13 Fantastic Books Like Keeper of the Lost Cities

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

Move over Harry Potter, there is a new middle grade fantasy series poised to take your throne! Meet Sophie Foster, a newly found elf living in the human world.

In book one of this ever-growing series, she’s taken back to the Lost Cities and sent to Foxfire Academy to learn to harness her powers as a Telepath.

In the process, she is welcomed into a new family, makes loads of friends, and uncovers a secret organization trying to destroy the human world. Books about secret societies, magical creatures, and magic? Yes, please.

All 5 of our children loved this middle grade fantasy series, and frankly, Jackie and I did too! It’s also a great family-friendly audiobook for long car trips.

We’ve got a whole list of books like KOTLC if you have already read this series of the best fantasy books for 11-year-olds.

Let the Sky Fall by Shannon Messenger

This is the first book in a YA fantasy book series known as the Sky Fall trilogy. After a tornado kills his parents, Vane can’t stop dreaming of the same pretty girl. Turns out, the girl, Audra, is a sylph who controls air and is charged with protecting his life.

After they are discovered, their lives depend on Vane remembering who he is and Audra helping him claim the power of the West Wind. But they need to not fall in love in the process.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

I don’t think there is a boy (or girl) out there who has read this middle grade fantasy series and not loved it. It is the only series that can compare to Harry Potter in terms of how much my son LOVES it.  

This first Percy Jackson book is about our beloved Percy, who discovers he is a demi-god and must recover Zeus’s stolen lightning bolt. He travels into the underworld to locate the lightning bolt and, at the same time, try to save his mother.

His amazing adventures with Annabeth and Grover along the way create the foundation for all the books that follow in this amazing and epic series. If you love Percy Jackson, you should check out our 18 Exciting Books like Percy Jackson for Fans to Enjoy or our Epic Guide to Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson Books in Order.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K Rowling

I was in university when this book was published and the first four were sitting on my younger brother’s bookshelf before I picked it up to see what the fuss was about. I read all four books in as many days and was married with a child before the final book was published. 

This is the book that introduces us to Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger; our fearless trio.  We also meet the other favorite beloved and detested characters that make the Harry Potter book series so special. After all, what would Hogwarts be without Hagrid, Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape, and Draco Malfoy?

Harry Potter shows up on our list of books like Percy Jackson too! And if you love Harry as we do, check out our 17 Books like Harry Potter for Kids Obsessed with Magic or 21 Adult Books Similar to Harry Potter for Fans of Magic.

The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer

While this story is about the land of fairy tales, think Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella, it has the element of magic and wonder that Harry Potter fans will love.  

Alex and Connor’s grandmother gives them the family book of fairy tales.  Before they understand what is happening, they find themselves transported into the book.  They set off on an adventure to get back home. We absolutely love this book and think it is one of the great read-aloud books for kids.

When it comes to books for Percy Jackson fans, this series is top of our list!

The Flame of Olympus by Kate O’Hearn

The first book in the Pegasus series gave us series KOTLC meets Percy Jackson vibes. 13-year-old Emily’s life is turned upside down after she finds a Pegasus on her roof after a storm.

Soon she is teaming up with the Greek Goddess, Diana to help get the pegasus back to Olympus and save the Gods!

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

Alice Queensmeadow wants to bring her father back and to do so, she needs to travel the magical world of Furthermore. Think of it as The Secret Garden meets Alice in Wonderland.

A pale girl on a quest for both her father and color goes to a magical, mystical place with strange and fantastical creatures. With Oliver by her side, she heads out to discover the villages of Furthermore and locate her lost father.

Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland

The first series is about 5 dragons who were told a prophecy about how they would save the world. The 5 dragons, Rain Wing, Sand Wing, Mud Wing, Sea Wing, and Night Wing, start out trapped in a cave.

They must escape the cave where they have been locked up and go out into the world to find out who they really are. If you have a middle-grade fantasy lover, this is the perfect book for them!

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

This is a middle grade mystery book for tweens that all adults should read but you can also find it on our list of books for 13-year-olds. It’s about a group of extremely gifted children who are sent to spy on an evil organization.

This is the first middle grade book in a series that is geared toward older kids. It was funny and interesting and extremely clever.

Spy School by Stuart Gibbs

The first book in Gibbs’s series is about Ben Ripley, a child CIA agent trying to defeat the evil organization Spyder. As he attends the secret junior CIA boarding school, he gets into loads of situations that put his espionage skills to good use.

In each book of the series, Ben and his fellow agents tackle a new problem. They take place at various new locations as the series progresses. It’s already 10 books deep and every pick from the series is a fun choice for a list of mystery books for tweens.

The 39 clues series by Rick Riordan, Jude Watson, and more

Grace Cahill dies and leaves orphan siblings Amy and Dan an option – 1 million dollars or a clue. Amy and Dan decided to take the clue and figure out what happened to their parents. Along the way, they run into other families on the hunt for clues.

This is like The Da Vinci code for kids. It’s a series filled with secret societies, hidden secrets, and an epic quest for treasure.

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

If the changing staircases, room of requirement, and secrets passages are your child’s favorite parts about Hogwarts, this is the series for them!

Princess Celie lives in an ever-changing castle that adds new rooms every Tuesday. She eagerly maps out each new addition that might just end up saving her family when danger heads to their home. This is one of the read-aloud books for kids that I read to my kids. We both loved it and it was a wonderful pick from bedtime stories for kids.

A Tale of Magic by Chris Colfer

Brystal Evergreen finds out that she can perform magic when reading a book from her library, but women aren’t supposed to read!

When she is sentenced to a correctional facility, she was quickly whisked away to an academy where she can learn magic! My kids devoured this middle-grade fantasy as quickly as Chris Colfer’s last series. While no correctional facility could be as bad as Azkaban, this series is a perfect pick for books like Harry Potter for kids.

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

You might want to bump this series to the top of your reading pile because it’s becoming a movie starring some big-name actors.

Sophie thinks her history makes her a good fit for the School of Good like Cinderella and Snow White before her. Agatha is thinking the School of Evil is a better fit for her. But when the opposite schools are assigned to each girl, they need to figure out who they really are and where they belong.