James Riley is a favorite among middle grade fantasy readers for a reason: his books combine quick wit, inventive worldbuilding, fairy-tale twists, and page-turning adventure. Whether you loved the meta storytelling of Story Thieves, the fractured fairy-tale fun of Half Upon a Time, or the energetic humor running through his work, chances are you’re looking for authors who capture that same sense of wonder and momentum.
If you enjoy reading books by James Riley then you might also like the following authors:
Chris Colfer is an excellent pick for readers who enjoy James Riley’s playful approach to fairy tales and fantasy conventions. Like Riley, Colfer takes familiar storybook material and reshapes it into something lively, funny, and adventurous rather than predictable.
His best-known series begins with The Land of Stories, where twins Alex and Conner Bailey are pulled into a magical world through an enchanted book. Once inside, they meet fairy-tale icons such as Cinderella, Goldilocks, and Little Red Riding Hood—but these characters are far more complicated than their classic versions suggest.
What makes Colfer especially appealing for Riley fans is the balance of humor and heart. The books move quickly, the stakes keep rising, and the familiar fairy-tale landscape is filled with fresh surprises.
If you liked James Riley’s talent for twisting literary worlds into clever adventures, Colfer offers a similarly imaginative and accessible reading experience.
Brandon Mull writes fantasy that feels expansive, magical, and full of discovery, making him a natural recommendation for James Riley readers ready to dive into another richly imagined series. His stories often center on ordinary kids thrown into extraordinary hidden worlds governed by strict magical rules.
A great place to start is Fablehaven, which introduces siblings Kendra and Seth as they visit their grandparents’ secluded estate. They soon learn the property is actually a secret preserve for magical creatures, from enchanting beings to genuinely dangerous ones.
As the mysteries deepen, the book delivers exactly what many Riley fans look for: suspense, strong sibling dynamics, magical lore, and a constant sense that one bad decision could unleash chaos.
Mull’s style is a bit more quest-driven and creature-focused than Riley’s, but the same love of inventive fantasy and high-energy storytelling runs through both authors’ work.
Matthew Cody is a strong choice for readers who like James Riley’s combination of fast pacing, humor, and young heroes facing unusual rules in hidden worlds. While Cody leans more toward superpowers than fairy tales, his stories have the same accessible energy and sense of fun.
In Powerless, twelve-year-old Daniel Corrigan moves to a new town and discovers that several of his classmates have secret superpowers. The mystery quickly gets stranger: when these kids turn thirteen, they lose their abilities and even forget they ever had them.
Daniel, who has no powers himself, becomes determined to figure out what is happening and why. That setup gives the book a strong puzzle element, along with action and a cast of memorable middle grade characters.
Readers who appreciate James Riley’s knack for blending comedy with a genuinely intriguing premise will likely enjoy Cody’s ability to keep things light, clever, and suspenseful at the same time.
Shannon Messenger is a great recommendation for readers who want the magical adventure side of James Riley’s work with even bigger worldbuilding and long-running mysteries. Her books are packed with secret societies, unusual abilities, shifting alliances, and emotionally engaging friendships.
Her signature series starts with Keeper of the Lost Cities, in which Sophie Foster discovers that she is actually an elf and has been living in the human world without knowing the truth about herself. Once she enters the hidden elvin world, her life changes completely.
Sophie must adjust to new powers, complicated relationships, and layers of secrets tied to her past. The series excels at steadily widening the scope, introducing larger conspiracies while keeping the focus on a young protagonist readers can root for.
If what you loved about James Riley was the feeling of stepping into a concealed magical reality with plenty of twists ahead, Messenger delivers that in a big, addictive way.
J.K. Rowling remains one of the most influential authors in children’s fantasy, and she is still a strong match for James Riley fans who enjoy magical discovery, clever plotting, and stories that grow richer as they go. Her work shares Riley’s ability to make the impossible feel immediate and exciting.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone begins with Harry learning that he is a wizard and leaving his ordinary life behind for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That premise opens the door to secret history, magical classes, dangerous mysteries, and unforgettable friendships.
What makes Rowling especially appealing here is her gift for creating a complete magical system that still feels playful and welcoming. Even small details—moving staircases, enchanted objects, odd teachers—add to the sense of wonder.
Readers who enjoy Riley’s imaginative worlds and adventurous tone will find a similarly compelling mix of humor, danger, and discovery in Harry’s first journey into magic.
Rick Riordan is one of the easiest recommendations for James Riley readers because he shares several of Riley’s biggest strengths: sharp humor, brisk pacing, strong voice, and creative twists on well-known stories. Where Riley often plays with fairy tales and fictional worlds, Riordan reimagines mythology in a modern setting.
The best starting point is Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, where Percy discovers he is the son of Poseidon and is suddenly thrown into a dangerous conflict among the Greek gods. Accused of stealing Zeus’s lightning bolt, he has only a short time to clear his name.
The novel sends Percy across the United States, where mythological monsters and divine politics collide with everyday America. That blend of ancient legend and present-day comedy gives the book its distinctive charm.
If you liked James Riley for his energetic storytelling and clever spins on familiar material, Riordan offers a similarly irresistible read with even more action and mythology.
Soman Chainani is a terrific fit for readers who especially enjoyed the fairy-tale subversion in James Riley’s books. His fiction asks what happens when characters are assigned storybook roles—and what happens when they refuse to stay in them.
That theme is front and center in The School for Good and Evil, where best friends Sophie and Agatha are taken to a school that trains children to become fairy-tale heroes and villains. Sophie expects to land among the beautiful future princesses, while Agatha assumes she belongs with the villains.
Instead, their placements are reversed, forcing both girls to question how stories define identity, appearance, and morality. The result is a fantasy that is funny, stylish, and much sharper than it first appears.
For James Riley fans who love fractured fairy tales, unexpected reversals, and a world that plays with story logic, Chainani is a particularly strong recommendation.
Jessica Townsend writes with the kind of exuberant imagination that often wins over James Riley readers. Her books combine whimsical settings, high stakes, and an undercurrent of mystery, all anchored by a memorable young protagonist.
In Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, Morrigan begins as a girl cursed by everyone around her and expected to die on her eleventh birthday. Instead, she is rescued by the eccentric Jupiter North and taken to the extraordinary city of Nevermoor.
There, Morrigan must compete in a set of trials to earn a place in a prestigious society, all while trying to understand her place in this dazzling but dangerous new world. Townsend’s gift for atmosphere is especially strong: Nevermoor feels vivid, layered, and full of secrets.
If you’re drawn to James Riley’s imaginative settings and adventurous momentum, Townsend offers that same excitement with a wonderfully distinctive magical world of her own.
Jennifer A. Nielsen is a smart recommendation for readers who like the twisty, high-stakes side of James Riley’s fiction. Her stories tend to be slightly more grounded in political intrigue and survival, but they share Riley’s strong pacing and love of clever protagonists.
The False Prince is a standout starting point. It follows Sage, an orphan with a talent for sarcasm and quick thinking, who is forced into a dangerous scheme: competing with other boys to impersonate a missing prince and help stabilize a kingdom on the brink.
The setup creates immediate tension, but the real draw is Sage himself. He is funny, resourceful, and impossible to underestimate, and the novel’s many reversals make it hard to put down.
James Riley fans who enjoy bold characters, surprising reveals, and nonstop forward motion will find a lot to like in Nielsen’s storytelling.
Michael Buckley is a particularly good match for readers who loved James Riley’s fractured fairy-tale sensibility. His books blend mystery, fantasy, and comedy in a way that feels both approachable and inventive.
In The Fairy-Tale Detectives, the first book in The Sisters Grimm series, sisters Sabrina and Daphne Grimm discover that the fairy tales they know are based on real events. Their family line connects them to the Brothers Grimm, and the stories are actually tied to ongoing magical cases.
After moving in with a grandmother they barely know, the sisters become involved in a mystery involving missing parents, strange townspeople, and fairy-tale figures who are not always friendly. The detective angle gives the series a nice twist, adding clues and case-solving to the fantasy elements.
For readers who enjoy James Riley’s sense of fun and his creative use of storybook material, Buckley delivers a similarly entertaining mix of magic and mischief.
Lisa McMann is a strong pick for James Riley readers who want fantasy adventure with a slightly more dramatic edge. Her stories are imaginative and action-packed, but they also explore belonging, creativity, and the cost of rigid systems.
In The Unwanteds, children in a strict society are sorted into categories, and those deemed creative are sent away to die. Instead, they arrive in Artimé, a hidden refuge where imagination is not punished but transformed into magical power.
That premise gives the novel a compelling contrast between repression and creative freedom. As the characters learn to survive and use their gifts, the story expands into a larger conflict full of danger and discovery.
If you like James Riley’s imaginative ideas and adventurous pacing, but you’re open to a story with a bit more emotional intensity, McMann is well worth reading.
Cornelia Funke is an especially appealing choice for fans of James Riley’s love of stories about stories. Her work often explores the boundary between fiction and reality, and few books do that more memorably than Inkheart.
The novel follows Meggie and her father, Mo, who has the extraordinary ability to bring characters out of books simply by reading aloud. But this gift comes with a terrible cost: years earlier, it pulled Meggie’s mother into a fictional world and released dangerous villains into the real one.
As Meggie learns the truth, the book becomes an adventure about language, storytelling, and the power fiction has over people’s lives. Funke writes with a deep affection for books themselves, which gives Inkheart a rich, immersive quality.
Readers who were drawn to James Riley’s metafictional ideas in Story Thieves will likely find Funke’s novel especially satisfying.
Pseudonymous Bosch is a great recommendation for James Riley fans who enjoy humor that feels self-aware, quirky, and a little conspiratorial. His books are packed with secrets, puzzles, and a narrator who loves playing directly with the reader.
The Name of This Book Is Secret begins when two unusual children, Cass and Max-Ernest, come across a magician’s notebook filled with cryptic clues. Their curiosity pulls them into a strange and increasingly dangerous mystery connected to a missing magician and a powerful secret.
The book’s appeal lies not just in the plot, but in the way it is told. Bosch uses asides, warnings, and jokes to turn the reading experience itself into part of the fun.
If one of your favorite things about James Riley is his playful narrative style and his willingness to experiment with storytelling, Bosch should be high on your list.
Neil Gaiman may be a slightly darker recommendation than some others on this list, but he shares James Riley’s gift for making fantastical premises feel immediate, strange, and unforgettable. His children’s fiction often combines wonder with genuine unease, creating stories that linger.
Coraline follows a curious girl who discovers a hidden door in her new home. On the other side is a world that looks almost like her own, except that everything is subtly wrong—including the button-eyed “other” parents who want her to stay forever.
The novel is compact, eerie, and brilliantly imaginative. Coraline herself is a standout heroine: observant, stubborn, and brave in a believable way.
James Riley fans who enjoy portal fantasies, inventive alternate worlds, and young protagonists facing impossible dangers may find Gaiman’s work a compelling next step.
Tony DiTerlizzi is a strong choice for readers who enjoy the adventure, imagination, and emotional warmth in James Riley’s books. His storytelling often combines fantastical creatures and unusual worlds with a very human sense of curiosity and longing.
In The Search for WondLa, Eva Nine has grown up underground with only a robot caretaker for company. When her sanctuary is destroyed, she is forced onto the surface of a world she has never seen before.
What follows is part survival adventure, part quest for identity, as Eva encounters strange beings, new allies, and clues about where she truly belongs. The book’s world feels large and imaginative, yet the emotional stakes remain personal and clear.
For James Riley readers who want another inventive, fast-moving adventure driven by wonder and heart, DiTerlizzi is an excellent author to try.
