Best Books Like Harry Potter

I was 12 years old when the first Harry Potter book was released: the exact age of Harry in the first book. I read the entire thing in a single weekend, and can’t tell you how long I waited at the window wondering if an owl would swoop down to tell me I was on my way to Hogwarts. Each time a new book came out, I went to the Harry Potter parties at my local bookstore. When they started making movies, I watched all the films in the theater. Immersing myself in the catalog as a young reader helped to spur my imagination and inspired me to read more challenging novels. 

(Looking for Harry Potter Trivia? Try 160 Hard Harry Potter Trivia Questions and Answers.)

But Harry, Ron, and Hermione don’t have a monopoly on literary adventure series. There are plenty of other books out there that stand to capture the imagination of you or the young reader in your life. Whatever your reason for searching for books like Harry Potter, you’ll find that these titles will immerse you in new worlds full of colorful characters and exciting plotlines. 

So, what are the best books like Harry Potter? 

Best Books Like Harry Potter

There are tons of fantasy and adventure books and book series that contain the same kinds of elements you’ll find in the Harry Potter series. A group of misunderstood friends (or one misunderstood protagonist) is thrust into a series of challenges that force them to find their power and use it for good or lose it to evil. There are books with magical elements, mysteries, and books that take place in foreign countries or made-up worlds. Some of the books feature dragons while others will drag you into heartbreak. No matter your preference for potions and ghosts, the best books like Harry Potter are the ones that keep you reading, keep you invested, and keep you searching for more opportunities to expand your literary horizons. 

Have fun checking out these books, and remember: if you get a few chapters in and the book just isn’t for you, there’s no shame in a DNF (did not finish). Put that title down and move on to the next one. Who knows? You might just find your next favorite! 

The Mirror Visitor Quartet Series by Christelle Dabos 

Fans of foreign fantasy are making this four-book French series a worldwide phenomenon. 

Misunderstood Ophelia lives on Amina, an ark, which is a floating celestial city ruled by immortal ancestors. Ophelia can read the past of objects and she can pass through mirrors. When she is promised in marriage to a powerful member of a clan from a distant ark, she must follow him through a series of challenges before finding out what’s really going on. 

• A Winter’s Promise
• The Missing of Clairdelune
• The Memory of Babel 
• The Storm of Echoes 

The Lord of the Rings Books by J.R.R. Tolkien 

It’s hard to talk about books like Harry Potter without talking about The Lord of the Rings. If you’re looking to follow a rag-tag bunch of Hobbits into a fully-realized universe full of magic, power struggles, and the kind of universal questions about the nature of humanity that have made J.R.R. Tolkien a beloved author of modern literature, then these books are for you. 

• The Hobbit, Or There and Back Again  
• The Lord of the Rings 
• The Two Towers 
• The Return of the King 

The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins

Before it was a movie starring Jennifer Lawrence, the first Hunger Games book was published to great acclaim in 2008. The books take readers to a dystopian future in which a teenage boy and girl must fight to the death in a televised event. Katniss Everdeen narrates the story, and Suzanne Collins has described her as a futuristic Theseus. The series could be a great way to dive into Greek mythology with your kids, too! 

• The Hunger Games 
• Catching Fire 
• Mockingjay 
• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes 
• Sunrise on the Reaping 

The Chronicles of Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis 

The seven-book Chronicles of Narnia series was published in the 1950s and went on to sell more than 120 million copies in 47 different languages. The books will take readers of all ages on the fight for good in the fictional world of Narnia, where children from the real world are sometimes transported to protect Narnia from evil. Featuring tons of magical elements and talking animals, readers will find tons of inspiration for the Harry Potter series in the Narnia books. 

• The Magician’s Nephew
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 
• The Horse and His Boy 
• Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia 
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• The Silver Chair
• The Last Battle 

The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan 

If you’re reading a book in which a twelve-year-old protagonist must work with and against ancient Greek gods to ward off mythical enemies while coming to terms with the father he’s never known, you know you’re reading something that’s kind of like Harry Potter. The wildly popular Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan will hook your young readers and have them asking for the next book in the series right away. 

• The Lightning Thief
• The Sea of Monsters
• The Titan’s Curse
• The Battle of the Labyrinth 
• The Last Olympian 
• The Chalice of the Gods 
• Wrath of the Triple Goddess 
• The Demigod Files 

The Time Quintet by Madeleine L’Engle 

I absolutely loved A Wrinkle in Time when I was a young elementary schooler. Maybe it’s the fantastic time-traveling family of Meg Murray and Meg’s own intelligence and wit that primed me to fall in love with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Published in 1963, the series’ first book, A Wrinkle in Time, is frequently ranked as one of the most banned novels of all time, but it’s also been turned into a movie. If you’re looking for a series to open your young reader’s mind, The Time Quintet could be for you. 

• A Wrinkle in Time 
• A Wind in the Door 
• A Swiftly Tilting Planet 
• Many Waters
• An Acceptable Time 

The Wild Robot Series by Peter Brown 

A very helpful bookstore salesperson at The White Whale bookstore in Pittsburgh, PA (shout out!) helped me pick out the first Wild Robot book for my Harry Potter-loving nephew. A young robot named Roz has to find her way on a wild island, and she has to learn from the animals on the island how to survive. When my nephew opened the copy of the book I’d given him as a gift, he shrieked and said, “I already read this book! I love it!” 

• The Wild Robot 
• The Wild Robot Escapes
• The Wild Robot Protects

The Pennyroyal Academy Series by M.A. Larson  

The New York Times said it is “inevitable” to compare Pennyroyal to Harry Potter. We’re doing it with aplomb. 

• Pennyroyal Academy 
• The Shadow Cadets of Pennyroy Academy 
• The Warrior Princess of Pennyroyal Academy 

Books That Aren’t in a Series but are Still Like Harry Potter 

These books are standalone novels rather than being part of a longer series, but that doesn’t make them any less fun to read. 

39) Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headly  

This 2020 translation of the classic story of dragons, heroes, mothers, and vengeance has been buzzed about by critics and readers alike. This classic piece of English literature is worth reading as a way to contextualize Harry Potter in the full scope of literary history. 

40) The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

This classic work of literary science fiction asks us what we would do in a future not so distant from our own present in which women and their bodies are entirely controlled and the public is manipulated through extensive campaigns of propaganda and fear. 

41) The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Published in 1973 and eventually turned into an endearing and popular film directed by Rob Reiner, The Princess Bride will have you thinking about how fiction lives within itself and how the stories we tell can change our hearts. 

42) The Giver by Lois Lowry 

When 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to receive special training from The Giver, he must leave his painless world behind to receive the truth. 

43) Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt 

A young and curious girl named Winnie Foster discovers a hidden spring with life-changing powers and encounters the Tuck family, who possess a powerful secret. 

44) A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik 

New York Times Bestselling author Naomi Novik brings us this story of a dark sorceress of “is destined to rewrite the rules of magic.” Sounds like an HP follow-up to me! 

45) Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor 

The “Nigerian Harry Potter” is Time Magazine’s 100 Best Fantasy and Young Adult Books of All Time. 

Harry Potter Adjacent Reading Material, Volunteered by an 11-Year-Old

Finally, to write this article, I asked my 11-year-old nephew, who loves Harry Potter, what his favorite books are. 

“Hmm,” he said, “I like the Dog Man books.” 

“The Dog Man books?” I asked. 

“Yeah, it’s like a comic book series,” he said. 

“Great,” I said, “I’ll just Google it.” 

The Dog Man books, created by Captain Underpants author Dave Pilkey, aren’t quite like Harry Potter, but they have been given the stamp of approval by an 11-year-old boy who can’t stop picking up fantasy and adventure novels, and they contain tons of references to famous literature. If you’re looking for a diversion, here’s your sign to go read some Dog Man. 

• Dog Man 
• Dog Man Unleashed 
• Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties 
• Dog Man and Cat Kid 
• Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas 
• Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild 
• Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls 

…and so many more!