Book picks similar to
Daniel the Draw-er by S.J. Henderson


middle-grade
considering
fantasy
for-kids

Mostly the Honest Truth


Jody J. Little - 2019
    It’s not the first time they’ve been apart, but Jane’s determined it will be the last.Twelve days out in the boonies of Three Boulders makes Jane miss Pop more than ever. But as the days go by, she realizes that family is more than who you’re related to—and that a home can be found in the unlikeliest of places.

WhipEye


Geoffrey Saign - 2014
    Wildlife expert. Warrior. And desperately missing her mom. She also doesn’t think her 16th birthday should be a survival test. But she is about to learn she could die in the next 24 hours. Creepy monsters and a giant called Uncle Biggie do exist. Along with a scary guardian who wants to take over the world, and an ancient wise-cracking parrot who wants to stop him. It’s up to Sam to save two worlds. With a supernatural staff named WhipEye—that she has no clue how to use. Impossible.Unless Sam heals her broken heart. Gets help from magical creatures called Great Ones. And the boy next door—Jake—decides he’s on board for an adventure out of his worst nightmares.Sam must also find the courage to fight the biggest battle of her life…and risk everything for love…

The Green Ember


S.D. Smith - 2014
    Till the Green Ember rises, or the end of the world.Heather and Picket are extraordinary rabbits with ordinary lives until calamitous events overtake them, spilling them into a cauldron of misadventures. They discover that their own story is bound up in the tumult threatening to overwhelm the wider world. Kings fall and kingdoms totter. Tyrants ascend and terrors threaten. Betrayal beckons, and loyalty is a broken road with peril around every bend.Where will Heather and Picket land? How will they make their stand?

Krazy Kow Saves the World - Well, Almost


Jeremy Strong - 2002
    He’s trying to make a film starring the Kow as she battles against the Dark Contaminator. But first he has to cope with a few little problems, like exploding strawberries, rampaging toddlers and hostile football fans. After this, saving the world should be a doddle!

After They Go


J. Mercer - 2018
    The second stunted by her sister's shadow. The youngest propelled by desperation. Gwen is the oldest of four children in the Aaldenberg family, and the one who seems to have it all. She's also most desperate to escape. Betta, having nursed their dying grandpa for the past three years, is anxious for Gwen to go, so she can finally have reins to the family business. And Esmerelda, viciously determined to follow in Gwen's footsteps, vies for popularity as a freshman in high school, only to learn she must sell her soul, reputation, and most prized possession for acceptance. When Gwen's fiancé moves to town, Gwen does her best to resign herself to a local life, while Betta struggles for meaning without the store. In order to carve out a place for herself, Betta must decide to what lengths she'll go in order to become her own person, and Gwen must decide what's more important: her sister or her future. Can this family pull through their disappointment, jealousy, and regret? Or will they cling so tightly to their desires that it ruins them?

Living with Markus


Florence Osmund - 2016
     Having put an embittered past behind him, Marc builds a successful landscaping business with clientele from the affluent suburbs of Chicago and starts to appreciate the finer things in life—and he's found the perfect woman to share in it. But when his alcoholic sister and her two young sons enter into the picture, Marc falls victim to their helplessness and temporarily puts his own life aside. When his despondent father is added to the mix, it doesn’t take long for Marc to completely lose sight of his own dreams—and his girlfriend. Does Marc save his relatives from their ill-fated lives, or save himself from entering into a life of self-sacrifice and missed opportunities? Painful soul-searching and late-night talks with the captivating tenant downstairs guide him to an unexpected decision and discovery of his true purpose in life.

Secrets


Ernestine Tito Jones - 2015
    Out of the 100 rules their grandparents gave them to follow, that one was the most important, so of course, it was also the first one Hazel's six-year-old sister, Bess, decides to break. Hazel cannot believe she has to be in charge of her crazy little sister this entire summer. What could be worse for an eight-year-old who always follows the rules?But she never expected Bess would accidentally uncover a dark family secret that involves a hidden time machine and their mysterious, and grumpy, grandpa.Just when she thought her summer couldn't get any worse, Hazel finds herself stuck in the time of Colonial America, trying to keep her sister under control while also trying to make it back. She quickly finds out that she and her sister are going to have to work together to figure it out, and that maybe, that's not such a bad thing after all. Books also by Ernestine Tito Jones Follow Failure: Book Two, The Time Machine Girls From the Bottom of the Cauldron: Tales of Witch Training  92 Sandwiches

Necessary Evil and the Greater Good


Adam Ingle - 2014
    Mestoph is a demon and troublemaker for Hell Industries, while Leviticus is an angel and cubicle jockey for Heaven, Inc. They might be unlikely friends, but they have something in common – they both hate their jobs.Unfortunately for them The End is nowhere in sight. The two take matters into their own hands when they come up with a scheme to get themselves kicked out of the Afterlife without spending an eternity in Purgatory. Their misadventure will take them from the tiny town of Truth or Consequences, NM to the highlands of Iceland as they cross paths and pantheons with Neo-Vikings, Greek and Norse Gods, and a Scottish terrier named Sir Reginald Pollywog Newcastle III.

The Witch With The Glitch


Adam Maxwell - 2015
    There is a hidden room in the Lost Bookshop and the books inside are magic, transporting the children to untold adventure.When they find themselves zapped by the wand of a witch with a glitch they begin a race against time to reverse the spell. They must find the mysterious Izzy before the clock strikes midnight on Halloween or risk being stuck in the fairytale land forever.The Witch with the Glitch is an exciting, funny and thrilling chapter book for middle grade readers that’s sure to have you desperate for just one more page.

A Day in Dogtown


Mark J. Asher - 2014
    Theo, her lovable chocolate Lab, has been her faithful companion since she was born. But now, as a result of the Great Recession, Courtney's world is unraveling. Her father has been unemployed for a long time and the bank is about to foreclose on their home. Soon her family will be moving into an apartment that doesn't allow dogs. Heartbreakingly for Courtney that means Theo won't be able to come along. After unsuccessfully trying to find someone to take the old dog, Courtney's parents decide to take Theo to a no-kill animal shelter as a last resort. But when the day of reckoning arrives something completely unexpected occurs. It ends up leading Courtney on an extraordinary journey, which teaches her important life lessons and makes her understand that a dog's love is forever.

Ye Olde Antique Shoppe: Complete Series


Margaret Brazear - 2019
    But when she and her friend, Peter, find a valuable coin and try to take it out of the shop, they find themselves in the fifteenth century. But that is only the beginning. The Edward V Coin The discovery of the coin from the short lived reign of Edward V, prompts Peter to want to find out what really happened to the princes in the Tower. The Anne Boleyn Necklace When Peter finds the famous B necklace worn by Anne Boleyn in many portraits, he is eager to use it to go back and see her in the flesh. But Rachel has sworn she'll never time travel again, until she finds a journal which reveals a cousin, stranded in the fifteenth century. She feels she must rescue her, but she doesn't stop to wonder if the cousin wants to be rescued. The Ripper Rings Jack the Ripper took souvenirs in the form of organs from his victims. But from one victim he took three rings and when they turn up in the antique shop, both Peter and Rachel are keen to find out how they got there.

Baby Zeke: The Diary of a Chicken Jockey


Dr. Block - 2015
     He had no idea why he was so little when all of the other zombies he met were so big. It did not seem fair to him. But after meeting his zombie mentor, Zeb, he learns that he has special powers that will help him survive in the crazy, amazing world of Minecraft. When he later meets a chicken named Harold, his life seems to have taken a turn for the positive. But, a nighttime raid on a village begins the process that will turn his world upside down.... Baby Zeke the Chicken Jockey series and is a must read for gaming fans everywhere!

Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three


Andrea Pearson - 2012
    A mysterious key. A quest to save the world. Over 85,000 downloads! Jacob Clark is a typical 14-year-old. At least, until a pack of wolves chases him out of our world and into Eklaron. There, he discovers he has special powers—ones that can help the people in his new world. As long as the covetous Lorkon don’t catch up with him first. To save himself and his new people, Jacob must go on a potentially deadly quest. With no one to trust and no way to return home, Jacob has to make a choice: risk his life or do nothing and put Earth and Eklaron in grave danger. Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and three are the first three of six books in a best-selling series of YA paranormal stories. If you like fast-paced adventure, magical quests, and original monsters and magic systems, then you’ll love this installment in Andrea Pearson’s Kilenya series. Buy Kilenya Series Books One, Two, and Three to start the magical adventure today!

Night of the Coyote (The Coyote Saga, #1)


Ron Schwab - 2015
    It’s now 1875, however, and there has been peace in this part of Wyoming for several years, and Ethan has settled down in the small town of Lockwood. No longer working in stealth, he is the town’s lone lawyer. When two young Sioux are lynched by a makeshift posse for a crime they may or may not have committed, Ethan knows he must act quickly to prevent a bloody retaliation from their Sioux tribe. Can he gain the trust of both his former enemy and the townspeople of Lockwood so that there is enough time to unravel the mystery of the crime and ensure justice is fairly served? In Night of the Coyote, the worlds of the old and new collide, and the clock is ticking for Ethan to prevent a further descent into violence.

In the Window Room


Steven J. Carroll - 2011
    And even though that girl, Mattie, had said something dreadful about her father, she knew that she should not have fought with her. Though one can never rewind history to change the past, and so this would be her punishment: to live alone in the old abandoned Greyford house on the outskirts of the Mayfield School for Girls -- a place with its covered furniture, and rooms leading to other unexpected rooms, and she would be completely, and purposefully, alone... or so she thought. Yet there was more to this house than first met the eye: there were secret passages, and hidden treasures, lost and forgotten with the passing time, and a room... a fantastic and otherworldly sort of room, which she had decided to call "the Window Room". This is a story about the dangerous and mysterious adventures she found there. This is a story about friends made from enemies, about a kingdom in peril, and a wrongly accused prince who would need saving. These are the sorts of things Delany found -- In the Window Room.