WOW Dozen: Books that Drop You into New Worlds
Isekai, a Japanese term meaning "another world," is a genre of fantasy quickly growing in popularity in western publishing. These stories of characters from our world being dropped into new worlds are found in literature from East Asia. Over the past few years, there has been a noticeable trend of these stories being published. The allure of leaving your everyday life behind for a more exciting adventure filled with magic pulls readers to these stories.
This WOW Dozen presents twelve titles that feature characters traveling to a new world, whether that means being dropped in suddenly and needing to find a way back home, or discovering magic that leads them to fantasy lands in search of answers.
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Yara journeys to the magical world of Zehaira, full of sorcerers and jinn, in search of answers following her mother’s death. | Image
Mina Lee wakes up in the world in her webcomic and must save everyone from the conflict she wrote and confront the boy who looks like her deceased childhood friend, Jin. | Image
Two indigenous foster children struggle to find a place where they belong until they find a portal that takes them to Aski, another reality, where they find a community they wish to save from winter. |
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Siblings Valentia and Julian travel with their father to the Andes in search of mythical creatures when an earthquake drops them into an alternative Columbia full of living legends. | Image
Ten-year-old Lola journeys to Floresta, a hidden magical land full of myths and monsters, in search of a cure for her sick brother. | Image
Bix lives in a world controlled by Eyes where she learns what the Eyes is hiding and brings books to the surface to help everyone fight against the Eyes. |
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Indigenous teen Aiyana prefers social media over traditional stories until she finds herself in the Spirit World with no cell coverage and must endure a dangerous journey to find her way home. | Image
Flick joins the Strangeworlds Travel Agency and explores different worlds before realizing that places in these worlds are disappearing—and if she doesn’t find a way to fix it, her own world will disappear too. | Image
Ten-year-old Marikit is kidnapped by shadow monsters on the eve of her birthday and must traverse the magical lands of Engkantos to find a way home and save her family. |
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This Korean visual narrative is about a young boy leaves his dull world behind and discovers vivid scenes behind a mysterious door that leads to an unexpected world. | Image
In this adventurous visual narrative a young girl escapes into another world after drawing a magic door on her wall, and must escape the emperor who captures her. | Image
Accompanied by two princes, Kiranmala must journey through another dimension full of magic to save her parents—and the rest of the world. |
WOW Dozen features a list of 12 global books for children and adolescents around a theme, topic, issue or personal favorites. Each Dozen consists of ten newly-published titles with two older “must have” books. Please share or recommend additional books that fit the theme in the comments section or on social media using #WOWDozen.
