turns out that this might not be a dream come true that he imagined. Lessons at Templeton Academy reveal some old and troubling secrets, and even superpowers might not be enough to save Grady from them. Focusing on inner strength, friendship, and confidence, this is an exciting coming-of-age school story with a superhero twist.
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This Poison Heart
Written by Kalynn Bayron
Ages 12+ | 384 Pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury | ISBN: 9781547603909
Briseis loves her life with her moms, but her disturbing gift of controlling plants mars everything. Her friends have shied away from her, her powers terrify her, and financial difficulties are threatening the whole family on top of her secret magical concerns. Then, hope arrives in the form of an estate lawyer carrying the paperwork for an inheritance from Briseis’ birth mother’s family.
Unsure of whether she will find a fresh new start for her family in the house and town she came from or the answers to the secret of her powers, Briseis makes the trip to Rheinbeck. Her inheritance is so much more than an old house: there is a locked garden crammed with poisonous plants, a magnificent apothecary, and strangers who are too keen for her to open the apothecary back up. It turns out that finding out about her past will test her present family bonds to the limits. This fantasy novel is steeped in the magic and grandeur of Greek mythology – you won’t want to put it down.
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The Last Fallen Star
Written by Graci Kim
Ages 8+ | 336 Pages
Publisher: Disney Hyperion | ISBN: 9781368059633
Riley Oh belongs to a clan of powerful healing witches. Unfortunately for Riley, she’s adopted and has the bad luck of being the clan’s only saram (non-Witch). Scorned and mistrusted by other community members, Riley wants nothing more than to fit in and be accepted. That is until she finds out she is not a saram after all – she’s the orphan of banished witches from an outcast clan, and her willingness to cast an illegal spell has turned the elders against her.
Desperate, Riley and Hettie appeal to the clan Goddess for help, but things go from bad to worse when the summoning spell sucks the life of Hettie. The Goddess proposes a deal: if Riley brings her the last fallen star, she will resurrect Hettie. However, the harder Riley works to fulfill her end of the bargain, the more it becomes clear that the clans, magic, and her family are all less straightforward than she thought. Can she unravel the tangled web of loyalties and motives to save her sister? In this fantasy novel, Korean mythology and culture take center stage.
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Josephine Against the Sea
Written by Shakirah Bourne
Ages 8+ | 304 Pages
Publisher: Scholastic | ISBN: 9781338642087
Josephine wants nothing more than to play cricket and keep her Daddy to herself – but neither goal is as easy as she would like. Despite her talent and passion, the school cricket team coach is determined not to have a girl on the team, and Daddy is with him – he can’t stand the thought of Josephine hurting herself.
Even worse, a new girlfriend has got her hooks into Daddy, and she’s proving hard to scare off. Mariss looks and speaks like the ideal girl, but there is something sinister about her – from her eerie ability to heal to her hypnotic singing and vice-like grip on Daddy’s affection. If Josephine can’t work out how to get rid of this girlfriend, she really might lose Daddy for good this time. Could Marris be not quite human? Caribbean mythology and family ties come together in this fantasy novel.
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Pahua and the Soul Stealer
Written by Lori M. Lee
Ages 8+ | 320 Pages
Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents | ISBN: 9781368068246
Pahua hates the way she sticks out at school. With no friends or food, looks different from everyone else, and no dad, she’s the ‘weirdo’ that no one wants to hang out with. Of course, the fact that she can talk to spirits that no one else can see doesn’t help. However, when she accidentally wakes the angry spirit of a bridge demon who steals her brother’s soul, Pahua has no choice: she will have to make friends and take risks because she needs help, and there is no way of battling demons without risks.
Along the way, Pahua learns there is more to her ability to see and talk to spirits than she realized – and more than her brother’s life may be at stake. Hmong culture and tradition make this fantasy novel a fascinating exploration of mythological worlds.
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Pegasus: The Flame of Olympus
Written by Kate O’Hearn
Ages 8+ | 416 Pages
Publisher: Aladdin | ISBN: 9781442444102
Extraordinary events are not out of the ordinary in Manhattan, but even for that city, the crash landing of a winged horse is slightly unusual. When Pegasus crashes into Emily’s roof during a storm, she finds herself thrust into a multitude of troubles, from the human greed for knowledge and power to the mythological battle between good and evil being fought between the Gods and other creatures of Olympus. Emily will fight monsters, government agencies, and stone warriors – but will it be enough to keep the flame of Olympus burning? The first of three books in the Pegasus series, this adventure features Greek mythology and a thrilling quest narrative.
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City of the Plague God
Written by Sarwat Chadda
Ages 8-12 | 400 Pages
Publisher: Rick Riordan Presents | ISBN-13: 9781368051507
Still coping with the crushing grief of his brother’s death while visiting Iraq, it is just about all Sik can manage to help out at his parent’s deli and keep functioning normally at school. Things get worse, however – MUCH worse – when the ancient gods of Iraq focus their attention on the grief-stricken family. It seems Sik’s brother brought something home with him from Iraq, and now the Plague God Nergal wants it. He’ll stop at nothing to get it, including unleashing a deadly sickness on Manhattan.
With his parents lying unconscious in a hospital, Sik will have no choice but to turn for help to Ishtar, the Goddess of Love and War. Her annoying adopted daughter is far too adept with a sword for Sik’s comfort, and the legendary warrior Gilgamesh, who may or may not exist. If they fail, Manhattan will soon be nothing but a disease-ridden memory. Iraqi mythology and Muslim main characters make this fantasy adventure a departure from the Western fantasy norm.
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The Gods of Manhattan
Written by Scott Mebus
Ages 8+ | 364 Pages
Publisher: Puffin | ISBN-13: 9780525479550
Rory Hennessy can see things no one else can. One of them is the city of Mannahatta. This spirit city lies beneath the façade of modern-day Manhattan, populated by fantastical inhabitants and ruled over by such immortal, iconic Manhattan Gods as Babe Ruth, Alexander Hamilton, and Peter Stuyvesant. However, some would prefer Mannahatta to remain unseen. Rory’s gift brings responsibility and danger – the responsibility to fix Mannahatta’s greatest wrong and danger from enemies who will do anything to stop him. In this rewriting of an infamous city’s past and present, adventure meets realism for a story that remains gripping to the very last page.
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The Jumbies
Written by Tracey Baptiste
Ages 9+ | 240 Pages
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers | ISBN-13: 9781616205928
Corinne La Mer claims she isn’t scared of anything – scorpions, teasing classmates, or even mythological jumbies. After all, these magical tricksters are just stories made up by parents to frighten their children, right? Then, an encounter with an agouti in the forbidden forest and the arrival of a beautiful stranger at the market suggests that Corinne might be wrong about this. The stranger’s name is Severine, and she plans to take over the whole island for the jumbies. Corinne must learn to use ancient magic to save her island home before it’s too late. Will her courage hold? This novel is an exciting fantasy adventure and a fascinating glimpse into Caribbean folklore and mythology.
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The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell
Written by Chris Colfer
Ages 8+ | 496 Pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | ISBN-13: 9780316453462
Alex and Connor are twins who love fairy tales. When their father dies unexpectedly, their grandmother gives them a book of tales—the same tales their father used to read to them to cheer them up. However, when the cherished book of stories launches them out of their world and into the Land of Stories: a fairytale world of magic, monsters, quests, and familiar fairytale characters, they may have gotten more than they can handle. Facing witches, goblins, wolves, mermaids, trolls, and evil Queens, the twins struggle to complete a quest that will enable them to return home. Modern-day reality and classic fairy tales collide in this page-turner adventure.
Keep Reading:
- Why Everyone Should Read Harry Potter
- Books and Gifts for Harry Potter Fans Apparating to a Bookshelf Near You
- The Best Books to Read After Harry Potter
What to Read After the Percy Jackson Series was curated by Dr. Jen Harrison. Discover more books like these titles by following along with our reviews and articles tagged with Magic, Middle Grade Books, and Mythology.
