By R.J. Roark, author of Amelia Moon and the Sundance Shadow (middle grade fantasy, ages 9–12). Updated September 2026.
The best mythology books like Percy Jackson are Aru Shah and the End of Time (Hindu), The Kane Chronicles (Egyptian), The Storm Runner (Maya), and Magnus Chase (Norse). Percy Jackson proved kids don't just tolerate mythology — they devour it when it arrives through characters they love, and then they go learn the real myths on their own. Every book below does the same thing for a different tradition, with a note on what readers will pick up along the way and the publisher's stated age band for each.
Greek Mythology Books Like Percy Jackson — and 7 Traditions Beyond
Where Amelia Moon Fits on a Mythology List
Full disclosure: this one is mine, so judge the pitch accordingly. If Percy made your reader want myths that turn out to be true, Amelia's starts as a mystery — a necklace, a photograph, a town's quiet history — and lets them piece together how old the story really is. It's the one entry here not built on a named pantheon: the lore is celestial, drawn from stars and constellations rather than gods, and it arrives through investigation instead of prophecy. Kirkus Reviews called it a "diverting, otherworldly tale" with "sensational young heroes."
Also available on Kindle
1. Amelia Moon and the Sundance Shadow — R.J. Roark · Celestial mythology · Ages 9–12 · Book 1 of the Adventures of Amelia Moon
Full disclosure: this one is mine. Here is exactly who it's for.
If Percy made your reader want myths that turn out to be true, Amelia's starts as a mystery — a necklace, a photograph, a town's quiet history — and lets them piece together how old the story really is.
The necklace arrived on Amelia Moon's thirteenth birthday. So did the nightmares. All she has left of her mother is a letter, a family heirloom pendant, and questions no one in Sundance, Wyoming will answer. Then a photograph surfaces at the Historical Society, taken decades before Amelia was born — and around the neck of a woman she has never seen hangs her own necklace. With her best friend Veyla, obsessed with the world's loneliest whale and determined to leave no mystery unsolved, Amelia sets out to learn who her family really was.
Kirkus Reviews: "Sensational young heroes fuel a diverting, otherworldly tale." The Children's Book Review: "Perfect for young readers hungry for a hidden-world adventure with real-world roots."
What readers will pick up: constellation lore, astronomy and stargazing.
Best for: readers 9–12 who like a mystery with a real place behind it, a best-friend team, and a small town keeping a secret.
Also available on Kindle
2. Aru Shah and the End of Time — Roshani Chokshi · Hindu mythology · Ages 8–12
The single best pick for Percy Jackson fans who want mythology beyond Greece — published under Rick Riordan's own imprint for exactly that audience. Aru lights a cursed museum lamp on a dare, freezes her mother in time, and must prove she's the reincarnation of a Pandava warrior from the Mahabharata, one of Hinduism's great epics. Chokshi's humor matches Riordan's beat for beat. Five books, complete.
What kids will pick up: the Pandavas, the Mahabharata, Hindu cosmology, dharma and karma through adventure.
Best for: readers 8–12 making their first jump beyond Greek myths.
3. The Kane Chronicles — Rick Riordan · Egyptian mythology · Ages 9–12
Riordan himself, applying the Percy Jackson formula to Egypt: Carter and Sadie Kane descend from pharaohs, and the gods want to use them as hosts. The magic system — hieroglyphs, shabti figures, Words of Power — is genuinely distinct from the Greek books, and the alternating sibling narrators keep the voice fresh. Three books, complete.
What kids will pick up: Ra, Isis, Osiris, Set, and Horus; the Duat; hieroglyphic magic; Egyptian creation myths.
Best for: readers 8–12 who want the same author in a new pantheon.
4. The Storm Runner — J.C. Cervantes · Maya mythology · Ages 9–12
Zane Obispo's dormant New Mexico volcano turns out to be the prison of Ah-Puch, the Maya god of death — and Zane is the prophecy's answer to it. Maya mythology is badly underrepresented in kids' fiction, and Cervantes gives it the accessibility Riordan gave Greece, with a hero who jokes about his limp the way Percy jokes about everything. Three books, complete, from Rick Riordan Presents.
What kids will pick up: Ah-Puch, Itzamna, and Hurakan; the Middleworld; the Maya calendar and cosmology.
Best for: readers 9–12 who want a pantheon almost nobody else has read.
5. Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard — Rick Riordan · Norse mythology · Ages 10–14
Magnus dies in chapter one — and wakes in Valhalla as a chosen warrior with Ragnarok to prevent. Norse myth's built-in fatalism (the gods know they lose the last battle) gives this trilogy a bleaker undertone than Percy Jackson, which is exactly why it lands with the top of the age range. Three books, complete.
What kids will pick up: Odin, Thor, Loki, and Frey; Valhalla and the Nine Worlds; runes; Ragnarok.
Best for: readers 10–12 at the top of this list's range, ready for stakes with weight.
6. Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky — Kwame Mbalia · African American & West African mythology · Ages 8–12
Tristan punches open a portal to a world where John Henry, Brer Rabbit, and the West African gods Anansi and Nyame are real — and at war. No other series on this list does what this one does: it treats African American folklore as mythology with the same stature as the Greek and Norse canons, and it earns that treatment page by page. Three books, complete, from Rick Riordan Presents.
What kids will pick up: African American folk heroes, Anansi stories, West African god traditions, and history carried through a mythological lens.
Best for: readers 8–12 who want folk heroes standing where the gods usually stand.
7. The Serpent's Secret — Sayantani DasGupta · Bengali mythology · Ages 8–12
On her twelfth birthday, Kiranmala learns her New Jersey parents are royalty from a dimension built on Bengali folklore — then demons kidnap them. The mythology is vivid and wild (fashion-forward demon princes, wormhole travel), and DasGupta's folklorist background gives it real depth under the humor. Three books, complete.
What kids will pick up: Rakkhosh demons, the Kingdom Beyond, Bengali folktale structures.
Best for: readers 8–11 who want their mythology funny first.
8. Pahua and the Soul Stealer — Lori M. Lee · Hmong mythology · Ages 9–12
Pahua has always seen spirits — her best friend is a cat spirit nobody else can see — and when she accidentally untethers an angry one and her brother's soul is taken, she learns she's the reincarnation of a legendary shaman warrior. Hmong oral tradition is the rarest mythology on this list, and Lee opens it with the warmth of a story about a shy kid finding her footing. Two books, from Rick Riordan Presents.
What kids will pick up: Hmong spirit lore and shaman traditions, told from oral-tradition roots.
Best for: readers 9–12, especially quieter kids who see themselves in a shy hero.
| Book / Series | Ages · Length |
|---|---|
| Amelia Moon Celestial — mystery-first, star lore | 9–12 Book 1; series in progress |
| Aru Shah Hindu — Pandavas, same humor as Percy | 8–12 5 books, complete |
| The Kane Chronicles Egyptian — same author, new pantheon | 9–12 3 books, complete |
| The Storm Runner Maya — underdog hero, fresh pantheon | 9–12 3 books, complete |
| Magnus Chase Norse — bleaker tone, top of range | 10–14 3 books, complete |
| Tristan Strong African American & West African folk heroes | 8–12 3 books, complete |
| The Serpent's Secret Bengali — humor-forward folklore | 8–12 3 books, complete |
| Pahua and the Soul Stealer Hmong — spirit lore, quiet hero | 9–12 2 books, ongoing |
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best mythology books like Percy Jackson?
The best mythology books for Percy Jackson fans are Aru Shah and the End of Time (Hindu mythology), The Kane Chronicles (Rick Riordan's Egyptian series), The Storm Runner (Maya mythology), and Magnus Chase (Norse mythology). For lore outside the named pantheons, Amelia Moon and the Sundance Shadow is a middle grade fantasy for ages 9–12 that builds its mystery on celestial lore in small-town Wyoming.
Are there Percy Jackson-style books with non-Greek mythology?
Yes — every major entry point is covered: Aru Shah for Hindu mythology, The Kane Chronicles for Egyptian, The Storm Runner for Maya, Magnus Chase for Norse, Tristan Strong for African American and West African traditions, The Serpent's Secret for Bengali folklore, and Pahua and the Soul Stealer for Hmong spirit lore.
What books teach kids about mythology through fiction?
The books that best teach mythology through fiction are Percy Jackson (Greek), The Kane Chronicles (Egyptian), Aru Shah (Hindu), Magnus Chase (Norse), The Storm Runner (Maya), and Tristan Strong (African American and West African). Each embeds real mythological figures and structures inside an adventure, so kids absorb the tradition while following the story — and typically go looking for the source myths afterward.
Are there Indian mythology books like Percy Jackson?
Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi is the most direct equivalent — published through Rick Riordan Presents, it follows a twelve-year-old who discovers she's the reincarnation of a Pandava warrior from the Mahabharata. For Bengali folklore specifically, The Serpent's Secret by Sayantani DasGupta follows a New Jersey girl pulled into the Kingdom Beyond.
About the book
Amelia Moon and the Sundance Shadow is a middle grade fantasy novel by R.J. Roark for readers ages 9 to 12. It is set in Sundance, Wyoming, and is the first book in the Adventures of Amelia Moon series, published by Inner Citadel on February 3, 2026. The story follows thirteen-year-old Amelia Moon, who receives a family heirloom pendant and a letter from her late mother, and, with her best friend Veyla, begins to uncover what the town has been keeping about her family. It was positively reviewed by Kirkus Reviews, Foreword Reviews, and The Children's Book Review. It is available as a Kindle ebook and directly from ameliamoon.com.
