Did you hear that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis turned 70 years old last month? To celebrate the enduring legacy of Narnia I thought it’d be fun to explore some other portal fantasy stories and the unique ways people get into fantasy worlds. The Pevensies and gang got into Narnia and other worlds through not only the wardrobe but a painting, some rings & pools, and just standing on a train station platform. There are a whole bunch of stories about people being transported into and out of books, so I’m not going to include those since I will likely do a whole separate Brainstorm on those. I’m also not going to include any demigod stories as those also have the potential for their own Brainstorm. I’m also going to leave off classic portal stories that existed before Narnia, like Peter Pan, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and The Wizard of Oz. The books in today's Brainstorm are all just average humans sucked into a fantasy world one way or another. Most creative portal goes to Brandon Mull’s Beyonders series in my opinion, I’ll just let you read my summary and find out why. For the recommendations that involve an entire series, clicking the series name will take you to my review of the first book in the series. For the stand alone books, clicking the title link will go to that specific title. Enjoy venturing to other worlds!
The Beyonders series by Brandon Mull
Jason, 8th grader and baseball pitcher, finds himself entering an alternate universe after getting swallowed by a hippo. (Yes, you read that right. A hippo.) Jason finds himself drawn into a quest to save this other world from the evil magician-emperor. As a person from Earth, he is known as a Beyonder. He quickly meets Rachel, another Beyonder around his age who was brought to this world the same time as he was. Some even believe they were called there. He meets all sorts of people and creatures as he finds himself in quite a variety of locations on this quest.
This series has been steadily popular with the teens and tweens since it came out. It’s also a great segue series for kids in that stage of transitioning between middle grade and young adult.
Target Readers:
Epic Fantasy Fans, Normal Kids to the Rescue Story Fans, Dystopia Fans, Imaginative World Building Fans, Middle Grade & Young Adult Readers
The Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones
Enter a world stuck on replaying an epic fantasy cycle of bad guy in charge, good guys come to the world to rescue them, all so that tourists from a real world can get their kicks being the heroes in a fantasy adventure. But the world has had enough, and this time they want a real hero.
Jones, a master of the fantasy genre, has fun poking fun at fantasy tropes, and the result is quite funny. You can read this as a stand alone, or if you want more, pick up The Year of the Griffin too.
Target Readers:
Fantasy Fans, Humor Fans, Young Adult Readers
The Five Kingdoms series by Brandon Mull
Cole and his friends manage to find a haunted house on Halloween that proves scarier than anything they ever dreamed, because the house is a trap and the people running it kidnap them and take them through a portal to a totally different world. Cole evades their clutches for a little while, but follows his friends through the portal in hopes of rescuing them…only to end up captured as well, and headed to a life of slavery. Cole's friends Jenna and Dalton are headed to the High King, but Cole is sold to the Sky Raiders. The Sky Raiders use Cole as a scout on their raiding missions. But these raiding missions are unlike anything Cole has seen before. First of all, there's the fact that they're raiding castles floating in the air. Secondly, there's the fact that these castles are usually guarded by semblences, magically created creatures that aren't as real away from their castles, but are quite deadly on their floating abodes. Cole's job as a scout is to see what kind of nasty semblences might be lurking on castles before everyone jumps in for the raid. Yep, he's pretty much bait. The good news is that he only has to survive 50 of them and then he's a free man...of course, the fact that few people live past 15 raids isn't very encouraging. Cole doesn't get quite that far before his life as a Sky Raider gets drastically interrupted. Fellow Sky Raider Mira is not who she seems and some seriously bad guys are after her. Cole, Jace and Twitch all help Mira (and themselves) escape from the Raiders and aid Mira in her escape/mission.
The kids go on in the next 4 books trying to find and free all the other human kids brought to this land, while also helping the people of the land get out from under the rule of a tyrant.
Target Readers:
Fantasy Fans, Imaginative Worldbuilding Fans, Adventure Fans, Epic Quest Fans, Dystopia Fans, Middle Grade Readers
Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi
Alice Alexis Queensmeadow has never liked Oliver since the day he made fun of her lack of color at school. Alice has always been self-conscious about her conspicuous lack of coloring in a world where color is a sign of magic build up. Alice has successfully avoided Oliver and most others for years. But then, Oliver has the gumption to talk to her and suggest that he knows where her father disappeared to...and that he needs her help to find him. Well, Alice may not like Oliver much at all, but she dearly loves her Father and misses him everyday. So she agrees to help Oliver on his quest. But Alice has no idea what she's getting herself into. Oliver takes her to a totally different magical world from Ferenwood; he takes her to Futhermore. Ferenwood may have its quirks, but it's nothing like the craziness of Furthermore. The strange new lands and customs would be confusing enough without Oliver being such a tight-lipped, confusing guide. Alice and Oliver must learn quite a lot more than the quirks of Furthermore if they want to survive and rescue Alice's father.
Target Readers:
Fantasy Fans, Lyrical Writing Fans, Alice in Wonderland Inspired Story Fans, Imaginative World Building Fans, Middle Grade Readers
Journey trilogy by Aaron Becker
Target Readers:Fantasy Fans, Imaginative Story Fans, Wordless Book Fans, Picture Book Readers
Lift by Minh Lê, ill. by Dan Santat
Iris is the elevator pusher. It is her job until her little brother betrays her one day. Iris isn't happy. At all. But then she sees something the elevator repairman threw out, takes it home, and discovers a wondrous new thing that's all her own.
Target Readers:
Fantasy Fans, Sibling Story Fans, Imaginative Story Fans, Picture Book Readers
The Map to Everywhere series by Carrie Ryan & John Parke Davis
Marrill is bemoaning the fact that her mother is sick again and they can't move on to the next exciting locale when she encounters a magic ship in the Pirate Stream, which appears out of nowhere in a parking lot in Phoenix, AZ. After the magician onboard heals her of a little run-in with a magical barnacle, she realizes he could heal her mom. She hops on board to ask him to do so, and inadvertently is swept away on the magical Pirate Stream on quite the adventure. To be able to find their way back to Phoenix, the crew will need to find the Map to Everywhere, which is in pieces all over the magical universe. As they hunt for the map, they also pick up Fin, a master thief who is extremely forgettable. In fact, Marrill is one of the few people to ever remember Fin beyond five minutes. Fin is also on a hunt. A hunt for his mother and hopes to use the map for his quest. Fin has in his possession a special key that the evil Oracle needs to seal everyone's doom. It is a race to find the pieces of the map, survive the strange new places visited along the way, and avoid the end of the world.
Target Readers:
Fantasy Fans, Adventure Fans, Pirate Ship Adventure Fans, Epic Quest Fans, Middle Grade Readers
Nevermoor series by Jessica Townsend
Morrigan Crow has known since forever exactly when she would die. Not that it is a big secret. She was born on Eventide, which means she'll die at midnight before the next age begins on her eleventh birthday, and also means everyone knows she's cursed. Her long-suffering father has paid off many a person who fell foul of her look or touch, though Morrigan doesn't believe half of them are really her fault. As the age draws to a close and her death looms, Morrigan is desperate for any sign of affection from her family or hope that she could live to see twelve. Hope comes in the funniest packages, like a wildly dressed ginger-haired man named Jupiter who snatches her away to the land of Nevermoor and sponsors her as a candidate for the Wundrous Society. But others don't want her to pass the trials for Society membership, her sponsor seems to forget to train her at all, and if she fails she will be sent back to her home to the death she narrowly evaded.
It is hard to summarize this without giving things away or spoiling the fun, and I totally can’t tell you what books 2 or 3 are about without major spoilers. The first book’s got the big mystery of what Morrigan's big talent is that Jupiter thinks will get her into the society, and the trials she has to pass to keep in the competition. But between those you get to explore the Hotel Deucalion Jupiter owns, which is has its own personality and decorating abilities. There's also the hotel residents to get to know, a varied assortment of entertaining personalities. This series is one of my 2 go-to series I hand to kids who ask if I have anything similar to Harry Potter. And it is pretty popular. Book 3 just came out, so this series, unlike all the others in this Brainstorm, is still ongoing.
Target Readers:
Fantasy Fans, Magical School Fans, Imaginative World Building Fans, Middle Grade Readers
Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell
Gwen always thought her mom was slightly crazy. They constantly move, and it feels like her mom is scared of her own shadow. Gwen hopes the paranoia isn't genetic. But then one night Gwen leaves the window open and finds herself kidnapped by terrifying creatures only to awaken on a ship in what the captain claims is Neverland. This isn't the Neverland of Mr. Barrie's stories, though. It is much more sinister. The island is a constantly changing place eager to trap you. There are creatures in the sea eager to devour you, shadows are portals for the creatures who kidnapped Gwen, and there is something in the air that makes humans forget most if not all of their past. Gwen has to fight hard to remember who she is, and when she finds out that her best friend Olivia is also in Neverland, she will stop at nothing to get to her and find a way to get both of them back. But who to trust? The pirate captain she's witnessed slaughter other boys? Pan, the hero of Barrie's stories? Or the Fey who seem like they'd just as soon eat you as help you? Perhaps the bigger question, though, is who brought Gwen and Olivia to this land, and why?
Target Readers:
Fantasy Fans, Neverland-inspired Story Fans, Thriller Fans, Young Adult Readers
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