Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been drawn to stories that feature mysterious locales and secret objects and strange or magical occurrences, so books with these elements—particularly when the main characters in the books are young people learning about themselves and the world around them—are often very satisfying to me. There’s something naturally engaging, I believe, in tales where someone is thrust into a disorienting situation and has to make sense of the uncertainty he or she faces. The books I’ve written for young readers all tend in this direction, and so I’m always on the hunt for stories along these same lines.


I wrote

Book cover of Winterhouse

What is my book about?

Orphan Elizabeth Somers’s malevolent aunt and uncle ship her off to the ominous Winterhouse Hotel, owned by the peculiar Norbridge…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The House with a Clock in Its Walls

Ben Guterson Why did I love this book?

This book, which came out in 1973, was John Bellairs’ first novel for young readers (it remains his most popular) and featured a dozen shadowy illustrations by eventual Goth favorite Edward Gorey. In it, Lewis Barnavelt arrives at his uncle’s creepy-intriguing house and embarks on the sorts of adventures I think many kids wish for themselves: encounters with magic and the people who can work it; discoveries of clues and puzzles and mysterious books; evasions of danger; and the company of gentle grown-ups one leap beyond their parents. This book completely fired my imagination when my fifth-grade teacher read it aloud to my class years ago, and it has stayed with me ever since. 

By John Bellairs,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked The House with a Clock in Its Walls as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

The American classic - now a major motion picture from Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, starring Cate Blanchett, Jack Black and Kyle MacLachlan

Lewis Barnavelt doesn't have time on his side...

When Lewis Barnavelt, an orphan, comes to stay with his uncle Jonathan, he expects to meet an ordinary person. But he is wrong. Uncle Jonathan and his next-door neighbour, Mrs Zimmermann, are both witches! Lewis couldn't be happier. What's not to like about seeing his uncle practise spells and eating Mrs Zimmermann's delicious cookies?

At first, watching magic is enough. Then Lewis experiments with magic himself and unknowingly resurrects the…


Book cover of The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid

Ben Guterson Why did I love this book?

This humorous, intelligent tale—about a diplomat’s son who befriends a troupe of young pickpockets in early-‘60s Marseilles—is a brisk read by a writer who cares as much about the rhythm of his sentences as he does the arc of his story. Before our hero knows it, he’s caught up in a life of excitement that begins to make sense to him—until it doesn’t. Full of surprises, including one that walloped this reader as much as it does the main character, this novel navigates a shadowy and unexpected world where young teens talk like seasoned criminals, and friendship itself is a risky proposition.

By Colin Meloy, Carson Ellis (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Whiz Mob and the Grenadine Kid as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

From the creators of the New York Times bestselling Wildwood Chronicles comes an original, humorous, and fast-paced middle grade novel about a band of child pickpockets—imagine The Invention of Hugo Cabret meets Oliver Twist.

It is an ordinary Tuesday morning in April when bored, lonely Charlie Fisher witnesses something incredible. Right before his eyes, in a busy square in Marseille, a group of pickpockets pulls off an amazing robbery. As the young bandits appear to melt into the crowd, Charlie realizes with a start that he himself was one of their marks.

Yet Charlie is less alarmed than intrigued. This…


Book cover of The Thief Lord

Ben Guterson Why did I love this book?

Long a favorite of mine, every couple of years I enjoy returning to this book about two brothers who fall in with a group of Venetian street children and the young master-thief who oversees them. Funke's classic, assured style grants this relatively contemporary novel (first published in Germany in 2000) a charming, old-fashioned sensibility, while the pacing and characterization should appeal to the most modern of readers, at least to my eyes. The book has everything I love in stories for young readersmystery, magic, friendship, and startling plot twists–and the interior illustrations done by Funke herself are lovely.

By Cornelia Funke, Christian Birmingham (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Thief Lord as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 9, 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

The magical multi-award-winning modern classic from master
storyteller and New York Times-bestselling author,
Cornelia Funke - over a million copies sold worldwide!

'A completely delicious read.' THE OBSERVER

'Today's young readers will probably love this book as they
love the Harry Potter series' THE NEW YORK
TIMES

'My enjoyment of The Thief Lord grew and grew as
I read it' DIANA WYNNE JONES

Winter
has come early to Venice.

Two orphaned children are
on the run, hiding among the crumbling canals and misty alleyways
of the city. Befriended by a gang of street children and their
mysterious leader, the Thief…


Book cover of The Secret Keepers

Ben Guterson Why did I love this book?

Trenton Lee Stewart’s follow-up to his enormously popular and influential “Mysterious Benedict Society” series was received with puzzlement by many fans expecting a retread of the MBS adventures, but I find this audacious, intricately-plotted, wildly implausible tale somewhat irresistible. It all kicks off when eleven-year-old Reuben, at once introverted and adventure-seeking, discovers a strange watch that ensnares him in deep troubles. Finding his way out proves endlessly complex and bewildering as Reuben sifts through one peril after the next. It’s a beguiling tale for those doubly-willing to suspend disbelief—Stewart dares the reader to try.

By Trenton Lee Stewart, Diana Sudyka (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Secret Keepers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

This provocative analysis of U.S. relations with Cambodia from the 1950s to the present illuminates foreign policy issues that remain especially pertinent in the aftermath of the Cold War, as we attempt to formulate new approaches to a changed but still threatening international situation. Based on interviews with more than 100 diplomats, journalists, and scholars who have been involved with the Cambodian peace process, Michael Haas' book brings to light new information on a complex chain of events and casts doubt on official accounts of U.S. policies toward Cambodia.

Haas sorts through the tangle of misinformation, anti-communist hysteria, secret operations,…


Book cover of James and the Giant Peach

Ben Guterson Why did I love this book?

Bizarre, misshapen, and sweet, this is the Roald Dahl book I find most alluring. A much-beloved tale, the plot sounds phantasmagoric in distillation: a house-sized peach sprouts overnight from a tree outside the shack where young James is essentially kept imprisoned by two cruel aunts; the boy tunnels into the fruit’s pit, befriends the band of enormous talking insects within, and the whole gang embarks on an adventure where the peach bobs out to sea, is carried through the air by hundreds of seagulls, is attacked by creatures who live on clouds, and eventually comes to rest on the spire of the Empire State Building. Intrigue, humor, and rambunctious versifying abound—and the once-forlorn James is not only unvanquished but happy. Nice ending.

By Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked James and the Giant Peach as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl in magnificent full colour.

James Henry Trotter lives with two ghastly hags. Aunt Sponge is enormously fat with a face that looks boiled and Aunt Spiker is bony and screeching. He's very lonely until one day something peculiar happens. At the end of the garden a peach starts to grow and GROW AND GROW. Inside that peach are seven very unusual insects - all waiting to take James on a magical adventure. But where will they go in their GIANT PEACH and what will happen to the horrible aunts if they stand…


Explore my book 😀

Book cover of Winterhouse

What is my book about?

Orphan Elizabeth Somers’s malevolent aunt and uncle ship her off to the ominous Winterhouse Hotel, owned by the peculiar Norbridge Falls. Upon arrival, Elizabeth quickly discovers that Winterhouse has many charms―most notably its massive library. It’s not long before she locates a magical book of puzzles that will unlock a mystery involving Norbridge and his sinister family. But the deeper she delves into the hotel’s secrets, the more Elizabeth starts to realize that she is somehow connected to Winterhouse. As fate would have it, Elizabeth is the only person who can break the hotel’s curse and solve the mystery. But will it be at the cost of losing the people she has come to care for, and even Winterhouse itself?

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Serendipity

By Maria de Fátima Santos,

Book cover of Serendipity

Maria de Fátima Santos Author Of Serendipity

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I have been fascinated by the richness of fairy tales since I was a child. The fantasy writing offers endless possibilities to nourish my mind’s eye and pearls of wisdom that I can transfer to real life. I remember from childhood that I cried reading the Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. This childhood memory never left me. Fantasy writing is interwoven with the realm of nature and beings other than humans that offer a tapestry for the tradition of storytelling and nature writing, which I found a fascinating field to explore. I hope you can find the same in the books on this list.

Maria's book list on nature and fantasy storytelling for children

What is my book about?

Serendipity is a magical story told by a grandmother to a granddaughter, introducing us to the traditional way of living of the Scottish Travellers and their Cant language.

A fantasy tale for children of 8 years old and older inspired by three real places in Scotland. Serendipity takes us to Helge's Hole in Forres, the Hermitage Forest in Dunkeld, and Glen Lyon in Perth on a quest for Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. It's a story of a grandmother's greater love for a granddaughter, a mother for a daughter, and the boundless bounty of the natural realm for each one of…

Serendipity

By Maria de Fátima Santos,

What is this book about?

Not so long ago, nomadic communities in Scotland told stories around camp fires and slept in bow tents made of hazel and canvas. In this book, their culture is introduced through Cant's vocabulary, a dialect spoken by Scottish travellers. Following them, Serendipity takes you to Helge's Hole in Forres, Hermitage Forest in Dunkeld, and Glen Lyon in Perth, meandering through the valleys and cragged peaks of the Scottish Highlands, in a quest for Truth, Beauty and Goodness.

Dive into Scottish culture as the old grandmother, Julia, recounts to her granddaughter Gaia the tale of a little girl of pure heart.…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in magic-supernatural, secrets, and diplomats?

Magic-Supernatural 644 books
Secrets 266 books
Diplomats 17 books