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If J.K. Rowling’s recent TERFy comments (and my goodness, she’s still standing by them gosh darn it!) have you questioning all that is good and magical in the world, well, us too. But just because the thought of diving into the Harry Potter series with your impressionable young brood has suddenly lost its luster doesn’t mean bedtime stories have to be magic-free for the foreseeable. In fact, there are a ton of middle grade and YA fantasy books out there that a) are notwritten by someone who makes damaging comments towards trans folks and also that b) even do amazing work spotlighting minority characters, including kids who are LGBTQ+ and/or POC.
We spoke to queer indie bookseller extraordinaire Nicole Brinkley of Oblong Books (she’s also the chair of the New England Children’s Bookseller Advisory Council, NBD) to get her top book recs for how to un-Rowling-ify your child’s fantasy shelf. And hey, even if you’ve already read the Harry Potter books a dozen times, there’s no time like the present to diversify your library and tell the stories of so many kids whose differences prove to be their superpowers — both metaphorically and literally. These are fantasy books, after all.
Our mission at SheKnows is to empower and inspire women, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.
‘Mia Mayhem’
Nothing like a chapter book featuring a brown girl superhero to segue younger readers into the genre. This pick by Kara West and Leeza Hernandez is the perfect start to showing kids that what makes you different from others can actually be your strongest power.
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‘Zooey & Sassafras’
Another series for younger readers that features a dark-skinned heroine. Kids will be totally engrossed in Asia Citro and Marion Lindsay’s world, in which Zooey and Sassafras need to act fast to save some magical hippogriffs.
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‘Sal & Gabi Break the Universe’
Now we’re getting into the queer kids! This fantasy series by Cuban author Carlos Hernandez includes queer main characters with a side of space-time manipulation and Cuban food. Sounds pretty perfect.
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‘Felix YZ’
Felix YZ is about a gay 13-year-old who swears he would just be normal, “if it wasn’t for the fused-with-Zyx thing” that led him to become one with a hyperintelligent fourth-dimensional creature when he was a toddler. You know, normal stuff.
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$8.99
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‘The Witch Boy’
This gem by Molly Knox Ostertag is a graphic novel that deals with gender issues using magic, because what did you expect? Witch Boy stars 13-year-old Aster, who is fascinated by witchery, even though in his world only the girls are “supposed” to grow up to be witches.
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‘Snapdragon’
Kat Leyh’s amazing queer graphic novel includes a trans best friend character we adore. Join Snap as she befriends her town’s resident witch — and learns way more about herself than she expected.
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‘The Serpent’s Secret’
Bengali author Sayantani DasGupta’s series is about sixth-grader Kiranmala, who is an interdimensional demon-slayer. Well, she is one — but she doesn’t quite know it just yet. Book Three introduces a gender-nonbinary best friend character who just makes the story even more compelling.
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$7.99$8.9911% Off
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‘The Whispers’
Greg Howard is a wonderful gay author and his The Whispers features an even more wonderful gay main character: 11-year-old Riley, who is on a mission to find his missing mom with the help of a detective as well as maaaybe some fairies.
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$4.65$16.9973% Off
on Amazon.com
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‘Labrinth Lost’
Zoraida Cordova’s Latinx queer fantasy series is nothing short of epic. Teens will love following the antics of the Brooklyn Brujas, three sisters who are also witches because obviously. Author Janiel Jose Older called Labyrinth Lost “A brilliant brown-girl-in-Brooklyn update on Alice in Wonderland and Dante’s Inferno. Very creepy, very magical, very necessary.” We couldn’t agree more.
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$9.29$10.9915% Off
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‘Mask of Shadows’
This one, starring a non-binary main character, will win over any Hunger Games fan. Sallot Leon is a thief looking for a better life via an audition to join the Queen’s band of personal assassins.
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$8.79
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‘Not Your Sidekick’
This whole C.B. Lee series features Asian characters kicking butt — but notably, Not Your Villain stars a rad main character who is trans as well. Oh, and it also features the threat of militarized robots. So, pretty much like 2020 America too. Sigh.
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$11.81$16.9930% Off
on Amazon.com
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