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Books in general are a dazzling escape from the mundane, everyday things. A good chunk of my young adulthood was spent reading light fantasy stories. Who doesn’t love a little magic? Fantasy books take reading one step further and really take you out of the ordinary into the extraordinary. Let’s take a look at some of our favorite fantasy young adult books.

*His Dark Materials

Reading Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy was actually life changing for me and how I looked at the world. I devoured each in succession as soon as they were published: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. Lyra’s encounters with witches and talking polar bears, her relationship with her daemon (animal counterpart), meeting Will in a parallel universe, and fighting against the evil Mrs. Coulter all come together to form a brilliant tale about organized religion. The series captivated many–resulting in an electrifying two-part play in London and a (decent) movie. It was just announced that it is being developed as a television series–can’t wait!

 

*The Mists of Avalon

This may not technically be a YA book, but I most definitely read this when I was a young adult. For anyone fascinated by the legend of King Arthur and also into magical stories with strong females and romance, The Mists of Avalon is a must-read.

 

*Beauty

Robin McKinley wrote a plethora of great fairytale retellings and fantasy books featuring young women. Beauty is one of the first I remember reading. In McKinley’s version of Beauty and the Beast, Beauty is a plain girl in a family of pretty sisters. It becomes not just a tale of the Beast’s transformation, but of hers as well.

 

*Inkheart

Perhaps for a slightly younger reader than the rest of the books on this list, Inkheart is still a solid fantasy book (series, actually) for readers who love the power of words. The magical characters–good and bad–come to life (literally) as the words are read out loud by Maggie’s father. To save them all, Maggie must embark on a journey to conquer the magic and take control of the story.

 

*A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time is a classic of young adult literature. Meg Murry’s scientist father goes missing one night. She discovers that he has been working on a mysterious thing call a tesseract. With the help of three strange women–Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which–Meg, her youngest brother, Charles, and their neighbor, Calvin, go on an adventure through time and space to find Mr. Murry.

 

*The Infernal Devices

A precursor to the Shadowhunter world many may know through Cassandra Clare’s other series (The Mortal Instruments, also a movie and television show), The Infernal Devices is a great historical-fantasy series. Tessa Gray is a 16-year-old orphan from Victorian-era New York City who arrives in England to discover she has magical abilities and dark forces she must escape and defeat. At her side are Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs, two Shadowhunters with whom she falls in love. Naturally, this series has it all–suspense, adventure, mystery, and romance.

 

*Stardust

This may not strictly be classified as YA, but Neil Gaiman’s Stardust has every element of a good fantasy YA book. We meet Tristran living with his father on one side of the “Wall” (aka the human side). Tristran ventures to the other side of the wall (Faerie) in search of a fallen star to give to the town beauty slash his unrequited love. Once on the other side, he discovers the fall star is a young woman, Yvaine, and that he is part Faerie himself. Witches, pirates, kings, and adventures ensue. This one also became a movie, starring a very lovable Charlie Cox.

 

*The Chronicles of Narnia

C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia is a classic. How many people were introduced to Turkish Delights by this story?! Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy travel through a wardrobe in World War II-era England to the magical land of Narnia. They initially must defeat the White Witch who has her icy grips on the land. Adapted several times, my favorite version (after the book, of course) would have to be the original BBC version (even if James McAvoy made a great Mr. Tumnus in the recent adaptation!).

 

*Harry Potter

Of course, we’ll end our list with one of the most well-known book series of all-time: Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling made readers out of people who didn’t like to read with her wonderful tale about a little boy wizard who has to defeat the sinister Lord Voldemort. Countless numbers of children and adults grew up alongside Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Indeed, the story continues this year with a hotly anticipated companion to the sold-out London play of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I know what I’ll be doing come July 31…