Book picks similar to
Shortcuts by Amy Bearce


fantasy
paranormal
young-adult
high-school

Ewan Pendle and the White Wraith (Ewan Pendle Book 1)


Shaun Hume - 2012
    Hume does a MAGNIFICENT job of building a completely different world ... " - Fire and Rain Books "It was a GREAT read!" - Amazon Reviewer "Ewan Pendle is a wonderful epic fantasy that’s perfect for Harry Potter withdrawals!" - AUTHOR Kayla Krantz "When’s the next one out???" - Amazon Reviewer "This is a DAMN good book!" - Amazon Reviewer "Get lost in a world like no other - A multilayered, intricate and intriguing read!" - Amazon Reviewer Ewan Pendle was weird. Really weird. At least, that's what everyone told him. Then again, being able to see monsters that no one else could wasn't exactly normal. Thinking he has been moved off to live with his eleventh foster family, Ewan is instead told he is a Lenitnes, one of an ancient race of peoples who can alone see the real Creatures which inhabit the earth. He is taken in by Enola, the mysterious sword carrying Grand Master of Firedrake Lyceum, a labyrinth of halls and rooms in the middle of London where other children, just like Ewan, go to learn the ways of the Creatures. But Ewan doesn’t have long to settle in to his new surroundings, as he meets Mathilde, an off the wall girl who befriends him, and shows Ewan what it’s like to be a true Lenitnes. They soon team up with Enid too, a sullen but tough pirate girl, who is even more of an outsider than Ewan. Together, the three of them get swept into a plot to assassinate the Queen, Ewan and his new friends following their noses to try and catch a killer. And with the ghastly white wraith becoming more and more prevalent in the night skies, danger seems to lurk around almost every corner ... MORE PRAISE for Ewan Pendle ... " ... it WILL BE Harry Potter of the new, younger generations!" - Goodreads review "I loved this book. I was a huge Harry Potter fan (and my 9-year-old son is a huge fan) and I was a bit disappointed when the series ended. All other books that were written in a similar fashion to Harry Potter, I found boring and unoriginal. That is until ... Ewan Pendle and the White Wraith. I was instantly transported to a world, while similar to Harry Potter in ways, it was also very original." - Amazon Reviewer "I hope there's more to come because Hume has written some great characters tucked into a vivid world!" - artisticbent.org

Elizabeth and Zenobia


Jessica Miller - 2016
    And Zenobia’s company can be very trying! When Elizabeth’s father takes them to live in his family home, Witheringe House, Zenobia becomes obsessed with finding a ghost in the creepy old mansion and forces Elizabeth to hold séances and wander the rooms at night. With Zenobia’s constant pushing, Elizabeth investigates the history of the house and learns that it does hold a terrible secret: Her father’s younger sister disappeared from the grounds without a trace years ago.Elizabeth and Zenobia is a wonderfully compelling middle-grade story about friendship, courage, and the power of the imagination.

In My Dreams


Cameo Renae - 2011
    It was something seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Hayes thought she’d outgrown. She didn’t want them anymore; detailed premonitions of how people would die. One night, Lizzy’s worst nightmare occurs. She dreams of her boyfriend, Michael Young, and soon discovers his car was found in a river, along with his lifeless body. Confusion settles deep within when Michael appears alive in her dreams. He warns her, attempting to keep her safe from the very person who murdered him. Awake, Lizzy must pull on her inner strength, not only to save herself, but also her friends whose lives are in danger. In My Dreams is a story of trust, friendship, courage, and true love that lives beyond the grave.

Transparent


Natalie Whipple - 2013
    Fiona McClean actually is.An invisible girl is a priceless weapon. Fiona’s own father has been forcing her to do his dirty work for years—everything from spying on people to stealing cars to breaking into bank vaults.After sixteen years, Fiona’s had enough. She and her mother flee to a small town, and for the first time in her life, Fiona feels like a normal life is within reach. But Fiona’s father isn’t giving up that easily.Of course, he should know better than anyone: never underestimate an invisible girl.

Green Angel


Alice Hoffman - 2003
    Struggling to survive physically and emotionally in a place where nothing seems to grow and ashes are everywhere, Green retreats into the ruined realm of her garden. But in destroying her feelings, she also begins to destroy herself, erasing the girl she'd once been as she inks darkness into her skin. It is only through a series of mysterious encounters that Green can relearn the lessons of love and begin to heal enough to tell her story.

Threader


Rebekah Turner - 2016
    A slowly emerging young minority has been exposed as 'talents'; they harbour mutations that give them special gifts – super strength, regenerative powers, psychic gifts or the ability to sink through shadows and travel through time and space. As governments unite to form a global talent registry and powerful corporations step in to take control, a 'talent' can be a passport to citizenship and a better life, but there is a cost as Josie Ryder is about to discover.Orphaned at six, Josie Ryder has been raised by her uncle. Her talent is an unusual one: she is a threader, able to weave a combination of psychic talents around others to manipulate their powers. Working in her uncle's antique store and dreaming of a better life, Josie has done everything to keep a promise to her late father: stay off the global talent registry and keep her talents hidden. But as Josie tries to make ends meet with the occasional illegal act, she risks a third strike with local law enforcement and, desperate for a better life, Josie finally breaks her promise to her father's memory and sends an enquiry to the prestigious Helios Academy, a training facility in a distant country for talents. When the Helios Academy respond by sending mysterious slider, Blake Galloway to extract Josie, then offer her a position at their select and highly competitive institution, things begin to get really interesting, and more than a little dangerous...

The Glass Wall


Madison Adler - 2011
    Athletic and with killer looks, he wears black eyeliner like a magician and seems to be watching Sydney's every move.What starts out as a light-hearted investigation with her gadget-happy foster father takes a serious turn when she discovers that Rafael isn't human. Add Jareth, the country's latest rock sensation, into the mix and Sydney is swept into a mysterious world of Tulpas, the Fae, and the Brotherhood of the Snake.Sydney doesn't know she's a Blue Thread of Fate. She doesn't know the fate of humanity depends on her choice of whom to trust--Jareth or Rafael. And she certainly doesn't know that she's taken the first step on the unexpected path of love.Ages 12+ [83,605 words - 352 pages of a 6X9 book ]Don't forget to read the free prequel short story "Behind the Mirror"!

Perfekt Order


S.T. Bende - 2015
     For seventeen-year-old Mia Ahlström, a world ruled by order is the only world she allows. A lifetime of chore charts, to-do lists and study schedules have helped earn her a spot at Redwood State University’s engineering program. And while her five year plan includes finding her very own happily-evah-aftah, years at an all-girls boarding school left her feeling woefully unprepared for keg parties and co-ed extracurricular activities. So nothing surprises her more than catching the eye of Tyr Fredriksen at her first college party. The imposing Swede is arrogantly charming, stubbornly overprotective, and runs hot-and-cold in ways that defy reason... until Mia learns that she’s fallen for the Norse God of War; an immortal battle deity hiding on Midgard (Earth) to protect a valuable Asgardian treasure from a feral enemy. With a price on his head, Tyr brings more than a little excitement to Mia’s rigidly controlled life. Choosing Tyr may be the biggest distraction — or the greatest adventure — she’s ever had.

Thirteens


Kate Alice Marshall - 2020
    Her birthday, which falls on Halloween, is just around the corner, and she hopes that this year will be a fresh start at a new life. But then one morning, an ancient grandfather clock counting down thirteen hours appears outside of her bedroom. And then she spots a large black dog with glowing red eyes prowling the grounds of her school. A book of fairytales she's never heard of almost willingly drops in front of her, as if asking to be read. Something is wrong in the town of Eden Eld.Eleanor and her new classmates, Pip and Otto, are the only ones who see these "wrong things," and they also all happen to share a Halloween birthday. Bonded by these odd similarities, the trio uncovers a centuries-old pact the town has with a mysterious figure known as Mr. January: every thirteen years, three thirteen-year-olds disappear, sacrificed in exchange for the town's unending good fortune. This Halloween, Mr. January is back to collect his payment and Eleanor, Pip, and Otto are to be his next offering...unless they can break the curse before the clock strikes thirteen.

Shadowed Strength


Wendi L. Wilson - 2015
    Her savior, a large black dog with soulful eyes, vanishes as quickly as he appears. You are mine. She starts receiving threatening notes from her attacker, promising to finish what he started. I am Ace. To complicate things further, her long-time crush Jeremy reveals a secret that Melanie is not sure she can accept. He is more than he seems. Something untamed. Forceful. Wild. I have to stop him. The truth about her assailant's identity is almost too much to bear and Melanie must find the strength to put an end to the terror, once and for all. **This is a YA Paranormal Romance intended for teens and adults 16+ due to language and sexual situations.

Invisible Ghosts


Robyn Schneider - 2018
    She should, since she has one for a best friend: Logan, her annoying, Netflix-addicted brother, who is forever stuck at fifteen. But Rose is growing up, and when an old friend moves back to Laguna Canyon and appears in her drama class, things get complicated.Jamie Aldridge is charming, confident, and a painful reminder of the life Rose has been missing out on since her brother's death. She watches as Jamie easily rejoins their former friends--a group of magnificently silly theater nerds--while avoiding her so intensely that it must be deliberate.Yet when the two of them unexpectedly cross paths, Rose learns that Jamie has a secret of his own, one that changes everything. Rose finds herself drawn back into her old life--and to Jamie. But she quickly starts to suspect that he isn't telling her the whole truth.All Rose knows is that it's becoming harder to choose between the boy who makes her feel alive and the brother she isn't ready to lose.

The Lifeguard


Deborah Blumenthal - 2012
    Back in Texas, her family's splitting apart, but here in Rhode Island, at the cottage of her free-spirited aunt, it's a different world. There are long days at the beach and intriguing encounters with him. Pilot. He's the lifeguard with shamanic skills. He both saves her and makes her feel lost at sea. Sirena explores her obsession with Pilot and discovers his mysterious--almost magical--gifts.

Black Bird of the Gallows


Meg Kassel - 2017
    When something supernatural tries to attack her, Angie is thrown into a battle between good and evil she never saw coming. Right in the center of it is Reece—and he’s not human.What’s more, she knows something most don’t. That the secrets her town holds could kill them all. But that’s only half as dangerous as falling in love with a harbinger of death.

Gimme a Call


Sarah Mlynowski - 2010
    She wasted the past three years going out with Bryan—cute, adorable, break-your-heart Bryan. Devi let her friendships fade, blew off studying, didn't join any clubs . . . and now that Bryan has broken up with her, she has nothing left.Not even her stupid cell phone—she dropped it in the mall fountain. Now it only calls one number . . . hers. At age fourteen, three years ago!Once Devi gets over the shock—and convinces her younger self that she isn't some wacko—she realizes that she's been given an awesome gift. She can tell herself all the right things to do . . . because she's already done all the wrong ones! Who better to take advice from than your future self?Except . . .what if getting what you think you want changes everything?Fans of Sarah Mlynowski's Magic in Manhattan series will love this hilarious new novel with a high-concept premise .

The Deepest Roots


Miranda Asebedo - 2018
    For the past century, every girl has been born with a special talent, like the ability to Fix any object, Heal any wound, or Find what is missing.Best friends Rome, Lux, and Mercy all have similar talents, but to them, their abilities often feel like a curse. Rome may be able to Fix anything she touches, but that won’t help her mom pay rent or make it any easier to confide in Lux and Mercy about what’s going on at home. And Rome isn’t the only one. Lux has been hiding bigger, more dangerous secrets.As Rome struggles to keep her friendships close, she discovers the truth about life in Cottonwood Hollow—that friends are stronger than curses, that trust is worth the risk, and sometimes, what you’ve been looking for has been under your feet the whole time.