9 Fantasy Books for Teens and Tweens Who Loved ‘Children of Blood and Bone’

Staff AuthorSun, August 23, 2026 at 12:40 PM UTC

0

Credit: Paramount

Reading is a great gift that has the power to open portals in the mind. A love of books is one of the greatest gifts that my parents ever gave me. Throughout my young adult years, I was never confused when I saw regal images of African kings and queens. My parents had already done the work of exposing me to diverse literature that shaped my perception of the continent of Africa and its many histories.

As a parent, I must confess that I was joyfully amused to see New York Times bestselling author Tomi Adeyemi’s young adult books Children of Blood and Bone and Children of Virtue and Vengeance on my daughter’s bedside table a few years ago. Written in the magical realism, afrofuturism, and speculative fiction genres, these books depict an African-inspired fantasy world where African characters recognize their supernatural power in the Kingdom of Orisha.

Themes in the book explore systemic oppression and colonialism, stripping a people and land of natural resources, and the responsibility that comes along with power. But what I love most about the books is the depictions of an Africa “unchained,” a magical people who are transcendent, and the beautiful way in which the characters and landscape are described.

When Children of Blood and Bone published in 2018, the book immediately gained a global following from people of all backgrounds. A movie based on the book will be released in 2027.

This list for teens and tweens who love YA fantasy, afrofuturism, and speculative fiction highlights age-appropriate books that lean into diversity, culture, history, magic, and more.

Beasts of Prey by Ayana Gray

In a lush, Pan-African-inspired fantasy world, 16-year-old Koffi and aspiring warrior Ekon form an unlikely alliance to hunt the terrifying Shetani, a monster that has haunted the city of Lkossa for generations. As they venture into a dangerous magical jungle, the story explores courage, freedom, friendship, power, and what it means to challenge the roles society has handed you. With its vivid mythology, Black protagonists, and richly imagined world, Beasts of Prey offers teens an adventurous read that is also a thoughtful conversation about survival, class, family responsibility, and finding strength in unexpected places.

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Imagine Pacific Rim colliding with Chinese history, mythology, and a fierce feminist revenge story: 18-year-old Zetian volunteers to become a concubine-pilot so she can avenge her sister, only to discover that the military system is far more sinister than she imagined.

Inspired by the historical figure Wu Zetian, China’s first and only female emperor, Iron Widow takes on patriarchy, misogyny, exploitation, rage, power, and the price of refusing to be controlled. The story is bold and high-energy while giving teen readers plenty to discuss about the gender politics of power. What I like most about this book is that it poses the important question: “Are some rules meant to be broken?”

Tangleroot by Kalela Williams

Noni Reid would much rather spend her summer pursuing her dream of working in costume design than moving with her mother into Tangleroot Plantation, a Virginia estate built by one of Noni’s ancestors, an enslaved man named Cuffee Fortune. Then her journey to her mother’s home becomes a compelling mystery as Noni investigates buried graves, family secrets, the history of a prestigious college, and the enduring racism woven through her community.

Tangleroot creates a layered coming-of-age story about ancestry, motherhood, identity, historical memory, and the courage it takes to uncover truths that powerful people would rather leave hidden; as the author puts it, Noni “discovers the history of her town, her home, the community it once stood upon, her mother, and herself.”

Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker

Set in contemporary New Orleans, this atmospheric fantasy follows twins Cris and Clem Trudeau, heirs to a powerful magical family, as they race to save their cursed mother while confronting rival magical dynasties and a murder mystery that reaches deep into their family’s past.

Advertisement

Alongside magic, romance, and political intrigue, Benton-Walker explores justice, Black identity, family loyalty, intergenerational trauma, queer love, and the difficult question of whether breaking a cycle of violence requires forgiveness, confrontation, or something in between.

The cultural heart of Blood Debts is especially powerful: Benton-Walker created the world “For Black and Black Queer kids who deserve to see themselves centered in a fantasy story, too,” making this an exciting choice for readers hungry for representation alongside their supernatural thrills.

Illusions of Fire by Nisha Sharma

Laila Bansal seems like an ordinary teen in upstate New York, but she is secretly descended from a magical bloodline and trained by her immortal Rakshasi aunts to fight monsters; then Karan arrives, bringing his own connection to the divine and a dangerous curse that could unleash mythical creatures upon their town.

In Illusions of Fire, Sharma blends Hindu mythology, romance, family expectations, prophecy, and action into a story about young people discovering that inherited identities can be both a gift and a burden. As Sharma’s website describes it, this is a story of “First love. First kill. Just another day,” for a monster-slayer trained by Hindu demons, a playful hook for a fantasy that also invites conversations about heritage, destiny, and belonging.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Yadriel, a transgender Latinx teen, is determined to prove to his traditional family that he is a real “brujo”. He performs a ritual on his own and accidentally summons Julian, a ghost who has absolutely no intention of quietly moving on. Their supernatural adventure becomes an unexpectedly tender story about gender identity, family acceptance, grief, friendship, and first love. For parents, educators, and teen readers, Cemetery Boys offers meaningful representation without reducing Yadriel’s story to his identity. What I like most about his character is that it is written beautifully and in a multidimensional manner. He gets to be funny, stubborn, romantic, magical, brave, and fully himself while navigating life with both the living and the dead.

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

In a world where ancient gods have awakened and war is raging, 18-year-old Iris Winnow is trying to hold her struggling family together while competing with the infuriatingly talented Roman Kitt for a coveted newspaper position. When Iris’s letters to her missing brother mysteriously travel through her wardrobe door into Roman’s hands, an anonymous correspondence blossoms into a tender connection that follows them from the newsroom toward the front lines.

With its typewriters, magical letters, wartime atmosphere, and enemies-to-lovers romance, Divine Rivals beautifully explores grief, courage, family, hope, and the ways words can become a lifeline when everything else feels uncertain.

A Forgery of Fate by Elizabeth Lim

Truyan Saigas is a gifted art forger who can paint glimpses of the future, but after her father disappears and her family falls into debt, even her unusual magic cannot protect the people she loves. Desperate for a way forward, Tru agrees to marry a mysterious dragon lord and enters an underwater palace, where she becomes entangled in a dangerous scheme against a tyrannical Dragon King. Readers will encounter romance, betrayal, mythical creatures, and high-stakes magic along the way. In Forgery of Fate, Lim combines the fairy-tale echoes of Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid with a grown-up twist, exploring how Truyan finds the courage to paint her own future rather than accept the one someone else has chosen for her.

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

After Leigh Chen Sanders’s mother dies by suicide, Leigh becomes convinced that her mother has transformed into a red bird. The revelation sends her on a dreamlike journey from the United States to Taiwan to meet the grandparents that she barely knows, on a quest to uncover the family history she longs to understand.

The Astonishing Color of After is written in the style of magical realism, moving between themes of memory, art, and ancestry, grief, and first love. The novel gives readers a deeply emotional portrait of a biracial Taiwanese American teen trying to understand both where she comes from and how she can move forward. It is ultimately a story about healing and remembrance, and discovering that family history can hold both pain and belonging.

This YA novel provides many opportunities for parents to have conversations around the themes of grief, cultural identity, and art.

on Parents

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”