Amulet Read Alikes

Amulet is a beloved comic book that captures readers with the non-stop adventures and keeps them with the world-building. The magic and terrifying monsters are some of the biggest allures. If you have a fan of the Amulet series, here are a few books with similar pacing and adventure.

The Secret of the Ravens
Written by Joanna Cacao
Illustrated by Kyla Aiko
New York: Clarion Books, Harper Alley, imprints of HarperCollinsPunlishers, 2023. Comics. 254 pages.

Elliot and Liza are twins experiencing homelessness. They decide to participate in the raven games, which promise wealth and magic at their disposal. But a quest goes horribly wrong and Liza is poisoned. Now Elliot must do whatever it takes to find the antidote.

Wingbearer
Written by Marjorie m. Liu
Illustrated by Teny Issakhanian
New York: Quill Tree Books, HarperAlley, Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2022. Comics. 201 pages.

Zuli was raised by mystical bird spirits and has never left her safe home until a dark force threatens the bird spirits' magical, life-giving tree. She leaves on the biggest adventure of her life --one that brings her new friends, encounters with beasts, and answers about her past.

Anzu and the Realm of Darkness
Written by Mai. K. Nguyen
Illustrated by Diana Tsai Santos
New York: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2024. Comics. 254 pages.

Anzu and her family are getting ready to celebrate Obon, a holiday meant to remember their ancestors. But since her Obaachan passed away, she's not in the mood to celebrate. When she sees a dog exhibiting strange behavior and follows it off a ridge, a knocked out Anzu wakes to find herself in the underworld known as Yomi.

Shakti
Written by SJ Sindu
Illustrated by Nabi H. Ali
New York: Harper Alley, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2023. Comics. 245 pages.

Shakti cannot stand the three bullies at her school. To fight back, she draws on ancient Indian magic, but accidentally curses the whole town. She has to learn to harness her power and empathy before something terrible and irrevocable happens.

Comments

Funny Farm by Mark Teague 2009

There are things I liked about Mark Teague's newest book, Funny Farm , and things I didn't like. Where should I start? I'll do the "didn'ts" first. The illustrations show animals personified. Well, some of the animals are. The main characters, Edward, and his farm family relatives, all dogs, are humanized. They stand upright, do farm chores, eat at a table, wear clothes, knit (yes, with paws) and sleep in beds. Most everybody else on and around the farm, who are also animals, act like animals. They are outside, roll in mud, live in the barn, and require care from their owners. It struck me the most on the page spread where there are pigs playing in puddle in the rain and Edward, a black and white boxer, watches from inside the house. I thought "You're a dog! Go play with them!" But, alas, he can't, seeing as how he goes through his entire visit to the farm wearing a suit and red bow tie. Another picture that bothered me was the maple syrup pa...

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester 2008

J Fiction 328 pages I almost didn't finish this book. I got to Chapter 4, and was just about ready to quit (a kind of slow story about a girl, name of Piper McCloud, who discovers she can fly, parents freak out, she becomes a social outcast, yadda, yadda) but suddenly, right there in Chapter 4, the story takes a sharp turn and becomes really interesting . Piper finds herself in the company of others like her, but not "fliers", and under the care and authority of Dr. Hellion. I won't even tell you any more. Read this book. Forester does a great job of keeping you wondering who's the good guy and who's the bad? Piper is a likeable, strong, endearing character that girl readers will enjoy. But don't NOT give it to boys! The main male character is an extremely intelligent young man who is one of the ones you wonder about . . . good or bad? This is a good one, well worth your time.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

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