Chris Colfer

The Land of Stories — middle-grade fantasy with fairy-tale-character ensembles and a YA actor turned bestseller.

Chris Colfer's Land of Stories series — six novels following twins Alex and Conner Bailey into a world where fairy-tale characters live their continuing lives after their stories end — built one of middle-grade fantasy's substantial recent commercial successes. The series and its spin-offs extend across multiple volumes. The prose is accessible and propulsive, the fairy-tale-ensemble premise is handled with warmth, and the books have brought new readers into middle-grade fantasy.

For middle-grade readers, roughly ages eight through twelve. Content stays squarely age-appropriate: peril and fairy-tale conflict yes, no graphic content. The reading experience is middle-grade fantasy with a fairy-tale-meta premise — readers who love getting to spend time with familiar characters in new situations find that pleasure delivered. Pick this shelf when you want middle-grade fantasy with fairy-tale ensembles, warm protagonist twins, and series structure that rewards committed reading.

What to expect