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Margaret Kingsbury grew up in a house so crammed with books she couldn’t open a closet door without a book stack tumbling, and she’s brought that same decorative energy to her adult life. Margaret has an MA in English with a concentration in writing and has worked as a bookseller and adjunct English professor. She’s currently a freelance writer and editor, and in addition to Book Riot, her pieces have appeared in School Library Journal, BuzzFeed News, The Lily, Parents, StarTrek.com, and more. She particularly loves children’s books, fantasy, science fiction, horror, graphic novels, and any books with disabled characters. You can read more about her bookish and parenting shenanigans in Book Riot’s twice-weekly The Kids Are All Right newsletter. You can also follow her kidlit bookstagram account @BabyLibrarians, or on Twitter @AReaderlyMom.
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Happy Sunday, kidlit friends! While I love to read all genres, my favorite is fantasy. I grew up reading The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, and the Valdemar series, but there are so many more fantastic fantasy novels for middle grade readers nowadays. Here are some of them: two that released today and four that released earlier this year!
New Releases
The Crossbow of Destiny by Brandon Hoàng
This is an action-packed, Vietnamese fantasy adventure. It’s been a long time since Vietnamese American Freddie Lo has been to Vietnam, but her Ông ngoại (grandfather) is receiving an award and she and her family are returning. Once there, Ông ngoại tells her the legend of the Crossbow of Destiny, which turns out isn’t fictional. Her grandfather has been hiding the crossbow to keep it safe, and when he’s kidnapped, it’s up to Freddie and her friends to find it before the enemy.
Moko Magic: Carnival Chaos by Tracey Baptiste
This is another super fun urban fantasy where kids discover they have magical powers. This one is based on Afro Caribbean folklore. Misty recently moved from Trinidad to Brooklyn and is living with her aunt, uncle, and cousins until her mom can find a job. Then she and her cousins start seeing strange creatures, and they seem to have magical powers. Misty can see into the future. They learn that they’re from a long line of mokos, magical healers who help their community. Three mokos are born in each generation. It’s carnival season in Brooklyn, but an evil council member wants to shut it down. Saving the carnival will be their first challenge as mokos.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
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