These five novels, recommended for intermediate and/or middle school readers, are set in imaginative fantasy worlds. For more, see the Fantasy tag on hbook.com, and the Fantasy tag in the Guide/Reviews Database.

Wicked Marigold
by Caroline Carlson
Intermediate    Candlewick    256 pp.
7/24    9781536230499    $17.99
e-book ed.  9781536237573    $17.99

Eleven-year-old Princess Marigold has grown up in the shadow of her perfect older sister, Rosalind, who was abducted by a wizard long before Marigold was born. When Rosalind miraculously finds her way home, Marigold is ambivalent and rashly decides that she’s wicked and doesn’t belong in the kingdom. She runs away to a place where she can embrace her so-called wickedness: the fortress of the wizard who held Rosalind captive for fifteen years. She can stay with Wizard Torville and his imp, Pettifog, if she passes a test to prove that she’s evil: “I’ll give you seven days to do something so vile that even an imp can’t deny your wicked nature.” Hijinks ensue (including Marigold mistakenly turning Torville into a sentient blob). When a pair of wizards plots to destroy a peace treaty among the kingdoms, Marigold must reckon with what it really means to be wicked. What began as sisterly revenge becomes part of a complicated web of spells that could undo the Cacophonous Kingdoms altogether. Carlson’s deftly told story tackles questions of good versus evil and sibling bonds with a cast of oddball creatures and lots of humor. Clever, quirky, and cozy. GRACE MCKINNEY BEERMANN

A Game of Noctis
by Deva Fagan
Intermediate    Atheneum    320 pp.
4/24    9781665930192    $17.99
e-book ed.  9781665930215    $10.99

Ever since the plague three centuries ago, during which the Prince of Dantessa challenged Lady Death to a game of noctis for the lives of her people, inhabitants of the tiny magical island compete for wealth and standing by taking wagers in the Great Game, the magic system that oversees all games of chance. But when Pia’s Gramps loses a final game and is banished, Pia will do whatever it takes to win the money it would take to recall him to play. Her opportunity comes when she is recruited by the Seafoxes into a tournament that carries a hefty prize. Their chief rival is the Krakens, captained by Renzo, once Pia’s greatest childhood friend but now her enemy. Can the Seafoxes compete in an arena where the wealthy can afford magical boons that give them considerable advantages — and can they find a way to break the Great Game so that wealth doesn’t automatically equal winning? Befitting a society run by games, some of the magic is silly (one game involves dueling with swordfish; some boons involve being given zebra stripes or invulnerability while standing on one foot), but things become very serious when Lady Death herself appears in order to compete in the tournament. Inventive and unexpected, this creative fantasy will entertain readers while striking deeper notes of honor and teamwork in the face of peril. ANITA L. BURKAM

Island of Whispers
by Frances Hardinge; illus. by Emily Gravett
Intermediate, Middle School    Amulet/Abrams    120 pp.
8/24    9781419774331    $19.99
e-book ed.  9798887073118    $17.99

Milo’s father has a vital role to play on the island of Merlank: he’s the Ferryman, responsible for transporting the Dead to a place where their spirits are free to depart, no longer hampered by Merlank’s clingy mist. Otherwise, the Dead would linger, blighting the land and killing others with their fatal gaze. Thus, when the grieving Lord of Merlank causes Milo’s father’s death, Milo must become the Ferryman and sail the Evening Mare, despite what his father always deemed the dangers of Milo’s sympathetic, imaginative spirit. Don’t listen to them; don’t look at them, was his father’s self-protective way with the Dead. But when the Lord’s daughter writes a poem on the deck, desperate for her words to go on living despite her early demise, Milo realizes that listening, recording, and sharing can also be part of the Ferryman’s job. Gravett’s spectacularly misty, atmospheric illustrations, all in shades of indigo, heighten what is most elusive and poignant about Hardinge’s story — the sorrow of endings, the significance of last messages, and the inexorability of mortality. Hardinge’s own poetic language (most clearly visible in the girl’s poem: “The gnats sing the sun to sleep / Over the lake the air cools / Twinned birds fly through two pink skies”) brings multiple shimmering layers to both plot and imagery in this melancholic, fantastical tale. DEIRDRE F. BAKER

Splinter & Ash
by Marieke Nijkamp
Intermediate, Middle School    Greenwillow    368 pp.
9/24    9780063326262    $18.99
e-book ed.  9780063326286    $9.99

Princess Ash, feeling alone at court and conspicuous with her cane and braces, makes the daring move of taking Splinter as her squire — Splinter, who isn’t a boy, but “not a girl, either” (referred to with she/her pronouns in the story), and who feels most like herself wearing her brother’s armor. The course of study required of squires isn’t easy, particularly because Ash’s older brother Lucen, the crown prince, makes it his mission to drive Splinter away. Meanwhile, Ash is asked by her mother, the queen, to spy on one of the noble families to try to discover who among them is working against the crown. Due to Lucen’s interference, Splinter is absent when Ash is abducted by the conspirators, and Splinter and a guilt-stricken Lucen set out together to rescue her. The action takes many breathtaking turns, from Ash’s attempts to escape from her captors to Splinter and Lucen facing peril while working out their fraught relationship, culminating in a gratifying reveal at the climax. Greater geopolitical forces swirling around the characters raise the stakes, and the close relationship between Ash and Splinter, Lucen’s efforts to remake himself into a person worthy of knighthood, and Splinter’s determination to never be anyone but herself make this homage to Tamora Pierce’s Tortall series fully worthy of readers’ admiration and delight. ANITA L. BURKAM

Kingdom of Dust
by Lisa Stringfellow
Intermediate, Middle School    Quill Tree/HarperCollins    224 pp.
8/24    9780063043480    $18.99
e-book ed.  9780063043503    $9.99

In this West African–inspired fantasy, the kingdom of Kun has always flourished under the rule of a child of Oala, the goddess of creation, but now it languishes under the tyranny of King Udo, who seized the throne and brought with him a calamitous drought. The rivers have shriveled, crops have withered, and famine grips the land, leaving the people starving and destitute. Amid this desolation, twelve-year-old Amara and her adoptive mother, Zirachi, struggle to survive. When Udo learns of the crescent-shaped birthmark on Amara’s neck, he sends his soldiers to capture her, believing she holds the power to challenge his rule. With the help of both old allies and newfound friends, Amara escapes and embarks on a quest that may lead her to the truth of her identity, the downfall of Udo, and the salvation of her kingdom. This is a fast-paced and suspenseful adventure story with rich world-building and a compelling narrative. While the fantastical journey is at the heart of the story, the book also emphasizes the emotional and psychological growth of its resilient young protagonist, making it a layered and engaging tale. S. R. TOLIVER

From the November 2024 issue of Notes from the Horn Book.