Over Sea, Under Stone

There's so much to love about these books. I never read them as a kid, and I wish I had. They are as wonderful as Narnia, but I can stand reading them as an adult, too. Unlike Narnia, there's no abrasive religious undertones and the children actually get to take real actions with real consequences. There's a lot of complexity – in the characters, in the world, in the notions of what it means to side with the Light or the Dark (and the sacrifices entailed by each). And wonderfully evocative descriptions of these places in Wales, suffused with magic and mystery.