YA Fantasy Fiction with a Female Lead Character

*Asai, Carrie. Samurai Girl. (2003)—Training to stay alive, Heaven Kogo as a good samurai wants to make herself invisible to every person—except one.

*Barnes, Jennifer. Golden. (2006)—When her family moves to Oklahoma from California, high school sophomore Lissy uses her ability to see other people’s auras to try to uncover and stop the sinister activities of a teacher at her new school.

*Barnes, Jennifer. Platinum. (2007)—When beautiful and popular high school student Lilah realizes she has “the Sight,” a mystical ability to see things others cannot, she resolves to use her special powers to prevent a tragedy.

*Barnes, Jennifer. Tattoo. (2007)—When four fifteen-year-old friends share the temporary tattoos they bought from a mysterious woman at the mall, each develops psychic powers that will help them fight the ancient being who plans to wreak havoc at their school dance.

*Beddor, Frank. The Looking Glass Wars. (2006)—When she is cast out of Wonderland by her evil aunt Redd, young Alyss Heart finds herself living in Victorian Oxford as Alice Liddell and struggles to keep memories of her kingdom intact until she can return and claim her rightful throne.

*Bedder, Frank. Seeing Redd. (2007)—When Alyss Heart returns to her rightful place on the throne of Wonderland, she is put to the test as enemies, both inside and outside the borders of her queendom, push their own agendas and wield horrific weapons, while she strives to unify them all.

*Billingsley, Franny. The Folk Keeper. (1999)—Orphan Corinna disguises herself as a boy to pose as a Folk Keeper, one who keeps the Evil Folk at bay, and discovers her heritage as a seal maiden when she is taken to live with a wealthy family in their manor by the sea.

*Carey, Janet Lee. Dragon’s Keep. (2007)—In 1145 A.D., as foretold by Merlin, fourteen-year-old Rosalind, who will be the twenty-first Pendragon Queen of Wilde Island, has much to accomplish to fulfill her destiny, while hiding from her people the dragon’s claw she was born with that reflects only one of her mother’s dark secrets.

*Carroll Jenny (aka Meg Cabot). The Mediator series (Shadowland, Ninth Key, Reunion, Darkest Hour, Haunted, Twilight). Sixteen-year-old Carmel, California teenager Suze Simon is a typical high school student except for the fact that she is a “shifter” who can mediate between the living and the dead, and she is in love with a ghost from the nineteenth century.

*Carroll Jenny (aka Meg Cabot). The 1-800-WHERE-ARE-YOU series. (When Lightning Strikes, Sanctuary, Safe House, Code Name Cassandra, Missing You). Walking home from school, Jessica Mastriani heads straight into a huge Indiana thunderstorm and emerges with a newfound psychic ability.

*Clair, Cassandra. City of Bone Trilogy. (2007)—Suddenly able to see demons and the Darkhunters who are dedicated to returning them to their own dimension, fifteen-year-old Clary Fray is drawn into this bizzare world when her mother disappears and Clary herself is almost killed by a monster.

Clement-Moore, Rosemary. Prom Dates from Hell. (2007)—High school senior and yearbook photographer Maggie thought she would rather die than go to prom, but when a classmate summons a revenge-seeking demon, she has no choice but to buy herself a dress and prepare to face jocks, cheerleaders, and Evil Incarnate.

*Constable, Kate. Chanters of Tremaris Trilogy (Singer of all Songs, The Waterless Sea, The Tenth Power). (2004)— Calwyn, a young priestess of ice magic, or “chantment,” joins with other chanters who have different magical skills to fight a sorcerer who wants to claim all powers for his own.

*Croggon, Alison. Pellinor Series (The Naming, The Riddle, The Crow). (2005)—A manuscript from the lost civilization of Edil-Amarandah chronicles the experiences of sixteen-year-old Maerad, an orphan gifted in the magic and power of the Bards, as she escapes from slavery and begins to learn how to use her Gift to stave off the evil Darkness that threatens to consume her world.

*Dickinson, Peter. The Ropemaker. (2001)— When the magic that protects their Valley starts to fail, Tilja and her companions journey into the evil Empire to find the ancient magician Faheel, who originally cast those spells.

*Duane, Diane. Wizardry series. During a summer vacation at the beach, thirteen-year-old wizard Nita and her friend Kit assist the whale-wizard S'reee in combating an evil power.

Dunkle, Clare B. The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy. (2003)—In nineteenth-century England, a powerful sorcerer and King of the Goblins chooses Kate, the elder of two orphan girls recently arrived at their ancestral home, Hallow Hill, to be his bride and queen.

*DuPrau, Jeanne. City of Ember. (2003)—In the year 241, twelve-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a Messenger to run to new places in her decaying but beloved city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions.

*Engdahl, Sylvia. Enchantress from the Stars. (2001)—Three civilizations from different planets in widely varying stages of development clash in what could be either a mutually disastrous or beneficial encounter.

*Fisher, Catherine. The Oracle Betrayed. (2004)—After she is chosen to be "Bearer-of-the-god," Mirany questions the established order and sets out, along with a musician and a scribe, to find the legitimate heir of the religious leader known as the Archon.

*Funke, Cornelia. Inkheart. (2003)—Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service.

*Hale, Shannon. Enna Burning. (2004)—Enna hopes that her new knowledge of how to wield fire will help protect her good friend Isi--the Princess Anidori--and all of Bayern against their enemies, but the need to burn is uncontrollable and puts Enna and her loved ones in grave danger.

*Hale, Shannon. River Secrets. (2006)—Young Razo travels from Bayern to Tira at war's end as part of a diplomatic corps, but mysterious events in the Tiran capital fuel simmering suspicions and anger, and Razo must spy out who is responsible before it is too late and he becomes trapped in an enemy land.

*Hale, Shannon. Book of a Thousand Days. (2007)—Fifteen-year-old Dashti, sworn to obey her sixteen-year-old mistress, the Lady Saren, shares Saren's years of punishment locked in a tower, then brings her safely to the lands of her true love, where both must hide who they are as they work as kitchen maids.

Hill, Stuart. Cry of the Icemark. (2005)—When her father is killed, princess Thirrin Freer Strong-In-The-Arm Lindenshield becomes queen of Icemark and searches for a way to protect her people and their homeland from invaders from the Polypontian Empire.

*Jones, Diana Wynn. Howl’s Moving Castle. (1986)—Eldest of three sisters in a land where it is considered to be a misfortune, Sophie is resigned to her fate as a hat shop apprentice until a witch turns her into an old woman and she finds herself in the castle of the greatly feared wizard Howl.

Jubert, Herve. Dance of the Assassins. (2005)—A sorceress and a police detective track a reborn Jack the Ripper through historically recreated cities, from Victorian London to Montezuma’s Mexico City.

*L’Engle, Madeline. A Wrinkle in Time. (1962)—The story of the adventures in space and time of Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe while searching for Meg’s father, a scientist who disappeared while engaged in secret government research.

*Leavitt, Martine. Keturah and Lord Death. (2006)—When Lord Death comes to claim sixteen-year-old Keturah while she is lost in the King's Forest, she charms him with her story and is granted a twenty-four hour reprieve in which to seek her one true love.

*Levine, Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted. (1997)—In this novel based on the story of Cinderella, Ella struggles against the childhood curse that forces her to obey any order given to her.

*Levine, Gail Carson. Fairest. (2006)—In a land where beauty and singing are valued above all else, Aza eventually comes to reconcile her unconventional appearance and her magical voice, and learns to accept herself for who she truly is.

*Marillier, Juliet. Wildwood Dancing. (2007)—Five sisters who live with their merchant father in Transylvania use a hidden portal in their home to cross over into a magical world, the Wildwood.

Marley, Louise. Singer in the Snow. (2005)—In a land where the sun shines only once every five years, two gifted young Singers are sent to a remote outpost where they struggle to refine their abilities to create heat and light using their psi energy.

Marr, Melissa. Wicked Lovely. (2007)—Seventeen-year-old Aislinn, who has the rare ability to see faeries, is drawn against her will into a centuries-old battle between the Summer King and Winter Queen, and the survival of her life, her love, and summer all hang in the balance.

*McKinley, Robin. Beauty. (1978)—Kind Beauty grows to love the Beast at whose castle she is compelled to stay and through her love releases him from the spell which had turned him from a handsome prince into an ugly beast.

*McKinley, Robin. The Blue Sword. (1982)—Harry, bored with her sheltered life in the remote orange-growing colony of Daria, discovers magic in herself when she is kidnapped by a native king with mysterious powers.

*McKinley, Robin. Spindle’s End. (2000)—The infant princess Briar Rose is cursed on her name day by Pernicia, an evil fairy, and then whisked away by a young fairy to be raised in a remote part of a magical country, unaware of her real identity and hidden from Pernicia’s vengeful powers.

*Meyer, Stephanie. Twilight series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse). (2005)—When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.

*Nix, Garth. Abhorsen trilogy (Lirael, Sabriel and Abhorsen)—Abhorsen-In-Waiting Lirael and Prince Sameth, a Wallmaker, must confront and bind the evil spirit Oranis before it can destroy all life.

*Pratchett, Terry. The Wee Free Men (and other Tiffany Aching books)—A young witch-to-be named Tiffany teams up with the Wee Free Men, a clan of six-inch-high blue men, to rescue her baby brother and ward off a sinister invasion from Fairyland.

*Pattou, Edith. East. (2003)—A young woman journeys to a distant castle on the back of a great white bear who is the victim of a cruel enchantment.

*Pierce, Tamora. Various titles including The Lioness series, the Immortals series, Protector of the Small, A Tortall Legend, Circle of Magic and Circle Opens

*Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass)— Accompanied by her daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North.

*Shinn, Sharon. Summers at Castle Auburn. (2001)— Coriel Halsing spent many of her childhood summers at Castle Auburn with her half-sister, and longed for a handsome prince who could not be hers. Now a young woman, Coriel has lost her hope and joy, and is beginning to see the dark side of this magical place.

Singleton, Linda Joy. Don’t Die, Dragonfly. (2004)—Sabine tries to ignore the psychic abilities that she shares with her grandmother, but when she discovers that a classmate is in real danger she is compelled to follow her spirit guide.

Smith, Sherwood. Crown Duel. (1997)—To fulfill their father's dying wish, teenage Countess Meliara and her brother Branaric organize a revolution against a greedy king.

*Stevermer, Caroline. A College of Magics. (1994)—The adventures of Faris Nallaneen, Duchess of Galazon, after she is expelled from a finishing school for sorcery. She moves to Paris where she continues to pursue her magic between dress fittings, dinners, masked balls, all the while fending off marriage proposals.

*Vande Velde, Vivian. Heir Apparent. (2002)—While playing a total immersion virtual reality game of kings and intrigue, fourteen-year-old Giannine learns that demonstrators have damaged the equipment to which she is connected, and she must win the game quickly or be damaged herself.

*Wooding, Chris. Poison. (2005)—When Poison leaves her home in the marshes of Gull to retrieve the infant sister who was snatched by the fairies, she and a group of unusual friends survive encounters with the inhabitants of various Realms, and Poison herself confronts a surprising destiny.

*Wrede Patricia. Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Dealing with Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, Talking to Dragons)—Bored with traditional palace life, a princess goes off to live with a group of dragons and soon becomes involved with fighting against some disreputable wizards who want to steal away the dragons' kingdom.

*Included in Belmont Collection