Books like The Serpent's Secret — picked by fans

Imagine a contemporary fantasy, driven by sword-wielding, swashbuckling, mystically empowered, ghostbusting teenagers. Yup. That is the cool twist in Jonathan Stroud’s Lockwood & Co. Series.

He’s best known for the Bartimaeus Trilogy, and takes all of his fantasy worldbuilding craft to design a modern world where ghosts are not only real but common and quite deadly to us living folk. You will fall in love with Lockwood and Lucy, sense the tension between them, and yet be relieved to discover that their connection isn’t the predictable stuff of typical teen romance.

The remarkable ghosts are similar to fantasy races. Rather than elves, gnomes, warlocks, etc., you have screamers, wailers, howling maids, and a whole host of specific ghost types that I dare not spoil. If you like fantasy with a touch of creepy, you’ll love Lockwood & Co.

A Southern Gothic historical horror, Hoodoo is a story of fair and foul folk magic in 1930s Alabama. Hoodoo Hatcher is the only person in his family without a knack for the hoodoo that gave him his name—and that’s a problem, because the evil Stranger is coming for him, and he’ll need all the courage and smarts he can summon to keep himself and his family safe. To me, the greatest joy of this wonderful book is Hoodoo’s distinctive, humorous voice, and Ron Butler brings him perfectly to life in his performance; it’s not easy for an adult to make a child’s voice sound authentic, but Butler knocks it out of the park. 

This was my first experience with Jonathan Auxier and it made me into an instant and always fan of his books. Its fairytale-like feel and enthralling story of Peter Nimble, a blind orphan and master thief, was so wonderful to read, I experienced some serious book withdrawal when I reached the end. (Luckily, we get to spend more time in Peter’s world in Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard!) This book’s story and characters are so beautifully crafted, you’ll probably want to read this one more than once—like I did!

I loved Stanley’s self-aware and endearingly dry sense of humor as he grapples with anxiety as well as his comic-book obsession, which becomes contagious throughout the book. I loved following his journey from a middle-school kid who passes out during a school safety presentation to one who discovers his inner courage thanks to his love of comics—and some mindfulness breathing techniques woven throughout, as well.

It was refreshing to read a book featuring a boy struggling with anxiety, and I loved rooting for him as he went on a comic trivia scavenger hunt, to Comic Con, and even as he muddled his way through family and friendship hardships. I was truly sad when the story ended; along the way, he became a hero in his own right!

Eleven-year-old Mimi is the youngest child in a family full of high-achievers. Determined to prove herself, she enters a baking contest at a newly opened bakery in town, but when strange things begin happening to those around her (such as her food critic dad losing his sense of taste), Mimi must pair her culinary skills with her detective skills to get to the bottom of the magical mystery. 

If I had to pick one word to describe this book, it’d be: sweet. Plus, this adorable book is also a retelling of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. And if you know me, you know I adore retellings! 

The rhythm and energy of American Desi!!! It is an absolute delight to read this story. The repeated question, “Which is the color of me?” paired with the bright, colorful, fiber illustrations will surely draw anyone into the book. As all these different colors and threads and fibers come together, we celebrate as the little girl celebrates, “All the colors of me!” As the child of Jamaican immigrants, born and raised here in the States, I very much relate to these complicated in-between experiences of living in multiple worlds, having threads that connect with numerous places, and trying to figure out where I fit, where I belong. American Desi is truly a book for our global society.  

Just the title alone makes me excited because if I had a Bat Mitzvah (I didn’t), this is what I might have wanted to call it! It’s a heartfelt and funny middle-grade novel about a girl named Tara Feinstein with a white Jewish father and an Indian American mother who is preparing for her upcoming Bat Mitzvah. I like the way the themes of intersectionality are layered with classic middle-school concerns--friends, crushes, parental pressure, and how she figures out who she is in the midst of so many things changing all at once. The questions Tara is asking, how to be part of both sides of her family and still stay true to who she is, deeply resonated with me, but I think many middle-schoolers regardless of their background would connect in different ways. Part of the value of the book is that it is so widely relatable and yet… show more.

When Dimple Met Rishi is one of the first young adult romances featuring Indian American teenagers to garner international acclaim. What makes this story so powerful is not necessarily the romantic plot—although Rishi is quite the swoon-worthy hero, and Dimple is an empowered heroine that commands her audience’s attention straight away. In fact, When Dimple Met Rishi succeeds in its deliberate bridging of the Indian American diaspora, taking the time to emphasize that one can subscribe to both cultures without losing one or the other. As a young adult in this diaspora as well, I can really resonate with Dimple and Rishi’s struggles, and it was a joy to see them overcome these challenges and fall in love all at once.

Midlife can absolutely mean new beginnings. In this book, Deepa Varadarajan introduces us to Suresh and Lata Raman, fifty-something parents who have divorced thirty-six years into an arranged marriage.

Varadarajan has written four strong characters in Lata, Suresh, and their adult children, Priya and Nikesh. But it’s Lata’s story that pulled me in the most. Truly independent for the first time in her life, Lata revels in her freedom but is unsure of how to make the most of it. Her realization that she is vibrant and alive is often forgotten in middle age when the responsibilities of parenthood and a long marriage can make life feel too routine. 

This story made me both sad and hopeful, which is why it’s made this list. I found Pandita’s struggle to come to peace with the death of her mother really moving, especially when she turns her grief into advocating for a cause that she truly believes in.

Perkins’ writing is exquisite, and the themes of preserving and respecting the past while adjusting to and addressing the needs of the future are very relevant today. Seeing Pandita slowly find her voice is also oh-so inspiring.