A little boy and his young neighbor discover a suicide. Not exactly the way most great romances begin, but I was quickly swept up in Quentin and Margo’s unexpected (and sometimes scary) story. Now they’re both in high school, and although they’re still neighbors, they barely interact on campus. But that doesn’t stop band-geek Quentin from loving popular-girl Margo. One night as graduation nears, Margo sweeps Quentin away in the middle of the night to help her exact revenge on her gossipy friends and cheating ex-boyfriend. The night is all adrenalin, and I (like Quentin) was desperate to see how his and Margo’s at-school relationship would change after spending such a crazy night together. But we never get to, because Margo disappears. The chapters that follow are full of clues, suspense, and a desperate search to find Margo. With a healthy dose of mystery, great characters, and a desperate road trip, Paper Towns will keep you turning pages late into the night.

Ged is the most powerful wizard in Earthsea. But he’s only a boy, all potential and no discipline. So, at age thirteen, he journeys to the island of Roke, where there is a school for wizards, to develop his craft. A foolish duel with another student unleashes an evil “shadow creature” from another realm, and Ged must destroy it or be destroyed.

Ursula K. Le Guin’s prose is concise and nuanced, each word well chosen, and the earnest tone of the novel makes Ged’s world feel real enough to touch. It’s no wonder that so many accomplished fantasy authors list the legendary Le Guin among their greatest influences. Neil Gaiman cited her one of his literary heroes at this year’s National Book Awards ceremony, where he presented Le Guin with the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. In her acceptance speech, Le Guin gave a shoutout to her fellow fantasy and science fiction novelists—”writers of imagination”—whom she feels deserve more recognition than they are given.
 
If you have Tolkien fans or Harry Potter enthusiasts in your life, consider gifting them A Wizard of Earthsea this holiday season. It’s both a classic for fantasy buffs and a beautiful introduction to the genre. Any and all readers of imagination will be swept away.