Recs if you like The Marvellers...

JK Rowling is a bigot who uses her platform to hurt transfolks and other marginalized groups (plus she literally just quoted Mein Kampf on the bird site). If you're still supporting her in 2025, don't bother talking to me.

books to get for the middle grade readers in your life that have similar vibes but are NOT Harry Potter (and are in fact better)

You liked Harry Potter but you’re angry at the author for being a huge transphobe and you would like some alternatives because you don’t want to give money to her so she can finance transphobia and you have enough of Harry Potter’s racist stereotypes like Cho Chang and other problematic themes in this saga? You’re in the right place! I haven’t read all, if some are misplaced, let me know! Also, if you want more fantasy recs, I have a queer fantasy list! It is addressed to different ages.

books featuring or set in magic schools / universities / academies, aka, one of the best subgenres in existence !

this list has books for all ages (am actively looking for more adult options), most of the books are dark academia, and ALL of them are fantastical 🪄 recs welcome <3

(alternatively, books to fall in love with & share with others to help avoid supporting or promoting JKR. i will never shut up ab how the Nevermoor series deserves the popularity that Harry Potter enjoys !)

Middle Grade books that show kids bucking the system, resisting empire, and learning critical community values. Even if no direct political commentary is made, these stories model anti-capitalist/white supremacist culture. Recommendations welcome!

This list was generated from a post on pagebound club on Juneteenth in 2026. I opted to not try and make this list comprehensive but just to document the community recs from that day - however, if you have more books to recommend please comment in the forum! Prompts from the original post will be in the comments. Note: prompts asked for books by Black authors, not only those from/books set in the US. See comments section for more discussion.

Do you love stories that take place or revolve around magic academies/classes that aren't written by a TERF and aphobic author? Well, do I have the book list for you!

A list of 50+ various witchy books of varying degrees of reading level, for all things witchy and magic. The list ranges from YA to adult.

Who TF needs JKR anymore? We got way better books out there dude

These middle grade series may not have seven movies, a TV show, and a literal theme park dedicated to them, but they sure deserve it! Especially because they weren't written by JKR. All recommended by Pagebound users, and suggestions are always always welcome -- middle grade fantasy/mystery series-starters only, please! Let's foster a love of reading in kids without supporting bigotry and hatred.

A non-exhaustive list of magical middle grade alternatives to the series which shall not be named. Only the first book of those that are part of a series is listed so as not to overwhelm. This will grow as more alternatives are found / published.

an alternative for those who want to be whisked away to a magical school, that may or may not be deadly at times, created by lovely humans who aren't terfs! Misfits & Magic is such a fun, campy 2 season long D20 side quest on Dropout with a small cast reclaiming tropes and ideas that shouldn't belong to just one terrible person. I made sure to include queer and trans fantasies with school settings and just general good feeling stories!

Intended audience ages 8-15ish but it's so good and comforting for any age ☺️

These are all either books that are the first in their series or work as a standalone book

Books with college/school setting, where weird stuff is happening and students just can't enjoy their education in peace. 😂

Most popular or most read books set at a boarding school.

Only the first book of a series will be added.