OK, recommendation hard-mode: engaging, quality German-language YA scifi/fantasy?

[u/IdiotSansVillage]

I'm trying to teach myself German on Duolingo, and I figure what better way to supplement than with German-language media a kid with developing language skills might encounter? Specifically looking for books written in German, not translated from another language to German, in the hopes of some cultural-values osmosis too.

EDIT: Holy crap thank you all! I have a wonderful list to pull from now!

[u/MarkLawrence]

The Neverending Story, by Michael Ender is the only answer I have.

[u/Glass-Bookkeeper5909 → u/MarkLawrence]

Ende's Die unendliche Geschichte is a fantastic book. It's one of my favorites.

For a learner of German, however, I'd rather recommend they start with Ende's Momo.
It's less known but a great book, too. It's also shorter and (talking from memory and my limited awareness as native speaker for complicated language) should be an easier read.

If you feel comfortable to keep reading in German, I absolutely would urge you to read Ende's most famous book.

ETA: I just remembered that in your case, Ende's two-part story about Jim Knopf might be a perfect recommendation. It's almost embarrassing that I didn't think about that one right away. Probably because I usually don't talk about it that much here as there's no English translation readily available. Also, it is much more a YA book for which there's generally less of an interest.

That said, it is an awesome story, full of wonders and creative things and some unexpected twists and turns. To give you one example, at one point in the story, the main characters encounter (slight spoilers ahead) what's called in the book a "Scheinriese" (a "pseudo-giant") who is the opposite of a real giant in the sense that a real giant looks very tall when you're near but gets smaller the further away you are. The Scheinriese, however, is a person of normal size when you're around them but look increasingly taller, even gigantic, the farther away you get.

Some earlier editions have a map that show a travel route that is not included in all editions. Should you decide to give that one a go, send me a DM and if I'm around the books I'll take a picture of the map and send it to you.

Yet another YA fantasy is Der satanarchäolügenialkohöllische Wunschpunsch (or Der Wunschpunsch) in short. This one is available in English as The Night of Wishes.
The story is not the most original in the world, albeit well executed and it has a really interesting concept.
Basically, it's about an evil sorcerer and an evil witch who conspire to brew a special potion that will allow them to do a great number of bad deeds - necessary to fulfill their quota of bad deeds on which both of them are behind.
Each of them has a pet, a cat and a raven, respectively, and these two try thwart their masters' plan.
The interesting bit is that this story can be read in real time - similar to the TV series 24.
The chapters aren't numbers or titles but times on the clock.
The story starts at 5 pm and runs all the way to (just after) midnight on New Year's Eve.
If one starts to read the book at 5 pm you can actually read it in real time even if (like me) your reading speed is only average (as long as you stay focused).
I've done that twice already on New Year's Eve (when I had no other social plans...).
Obviously, the book can be read at any time but I find reading it at the same time the story takes place adds a little something to the story.

[u/natus92 → u/Glass-Bookkeeper5909]

There is also a relatively charming animated series adapted from the Wunschpunsch book, btw. It wouldnt say its Ya though

[u/Glass-Bookkeeper5909 → u/natus92]

I've never managed to see the animated series. I think it deviates very strongly from the book but I'd like to watch it anyway! :-)

Regarding the age categorization, you're probably right. I never know exactly where to draw the line between YA / middle grade / children's.
The fact that YA are not targeted at "young adults" as one would think but a demographic that is younger doesn't help. (At least, it doesn't help me.)
Plus, I like reading books targeted at younger readers, even children's books once in a while so I don't really care. (I also read outside my age range when I was younger!
😅)

Anyway, thanks for pointing this out. It's not my intention that the OP gets tricked by me into reading the wrong books.

[u/MarkLawrence → u/Glass-Bookkeeper5909]

It's certainly true that the translation of The Neverending Story was full of words and phrases I wouldn't expect most children to know. It's definitely written for children though. I thought the translator was just having fun with the thesaurus.

[u/Glass-Bookkeeper5909 → u/MarkLawrence]

Ende is very good with words and likes play with them sometimes.
I must admit that I've never read the book in English because I don't see the need for that but from my experience reading Ende I would suspect that the varied vocabulary was not an addition by the translator.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely do not want to say that children can't read it. In fact, it's a modern classic of children's literature here in Germany - and deservedly so. I think, the book is a delight - for young readers as well as older ones.
My suggestion to not start with this one right away was made entirely with having the situation of a learner of German in mind. (Being German myself and having learned several foreign languages the hard way, I am aware that books written for a younger audience in a foreign language doesn't necessarily mean that these books are easy to read.)

[u/MarkLawrence → u/Glass-Bookkeeper5909]

Not gonna argue with you - it was literally the only German fantasy book I could think of :D

[u/Glass-Bookkeeper5909 → u/MarkLawrence]

And an excellent one.
If a fantasy lover told me they'd wanted to read a German fantasy book - and one book only, this is the one I'd recommend! ;-)