For a reader who just finished
after Dating and Dragons by Kristy Boyce · ages 13–17
Young adult · grades 8–12 · 850L
A solid entry in the dragon-rider genre that balances action with character growth, suitable for readers who enjoy fantasy but want a bit more emotional depth than pure adventure.
Same style
by Andy Weir
Young adult · ages 14–18 · grades 9–12 · 850L
A sharp, queer-affirming remix that respects its source material while asking three iconic heroines to rewrite their own stories—best for readers who love both literary reference and genuine stakes.
Young adult · ages 10–14 · grades 5–9 · 820L · 1992
The first entry point for readers ready for complex fantasy with genuine moral stakes—Daine's power grows as her confidence does, and Pierce doesn't shy from showing real consequences to violence and magic.
by Rick Riordan
Young adult · ages 10–14 · grades 5–9 · 820L
The strongest entry in the extended Percy Jackson universe — genuinely creepy, emotionally grounded, and uses the Underworld setting to explore grief, identity, and queer love with surprising depth.
Stretch them up
Young adult · ages 14–18 · grades 9–12 · 1050L · 2024
A genuine doorstop fantasy that respects teen readers' intelligence — ornate prose, deep worldbuilding, and a narrator whose unreliability becomes part of the pleasure.
Young adult · 1050L · 1952
The most philosophically rigorous American family saga; demands intellectual maturity but rewards it with a genuinely moral argument about choice and human nature that lands harder at 15–16 than at 12.
Young adult · ages 14–18 · grades 9–12 · 1050L
A play about mass hysteria and coerced confession that lands harder after every election cycle — teens wrestle with why good people participate in injustice, and it's the rare YA text that trusts them with that complexity.
Complementing on courage
Nonfiction · ages 9–12 · grades 4–7 · 820L · 1990
Freedman's accessible, photo-rich biography makes FDR's disability and determination feel immediate without sentimentality; kids grasp both the man and the era.
by Rick Riordan
Middle grade · ages 9–12 · grades 4–7 · 740L · 2008
The gold standard entry point for myths, quests, and kids who love witty protagonists — the ADHD/dyslexia angle feels earned, not decorative, and Riordan's voice carries slow readers through.
by Julie Berry
Young adult · ages 14–18 · grades 9–12 · 820L · 2016
A historically grounded love story about conviction and heresy that trusts teens to hold complexity—the Church isn't evil, the family's fear is rational, and Dolssa's choices carry real cost.
We'd skip — for now
by Chloe Walsh
A step up — ages 17–18 · grade 12
Skip it if your teen has unprocessed trauma around sexual assault or if Catholic institutional critique feels too pointed for your family right now.