Beyond the Greek Gods: Global Myths Revisited

Myths might be the tales as old as time, but authors have never stopped updating their stories and characters. While many readers are familiar with the ever-popular Greek and Roman gods and heroes, other countries and cultures have a wealth of equally exciting narratives to explore. This bibliography barely scratches the surface of the mystical and adventurous tales available – the full extent could fill entire libraries – but it does provide a place to start in Celtic, Welsh, Egyptian, and Norse mythology for readers who love the Greek and Roman myths but are looking for something new.

To find children’s and young adult works of fiction about mythology, combine a subject search of “juvenile fiction” with a subject search of “mythology, Egyptian” (or Norse, African, Celtic, Aztec – the combinations are endless).

You can also combine your “juvenile fiction” subject search with a keyword search for a particular story or character (for example, a keyword search of “Osiris”).

Celtic and Welsh Mythology

Black, Holly.
Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale. 2002.
Sixteen-year-old Kaye, who has been visited by faeries since childhood, discovers that she herself is a magical faerie creature with a special destiny. Sequels Valiant and Ironside continue the adventure.
[SSHEL S Collection S. B5614t]

Cooper, Susan.
Over Sea, Under Stone. 1965.
Three children find an ancient manuscript and become involved in a quest to discover the true story of King Arthur. This is the introduction to the Dark is Rising quartet, which includes Arthurian legend and a variety of Celtic and Welsh myths in a fantastical struggle between good and evil forces.
[SSHEL S Collection S. C787O]

Garner, Alan.
The Owl Service. 1967.
A contemporary retelling of the story of Blodeuwedd, a character from Welsh mythology, in which three young people find themselves reenacting an old tragedy.
[SSHEL Oak Street S. G186O]

Guard, David.
Dierdre: A Celtic Legend. 1977.
According to this ancient legend, at her birth, a wise Druid foretold that Dierdre’s beauty would tear Ulster apart.
[SSHEL Oak Street S.398.21 G931D]

Jones, Diana Wynne.
Fire and Hemlock. 1985.
A complex retelling of the legend of Tam Lin that focuses on Polly, a teenager with two sets of memories – one perfectly normal, and the other strange and mystical.
[SSHEL S Collection S. J713f]

Lanagan, Margo.
The Brides of Rollrock Island. 2012.
On remote Rollrock Island, men go to sea to make their livings — and to catch their wives. The witch Misskaella knows the way of drawing a girl from the heart of a seal — and for a price, a man may buy himself a lovely sea-wife. He may tell himself that he is her master, but from his first look into those wide eyes, he will be just as transformed as she, and the witch will have her true payment.
[SSHEL S Collection S. L22br]

McBride, Regina.
The Fire Opal. 2010.
While invading English soldiers do battle in sixteenth-century Ireland, Maeve grows up with a mystical connection to a queen who, centuries before, faced enemies of her own, and uses her special gifts to try to save her mother whose spirit has left her.
[SSHEL S Collection S. M459f]

Nimmo, Jenny.
The Snow Spider. 1987.
Gifts from Gwyn’s grandmother on his tenth birthday open up a whole new world to him, as he discovers he has magical powers that help him heal the breach with his father that has existed ever since his sister’s mysterious disappearance. The story continues to unfold in sequels Emlyn’s Moon and The Chestnut Soldier.
[SSHEL S Collection S.N617s 1987]

O’Shea, Pat.
The Hounds of the Morrigan. 1986.
Pidge and his sister Brigit become involved with creatures from ancient Celtic myth when Pidge buys a book that is actually the prison of the evil serpent, Olc-Glas.
[SSHEL Oak Street S. OS4H]

Shepard, Aaron.
The Mountain of Marvels: A Celtic Tale of Magic: Retold from The Mabinogion. 2007.
A thousand years ago, in the Celtic kingdoms of Wales, great lords gave great feasts for their fighting men and courtiers. In between the meals, the storyteller rose and spun his tales of times long past. Many of these tales are collected in this retelling of The Mabinogion.
[SSHEL S Collection S.398.209429 Sh471m]

Stiefvater, Maggie.
The Scorpio Races. 2011.
Nineteen-year-old returning champion Sean Kendrick competes against Puck Connolly, the first girl ever to ride in the annual Scorpio Races, both trying to keep hold of their dangerous water horses long enough to make it to the finish line.
[SSHEL S Collection S. St522sc]

Egyptian Mythology

Ewing, Lynne.
The Summoning. 2007.
Three fifteen-year-old girls living in Washington D.C. learn that they are the direct descendants of Egyptian pharoahs, with special powers that will allow them to battle demonic members of the Cult of Anubis, who are trying to return the universe to the chaos from which it sprung. The Summoning begins the Sisters of Isis series.
[SSHEL S Collection S. Ew54su]

Hoover, P.J.
Tut: The Story of My Immortal Life. 2014.
King Tut was granted immortality and now lives life stuck as an 8th grader in Washington, D.C. Now he must ward off an evil general and the cult of Set determined to destroy Tut.
[SSHEL S Collection H7693t]

Houck, Colleen.
Reawakened. 2015.
New York teen Lily Young wasn’t expecting for her fate to become entangled with that of Amon, an Egyptian god, but now that it is, the pair must travel to the Valley of Kings, join forces with Amon’s brothers, and defeat the god Seth, who wants to take over the world.
[SSHEL S Collection S.H812r]

Maurer, Gretchen.
Call Me Isis: Egyptian Goddess of Magic. 2014.
As goddess-queen of Egypt, Isis is destined for a charmed life. But when she loses everything — including her magic — in one fell swoop, she is determined for the sake of her son Horus and for all of Egypt to put things right.
[SSHEL S Collection S.M4422c]

Nayeri, Daniel and Dina.
Another Pan. 2010.
The Nayeris blend the story of Peter Pan with Egyptian myth with the tale of Wendy Darling and her brother John, who discover an ancient book that opens a labyrinth underneath their school.
[SSHEL S Collection S.N231an]

Riordan, Rick.
The Red Pyramid. 2010.
After their father’s research experiment at the British Museum unleashes the Egyptian god Set, Carter and Sadie Kane embark on a dangerous journey across the globe — a quest which brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs in the beginning of The Kane Chronicles.
[SSHEL S Collection S. R479r]

White, Kiersten.
The Chaos of Stars. 2013.
Sixteen-year-old Isadora, the mortal daughter of Isis and Osiris, is sick of being in the middle of family drama so she jumps at the chance to leave Egypt and start a new life in San Diego with her brother.
[SSHEL S Collection S.W5846c]

Norse Mythology

Armstrong, K. L.
Loki’s Wolves. 2013.
Matt Thorsen is a direct descendant of the order-keeping god Thor, and his classmates Fen and Laurie Brekke are descendants of the trickster god Loki. When Ragnarok — the apocalypse — threatens, the human descendants of the gods must fight monsters to stop the end of the world.
[SSHEL S Collection S. Ar57l]

Barnhouse, Rebecca.
The Coming of the Dragon. 2010.
Barnhouse weaves Norse gods, blood feuds, and a terrifying dragon into this spectacular retelling of the end of the Old English poem Beowulf.
[SSHEL S Collection S. B2661c]

Coville, Bruce.
Thor’s Wedding Day by Thialfi the Goat Boy. 2005.
The stealing and retrieval of Thor’s hammer as told by his goat boy, Thialfi. A humorous look at an episode in Norse mythology.
[SSHEL S Collection S.C838t]

Farmer, Nancy.
The Sea of Trolls. 2004.
Jack, captured by Viking berserkers, goes on a quest to Jotunheim, home of the trolls.
[SSHEL S Collection S.F229s]

Gaiman, Neil.
Odd and the Frost Giants. 2009.
An unlucky twelve-year-old Norwegian boy named Odd leads the Norse gods Loki, Thor, and Odin in an attempt to outwit evil Frost Giants who have taken over Asgard.
[SSHEL S Collection S.G127o]

Gratton, Tessa.
The Lost Sun. 2013.
In an alternate U.S.A. (the United States of Asgard), Soren Bearskin, the son of an infamous berserker, and Astrid Glyn, daughter of a renowned seer, embark on a road trip to find Baldur, the missing god whose absence has caused panic throughout the country.
[SSHEL S Collection S. G774l]

Harris, Joanne.
Runemarks. 2008.
Maddy Smith, who bears the mysterious mark of a rune on her hand, learns that she is destined to join the gods of Norse mythology and play a role in the fate of the world.
[SSHEL S Collection S. H2421r]

Jones, Carrie.
Captivate. 2010.
High school junior Zara and her friends continue to try to contain the pixies that threaten their small Maine town, but when a Valkyrie takes Zara’s boyfriend, Nick, to Valhalla, the only way to save him is to trust a pixie king, Astley.
[SSHEL S Collection S.J7123c]

Lake, A.J.
The Coming of Dragons. 2006.
A king’s son and sea captain’s tomboy daughter journey across magical lands and face the Norse god Loki in the first book of the Darkest Age series.
[SSHEL S Collection S.L148co]

Livingston, Lesley.
Starling. 2012.
Mason Starling, a champion fencer at Gosforth Academy, finds her school overrun with terrifying creatures after a mysterious storm falls on Manhattan and the stranger who saves her life becomes her only ally as they work together to discover his past and learn of Mason’s family’s dark allegiance to ancient Norse gods.
[SSHEL S Collection S.L7626s]

Lunge-Larsen, Lise.
The Adventures of Thor the Thunder God. 2007.
Stories of Norse Thunder God Thor, adapted for modern young audiences.
[SSHEL S Collection Q. S.398.2 L972a]

Paulson, Ingrid.
Valkyrie Rising. 2012.
While visiting Norway, sixteen-year-old Ellie must step out of the shadow of her popular older brother, join forces with his infuriating best friend, and embrace her Valkyrie heritage to rescue teen boys kidnapped to join the undead army of the ancient god, Odin.
[SSHEL S Collection S. P2856v]