Fantasy Series for Middle Grades and YA: Asian Pacific Heritage

On the day of a rare super blue blood moon eclipse, twelve-year-old Amira and her little brother, Hamza, can’t stop their bickering while attending a special exhibit on medieval Islamic astronomy. While stargazer Amira is wowed by the amazing gadgets, a bored Hamza wanders off, stumbling across the mesmerizing and forbidden Box of the Moon. Amira can only watch in horror as Hamza grabs the defunct box and it springs to life, setting off a series of events that could shatter their world — literally.

Amira and Hamza have returned from Qaf, the magical Jinn world, as triumphant heroes — and life has been pleasantly quiet. Too quiet. Hamza is determined to have one last monumental, epic adventure before summer ends. But when sneaking off to explore an old, abandoned castle goes from life-changing adventure to potentially deadly, Amira and Hamza find themselves in the middle of another dangerous quest to save the worlds. One they didn’t bargain for. The siblings are brought face to face with the evil dev, Ahriman, angry and out for revenge.

Kiki Kallira has always been a worrier. Did she lock the front door? Is there a terrible reason her mom is late? Recently her anxiety has been getting out of control, but one thing that has always soothed her is drawing. Kiki's sketchbook is full of fanciful doodles of the rich Indian myths and legends her mother has told her over the years. One day, her sketchbook's calming effect is broken when her mythological characters begin springing to life right out of its pages.

Fresh off the exciting discovery that her sketches of a beautiful kingdom and band of rebel kids have come to life in another world, Kiki Kallira has an unexpected visitor. One of those rebel kids has come into the real world to ask for her help — again. The river Kaveri, a crucial source of water for Mysore, has suddenly vanished! With no water to grow food or for wildlife to drink, Kiki's kingdom is doomed.

On the morning of her 12th birthday, Kiranmala is just a regular sixth grader living in Parsippany, New Jersey...until her parents mysteriously vanish and a drooling rakkhosh demon slams through her kitchen, determined to eat her alive. Turns out there might be some truth to her parents' fantastical stories — like how Kiranmala is a real Indian princess and how she comes from a secret place not of this world. To complicate matters, two crush-worthy princes ring her doorbell, insisting they've come to rescue her.

When the Demon Queen shows up in her bedroom, smelling of acid and surrounded by evil-looking bees, twelve-year-old Kiranmala is uninterested. After all, it's been weeks since she last heard from her friends in the Kingdom Beyond, the alternate dimension where she was born as an Indian princess. But after a call to action over an interdimensional television station and a visit with some all-seeing birds, Kiran decides that she has to once again return to her homeland, where society is fraying, a terrible game show reigns supreme, and friends and foes alike are in danger.

Kiranmala must leave the Kingdom Beyond and travel to her hometown of Parsippany to save Prince Lal, who has been spirited to the unlikeliest of places — a tree in the yard of her best-enemy-for-life. She also faces evil serpents (of course!), plus a frightening prophecy about her role in the coming conflict between good and evil. Most troubling of all, though, is the way reality all around her seems to waver and flicker at odd moments. Could it be that the Anti-Chaos Committee's efforts are causing a dangerous disruption in the multiverse?

Intrigue and mystery, ancient lore, and action-packed fantasy come together in this debut novel, the first book in the Prophecy trilogy. Kira, the greatest warrior in all of the Seven Kingdoms, a girl with yellow eyes — she’s the only female in the king's army, and she’s also the prince's bodyguard. A demon slayer and an outcast, she's hated by nearly everyone in her home city of Hansong. And she's their only hope.

Warrior continues the saga of Kira, the fierce demon slayer introduced in Prophecy, a fantasy adventure novel set within an alternate history of feudal Korea. Kira must continue her quest for the two remaining treasures in order to fulfill the Dragon King's prophecy and bring peace to her land. In this installment, the teen attempts to retrieve a legendary jeweled dagger from the clutches of a dragon while continuing to serve as bodyguard to her nephew, the crown prince.

In this final installment of the Prophecy series, Kira continues her quest to collect the lost treasures, unite the Seven Kingdoms, fulfill the ancient prophecy, and defeat the evil forces invading their lands. Along the way, she also confronts her romantic feelings for her friend and would-be suitor Jaewon, saves her cousin the crown prince of Hansong from an evil dragon, and battles armies of demons.

Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu — but only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng's majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high?

Princess Jade has grown up in exile, hidden away in a monastery while her stepmother, the ruthless Xifeng, rules as Empress of Feng Lu. But the empire is in distress and its people are sinking into poverty and despair. Even though Jade doesn't want the crown, she knows she is the only one who can dethrone the Empress and set the world right. Ready to reclaim her place as rightful heir, Jade embarks on a quest to raise the Dragon Lords and defeat Xifeng and the Serpent God once and for all. But will the same darkness that took Xifeng take Jade, too?

Pinki hails from a long line of rakkhosh resisters, demons who have spent years building interspecies relationships, working together to achieve their goal of overthrowing the snakey oppressors and taking back their rights. But she has more important things to worry about, like maintaining her status as fiercest rakkhosh in her class and looking after her little cousins. There is also the teeny tiny detail of not yet being able to control her fire breathing and accidentally burning up school property.

Pinki never expected to be the leader of the resistance — in fact, she’s gone on record spitting at the idea. But as domination and persecution of rakkosh continues, she summons her courage for a triumphant return to reluctant leadership in this thrilling sequel. Readers will be brought back into the fantastical world of the Kingdom Beyond, where there are always serpents to fight, riddles to solves, and a corrupt government to overthrow.

Esha lost everything in the royal coup — and as the legendary rebel known as the Viper, she's made the guilty pay. Now she's been tasked with her most important mission to date: taking down the ruthless General Hotha.  Kunal has been a soldier since childhood. His uncle, the general, has ensured that Kunal never strays from the path — even as a part of Kunal longs to join the outside world, which has only been growing more volatile.  When Esha and Kunal’s paths cross one fated night, an impossible chain of events unfolds.

A stolen throne. A lost princess. A rescue mission to take back what’s theirs. For Kunal and Esha, finally working together as rebels, the upcoming Sun Mela provides the perfect guise for infiltrating King Vardaan’s vicious court. Kunal returns to his role as dedicated soldier, while Esha uses her new role as adviser to Prince Harun to seek allies for their rebel cause. A radical plan is underfoot to rescue Jansa’s long-lost Princess Reha — the key to the throne. But amidst the Mela games and glittering festivities, much more dangerous forces lie in wait.

Esha is reeling from Kunal’s betrayal, but she has a kingdom to rule from behind a thin smokescreen — pretending to be Princess Reha while she sends her most trusted soldiers to collect Reha and Kunal by any means necessary. Traitors, after all, must be punished. But the Yavar are attacking from every front — tracking down Kunal and Reha in the remote mountains, kidnapping Harun — in search of legendary artifacts that will give them the power to break the precarious janma bond and release the destructive magic back into the lands.

Tom is his Chinese grandmother's somewhat reluctant apprentice in magical arts, but after she dies while defending a mysterious coral rose from evil foes, the eighth grader finds himself enmeshed in a dangerous world where Chinese myth is a reality.

Powerful magic saves Tom's life but weakens the Guardian of the phoenix egg, the tiger Mr. Hu. The egg can bring peace to the world — or its destruction. Only the tiger's apprentice, Tom, can now keep the egg safe. But Tom is just a beginner at magic and is more likely to make a mistake than save the world. So Tom, Mr. Hu, and their motley crew of friends flee to the underwater dragon kingdom with the egg. They soon discover that nothing is as it seems and an unstoppable evil is advancing. When the egg is stolen, Tom and his friends must risk everything to recover it.

Tom has always been a reluctant apprentice. But since his grandmother's death, he's assisted the tiger Mr. Hu in guarding the magical phoenix egg. When the phoenix hatches prematurely, Tom faces his greatest challenge of all. The phoenix believes Tom is his mother, and suddenly it's Tom's turn to be a good teacher and parent, which is especially hard when your child has the power to destroy the earth.

Gul has spent her life running. She has a star-shaped birthmark on her arm, and in the kingdom of Ambar, girls with such birthmarks have been disappearing for years. Gul's mark is what caused her parents' murder at the hand of King Lohar's ruthless soldiers and forced her into hiding to protect her own life. So when a group of rebel women called the Sisters of the Golden Lotus rescue her, take her in, and train her in warrior magic, Gul wants only one thing: revenge. Cavas lives in the tenements, and he's just about ready to sign his life over to the king’s army.

With King Lohar dead and a usurper queen in power, Gul and Cavas face a new tyrannical government that is bent on killing them both. Their roles in King Lohar's death have not gone unnoticed, and the new queen is out for blood. What she doesn't know is that Gul and Cavas have a connection that runs deeper than romance, and together, they just might have the strength and magic to end her for good. Then a grave mistake ends with Cavas taken prisoner by the government. Gul must train an army of warriors alone.