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Travel to a Parallel World reading Young Adult Fantasy

A guide by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban

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Since Alice fell down the rabbit hole, Lucy stepped through the wardrobe and the Darlings children followed Peter to Neverland, I have been fascinated by parallel worlds. Worlds full of wonder that exist beyond this prosaic and often harsh world we deem real.

To travel to these fantastic worlds may require a seemingly solid wall in Platform 9 and ľ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7), a broken arch in a forbidden cove Two Moon Princess, a tunnel called “flute” marked with a star (The Pendragon series The Merchant of Death (Pendragon)), a rift in the air (His Dark Materials), an old wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia), a hole in a tree (Alice In Wonderland), pixie dust and a lot of flyingPeter Pan (Aladdin Classics)), or a powerful tornado (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oxford World's Classics)). Other, equally unlikely, ways to travel are also possible but never, never a spaceship. A pseudo-scientific explanation (an explanation for the impossible can never be scientific) for this sudden transportation is beyond the point. It’s the destination and not how to get there that is important in these stories.

My broad definition of parallel worlds also includes past times: post Roman Britain (A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Enriched Classics (Pocket))), the American Revolution (George Washington's Socks (Time Travel Adventures)), many different points in history (Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 1-4: Dinosaurs Before Dark, The Knight at Dawn, Mummies in the Morning, and Pirates Past Noon, Your Mother Was a Neanderthal #4 (Time Warp Trio), The Time Cat Time Cat (Puffin Modern Classics)).

In some of these worlds, the laws of physics still apply (Two Moon Princess, The Pendragon series); while in others magic plays its tricks and/or fantastic sentient beings and mythological animals exist (El Laberinto Del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth), Spirited AwaySpirited Away, Vol. 1, The Neverending Story The Neverending Story, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Spiderwick Chronicles (Boxed Set): The Field Guide; The Seeing Stone; Lucinda's Secret; The Ironwood Tree; The Wrath of Mulgrath, The Enchanted Castle). Yet in others events have the randomness of dreams (The Phantom Tollbooth, CoralinaCoraline: The Graphic Novel, Alice in Wonderland.

Most often our time and planet is the first world, the world where the protagonist(s) lives/live as the story starts (The Merlin Effect (Lost Years Of Merlin), The Ancient One (Kate Gordon), Search for Senna (Everworld #1), EnchantmentEnchantment, Half MagicHalf Magic). Not always. Both in Two Moon Princess and in the movie The Navigator: A Mediaeval Odyssey, the protagonist(s)’ world is a medieval kingdom and the world she/he travels to is present day Earth (California/Australia). ASecret of Platform 13 / Island of the Aunts Flip booknd in The Secret of Platform 13 an evil witch kidnap the prince of a parallel world and bring him to London.

A world of fairies coexisting side by side with our own is a recurrent theme in YA literature. Some storylines are faithful to old ballads (Tam LinTam LinTam Lin, Earthly Knight, An), others take liberties like in Artemis Fowl Book 1 (Promotional Edition) or the urban tales of Holly Black (Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, Valiant: A Modern Faerie Tale (Modern Faerie Tale), Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale (Modern Faerie Tale)) and Melissa Marr (Wicked Lovely, Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely)).

In some cases, book characters (The Great Good Thing, Cornelia Funke’s(Inkheart (Movie Cover)/Inkspell (Inkheart Trilogy)/Inkdeath (Inkheart Trilogy)), toys (The Indian Trilogy: The Indian in the Cupboard / Return of the Indian / The Secret of the Indian, Toy Story (10th Anniversary Edition), The Doll People), or games(Jumanji (French Edition), Zathura) come to life and intrude in our world. In others (The Pagemaster)the protagonist is trapped inside the pages of a book.

This is a list of books/movies in which parallel worlds play an important part in the story. It’s above all a tribute to the power of the imagination.

Products mentioned include:
1.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)  by J. K. Rowling
$11.78 Used & New from: $1.90
4.6 out of 5 stars   (4,246) | 1,023 customer discussions
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2.  Two Moon Princess  by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban
$8.35 Used & New from: $0.01
4.1 out of 5 stars   (39)
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3.  The Merchant of Death (Pendragon)  by D. J. MacHale
$14.64 Used & New from: $2.86
4.5 out of 5 stars   (235) | 2 customer discussions
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4.  His Dark Materials  by Philip Pullman
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4.4 out of 5 stars   (7)
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5.  The Chronicles of Narnia  by C. S. Lewis
$15.10 Used & New from: $0.01
4.7 out of 5 stars   (1,704)
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6.  Alice In Wonderland  by Lewis Carroll
$6.60 Used & New from: $0.04
4.3 out of 5 stars   (891) | 2 customer discussions
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7.  Peter Pan (Aladdin Classics)  by Susan Cooper
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4.4 out of 5 stars   (13)
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8.  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Oxford World's Classics)  by L. Frank Baum
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9.  A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (Enriched Classics (Pocket))  by Mark Twain
$4.69 Used & New from: $0.01
4.0 out of 5 stars   (262) | 1 customer discussion
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10.  George Washington's Socks (Time Travel Adventures)  by Elvira Woodruff
$5.39 Used & New from: $0.01
4.5 out of 5 stars   (37)
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11.  Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 1-4: Dinosaurs Before Dark, The Knight at Dawn, Mummies in the Morning, and Pirates Past Noon [Box set]  by Mary Pope Osborne
$11.67 Used & New from: $5.91
4.5 out of 5 stars   (298)
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12.  Your Mother Was a Neanderthal #4 (Time Warp Trio)  by Jon Scieszka
$4.49 Used & New from: $0.01
4.4 out of 5 stars   (17) | 1 customer discussion
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13.  Time Cat (Puffin Modern Classics)  by Lloyd Alexander
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4.4 out of 5 stars   (80)
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14.  El Laberinto Del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth)  by Guillermo del Toro
$66.56 Used & New from: $46.39
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15.  Spirited Away, Vol. 1  by Yuji Oniki
$8.96 Used & New from: $0.01
4.2 out of 5 stars   (11)
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16.  The Neverending Story  by Ralph Manheim
$16.38 Used & New from: $8.60
4.7 out of 5 stars   (360) | 2 customer discussions
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17.  The Spiderwick Chronicles (Boxed Set): The Field Guide; The Seeing Stone; Lucinda's Secret; The Ironwood Tree; The Wrath of Mulgrath [Box set]  by Holly Black
$31.80 Used & New from: $1.55
4.5 out of 5 stars   (210) | 1 customer discussion
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18.  The Enchanted Castle  by E. Nesbit
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4.4 out of 5 stars   (48)
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19.  The Phantom Tollbooth  by Norton Juster
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4.6 out of 5 stars   (808)
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20.  Coraline: The Graphic Novel  by Neil Gaiman
$17.09 Used & New from: $0.49
4.1 out of 5 stars   (47)
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21.  The Merlin Effect (Lost Years Of Merlin)  by Thomas A. Barron
$6.29 Used & New from: $0.01
4.4 out of 5 stars   (34)
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22.  The Ancient One (Kate Gordon)  by Thomas A. Barron
$7.19 Used & New from: $0.01
4.7 out of 5 stars   (50)
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23.  Search for Senna (Everworld #1)  by Katherine A. Applegate
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4.4 out of 5 stars   (158)
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24.  Enchantment  by Orson Scott Card
$11.43 Used & New from: $2.62
4.2 out of 5 stars   (222)
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25.  Half Magic  by N. M. Bodecker
$6.29 Used & New from: $0.01
4.5 out of 5 stars   (161) | 3 customer discussions
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26.  The Navigator: A Mediaeval Odyssey [Import] [PAL] [Widescreen]  DVD ~ Chris Haywood
Used & New from: $40.99
3.8 out of 5 stars   (28)
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27.  Secret of Platform 13 / Island of the Aunts Flip book  by Eva Ibbotson
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5.0 out of 5 stars   (1)
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28.  Tam Lin  by Pamela Dean
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3.9 out of 5 stars   (117)
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29.  Tam Lin  by Jane Yolen
Used & New from: $6.34
4.9 out of 5 stars   (7)
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30.  Tam Lin  by Susan Cooper
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3.0 out of 5 stars   (2)
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31.  Earthly Knight, An  by Janet Elizabeth McNaughton
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4.1 out of 5 stars   (15)
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32.  Artemis Fowl Book 1 (Promotional Edition)  by Eoin Colfer
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4.2 out of 5 stars   (547)
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33.  Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale  by Holly Black
$8.00 Used & New from: $0.01
3.9 out of 5 stars   (327) | 4 customer discussions
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34.  Valiant: A Modern Faerie Tale (Modern Faerie Tale)  by Holly Black
$8.09 Used & New from: $0.01
4.0 out of 5 stars   (107) | 1 customer discussion
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35.  Ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale (Modern Faerie Tale)  by Holly Black
$7.98 Used & New from: $0.01
4.3 out of 5 stars   (76) | 10 customer discussions
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36.  Wicked Lovely  by Melissa Marr
$8.09 Used & New from: $0.01
3.8 out of 5 stars   (389) | 8 customer discussions
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37.  Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely)  by Melissa Marr
$13.05 Used & New from: $0.01
3.8 out of 5 stars   (167) | 3 customer discussions
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38.  The Great Good Thing  by Rod Townley
$6.29 Used & New from: $0.01
4.4 out of 5 stars   (39)
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39.  Inkheart (Movie Cover)  by Cornelia Funke
$8.99 Used & New from: $0.01
4.3 out of 5 stars   (682) | 1 customer discussion
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40.  Inkspell (Inkheart Trilogy)  by Cornelia Funke
$9.89 Used & New from: $0.01
4.4 out of 5 stars   (313) | 3 customer discussions
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41.  Inkdeath (Inkheart Trilogy)  by Cornelia Funke
$17.26 Used & New from: $0.01
4.3 out of 5 stars   (162) | 19 customer discussions
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42.  The Indian Trilogy: The Indian in the Cupboard / Return of the Indian / The Secret of the Indian  by Lynne Reid Banks
Used & New from: $9.19
4.9 out of 5 stars   (9)
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43.  Toy Story (10th Anniversary Edition) [AC-3] [Animated] [Closed-captioned] [Color] [Dolby] [DTS Surround Sound] [Dubbed] [Widescreen] [NTSC]  DVD ~ Tom Hanks
Used & New from: $5.50
4.7 out of 5 stars   (584) | 24 customer discussions
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44.  The Doll People  by Ann M. Martin
$7.19 Used & New from: $0.01
4.8 out of 5 stars   (112)
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45.  Jumanji (French Edition)  by Catherine Chaine
Used & New from: $20.26
4.0 out of 5 stars   (6)
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46.  Zathura  by Chris Van Allsburg
$13.97 Used & New from: $0.49
3.9 out of 5 stars   (31)
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47.  The Pagemaster  by Jordan Horowitz
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4.0 out of 5 stars   (2)
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Join me for breakfast at Hogwart's Magic Java Cafe...I'm buying 7131 7 hours ago
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The Neverending Story & The Fountain of The Water of Life 0 Aug 1, 2009
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About this Guide

 

Author

Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban
Qualifications: Young adult and fantasy Author
Last updated: 7/6/10
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