Fantasy Worlds, a dozen recommended books for ages 9-14
In the following 12 stories, you’ll meet Hobbits and wizards on a journey, a parallel universe where people have a “daemon” like a spirit-helper, 6” tall blue men rescuing a baby, a boy who becomes the custodian of his community’s memories, an enchanting kingdom after stepping through a wardrobe, a young mage whose spell goes awry, 3 children helping a mythical creature find a matching creature to love, an underground city whose electric light is failing, fall down a rabbit hole, travel by tornado to a magical land, a boy who never grew up and a heroic tale based loosely on Welsh mythology. I have read a handful of the following series and stories and I hope you will pick up a book and read yourself into an adventure as well.
The Chronicles of Prydain (series) - Lloyd Alexander
Welsh mythology forms the basis for this tale of assistant pig-keeper Taran, who dreams of being a hero and eventually realizes that dream. Along with his companions Princess Eilonwy, and Gurgi the half-man (and of course, Hen Wen the oracular pig), Taran defends the mythical land of Prydain from the Death-lord Arawn, and in the end must decide if wants to rule Prydain himself.
Peter Pan - J. M. Barrie
Peter Pan and Tinker Bell whisk the three Darling siblings off to Neverland in J.M. Barrie's classic story about how "all children, except one, grow up." In Neverland, they encounter the Lost Boys as well as the wicked Captain Hook, who loves to feed his enemies to the crocodiles.
Oz (series) - L. Frank Baum
After Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion follow the Yellow Brick Road to the magical Land of Oz, new characters — including wooden Jack Pumpkinhead, mechanical Tik-Tok, kind Shaggy Man and beautiful Princess Ozma — are introduced in Frank Baum's imaginative, mysterious world, full of cruel Growleywogs, chatty Rigmaroles, Munchkins and mermaids.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Alice follows a talking white rabbit in a waistcoat down a rabbit hole, and from there, things only get curiouser and curiouser. After run-ins with a Mad Hatter, a hookah-puffing caterpillar, and a disappearing cat with an enigmatic grin, Alice incurs the wrath of a dangerous enemy: The Queen of Hearts.
The City of Ember - Jeanne Duprau
In the year 241, 12-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day — the day schoolchildren are told what their jobs will be — to become a Messenger so she can run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, and perhaps even glimpse Unknown Regions.
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles - Julie Edwards
With help from an eccentric professor, three children succeed in locating the last of the really great Whangdoodles, a wondrous, moose-like creature living in Whangdoodleland. There, they work to grant his heart's greatest wish: a female Whangdoodle for him to love.
The Earthsea Cycle (series) - Ursula K. Le Guin
Yearning for knowledge and power, Sparrowhawk, a young student at the School for Wizards, becomes overanxious and tries his dangerous powers too soon, unleashing a terrible evil throughout the land, as he prepares for his destiny as the greatest sorcerer in the history of Earthsea.
The Chronicles of Narnia (series) - C. S. Lewis
The four Pevensie children have been evacuated from London to the countryside during the Blitz — but when youngest child Lucy stumbles through a strange wardrobe and into the magical land of Narnia, an even wilder adventure begins. These six books lay out the history of Narnia from creation to destruction and beyond to its re-creation by the mythical lion Aslan.
The Giver - Lois Lowry
Jonas lives in a seemingly perfect world: Everyone has an assigned role, there are no choices, and no one experiences pain. But at 12, Jonas is given his lifetime assignment and he becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community — and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.
The Wee Free Men - Terry Pratchett
In a remote corner of Terry Pratchett's Discworld, a young witch-to-be named Tiffany Aching teams up with the Wee Free Men, a clan of rowdy, 6-inch-high blue men, to rescue her baby brother and ward off a sinister invasion from Fairyland.
His Dark Materials (series) - Phillip Pullman
In this hit series, young Lyra Belacqua tries to prevent kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments; helps Will Parry — a boy from another world — search for his father; and finds that she and Will are caught in a battle between the angelic forces of the Authority and those gathered by her rebel uncle, Lord Asriel.
The Hobbit: or there and back again - J. R. R. Tolkien
Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return.