Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She's the editor/author of (DON'T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen.
Are you a series reader? Do you prefer to read stand alone titles but want to push yourself to get into a series or two? Are you taking part in Book Riot’s 2025 Read Harder challenge and are scratching your head about task #20: Read the first book in a completed young adult or middle grade duology? Whatever your current connection with series books, perhaps there is one thing that unifies both camps: waiting for a series to wrap up can be tough and/or part of what makes picking up a series difficult.
The good news is that there is a ton of variability when it comes to the length of any book series. A duology stands as a nice way to dip your toe into series books and a nice way to know you won’t be waiting forever for a series to wrap up. That goes doubly when the duology is already complete. There’s no waiting at all, and it’s easy to carry the whole series with you from your local library or bookstore.
Find below several first books in completed YA duology and in completed middle grade duology to try out and/or discover for the first time. While some of these will be well-known authors or books, many are lesser-known or that deserve more attention; in some cases, the first book or two in the series got significant attention while the series itself wrapped up without as much fanfare as deserved. These lists are nowhere near comprehensive. They’re meant to offer a sampling of options for first books in completed duologies across genres for both YA and middle grade readers.
Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen.
First Books in Completed YA Duology to Try
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
For readers who want a realistic YA book series, Khorram’s duology is an excellent read about family, culture, and friendship (that may be something more).
Darius has always felt like the wrong piece of a puzzle. His dad is white and not like him at all. His mom is Iranian, but she’s fair skinned and doesn’t “look” Persian. Though he doesn’t look like his heritage, Darius is an outsider because people know he’s “not like them” in his Portland school. When his mother’s dad is nearing the end of his life, the family chooses to take a trip to Iran to reconnect. And it’s here where Darius really comes to understand he is an important piece of the puzzle in her family, in his community, and in the bigger world. Sohrab, the new friend-more-than-a-friend Darius makes in Iran, calls this what translates from Farsi into “your place was empty,” and that sentiment really resonates not only for Darius and his place in the world, but also, his place inside himself.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Offering something a little different here is this duology that’s less a “you have to read them both” and more about a pair of companion novels. You’ll get to know several characters in the first book, Last Night at the Telegraph Club, and meet related characters in the second novel, A Scatter of Light. You don’t need to read them both nor in any particular order to enjoy them each individually, but you will walk away really glad to have read them both.
Lily, who is Chinese American, begins falling for Kath during the 1950s in San Francisco. It’s an era of change and upheaval, and it’s an era where the Red Scare emerges to put those who are “other” into their places.
Told in a few timelines, this family story is about immigration post-Chinese Exclusion, about the realities of being called a Communist, and about the ways in which living up to parental and cultural expectations in a changing world means putting your true self in the dark.
A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin
The early 2010s were dominated by YA trilogies in the wake of blockbusters like The Hunger Games. By the time we hit the 2020s, though, there’d been a shift in three book series to more duologies. Lin’s is an example of effectively building a series across two, rather than three, books.
In this first book of a series, Ning accidentally kills her mother with poison tea and now she’s not only grieving, but she’s worried that her sister will also be killed by the tea.
When Ning hears about a competition to find the greatest master of tea-making in the kingdom, she enters. This well-paced fantasy follows as Ning attempts to take the title, which will not only earn her favor within the royal court but will also help save her sister’s life.
A tea competition? Yes, please.
This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
Bri has a gift where she can grow plants from nothing into something with a single touch. When her aunt dies and leaves her estate in the hands of Bri and her family, they decide to spend the summer there. She’s hoping to learn to contain her gift but, soon learns through the estate’s old apothecary and walled garden packed with deadly botanicals that her family’s magic is what can help solve the dark secrets of the land. Oh, and there’s a nefarious group coming after Bri, as they discover she has a pretty magical hand for creating elixirs, including one for immortality…
This one is a spin on The Secret Garden and Greek mythology, and it’s also a queer, gothic delight. Bayron’s series is another example of the effective fantastical duology.
First Books in Completed Middle Grade Duology to Try
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
““With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . .The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. Cuz tonight I’m delivering,” announces dread-locked, 12-year old Josh Bell. He and his twin brother Jordan are awesome on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood; he’s got mad beats, too, that tell his family’s story in verse, in this fast and furious middle grade novel of family and brotherhood from Kwame Alexander.
Josh and Jordan must come to grips with growing up on and off the court to realize breaking the rules comes at a terrible price, as their story’s heart-stopping climax proves a game-changer for the entire family.” – Christy Childers
Purists might say this isn’t a duology since there is an associated prequel to it. But reading that prequel is bonus material, so this absolutely counts as a two-book series.
Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi
“This original fairytale from Tahereh Mafi is all about being different in a colorful world. In Ferenwood, color is currency. But for Alice Alexis Queensmeadow, color is the one thing she doesn’t have. Entirely pigment-less and magic-less, Alice expects to fail the trials that would allow her to go on an adventure and prove herself. And passing them is important for more than just prestige. The trials may be her only hope of venturing into the dangerous lands of Furthermore where her father disappeared many years ago. There, up is down and down is up. But maybe it will take an opposite-girl like Alice — the last one anybody expected — to find him again.” – Rachel Brittain
The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkellner
“Moth loves all things witchy, so when her powers decide to show themselves after a nasty encounter with a bully, she is overjoyed to discover that she truly is magical! Shortly thereafter, though, she realizes that her hometown has a lot of hidden witchy drama that her family is entwined with and is now coming to the surface. Along with a new talking cat companion, she sets out to discover the source of all this and make things better for the present day.” – PN Hinton
Sal and Gabi Break the Universe by Carlos Hernandez
“Sal and Gabi Break the Universe is book one in a duology. In it, Sal and Gabi meet under unusual circumstances. He’s in the principal’s office for the third time that week, and she just knows he’s the one who put a raw chicken in her friend’s locker. Even if the chicken has disappeared and she can’t actually prove it. That’s how Gabi discovers that Sal is a magician with the power to reach into other universes. And so their adventure begins. Sal and Gabi Break the Universe is an intricate, well-written, story that uses Cuban mythology to speak about magic, love, family, and grief. ” — Rey Rowland
If you want even more options for great YA and middle grade series to check out–some of which fulfill this Read Harder task and some of which don’t but make for good reading anyway–dive into these 15 middle grade series recommendations, these captivating YA fantasy romance series, and this older roundup of completed YA fantasy series.
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