Book picks similar to
Animus by K.S. Rafique


middle-grade
stand-alone
unsure
will-read-if-i-win-or-get-a-copy

Swab


Heather Choate - 2014
    Scarb are the enemy. The enemy. The enemy. I told myself this over and over. They murdered my parents. They rape the land and kill humans as if they are the vermin. They took Ray. I ran water over my face, looked at my eyes with their double lenses like two blue lakes: one navy, one ice. The enemy. And now I’m one of them. Ray. I can almost see his brown eyes and feel the warmth of his touch like a sun-warmed towel on my skin. Will you still love me now that I’m everything you hate? Seven years ago, most of humanity transformed into a mutated species known as scarb. With their superior speed, protective platted chitin bone structure, and deadly barbs, they easily slaughter un-changed humans. Cat and a small pocket of humans have survived. But when the scarb capture Cat’s boyfriend, she is determined to face an entire colony of the ruthless creatures to get him back. She quickly discovers she must confront not only her enemy, but the strengths and weakness inside her when she becomes scarb herself. In Swab, Heather Choate delivers a captivating combination of suspense, romance, and self-discovery as Cat faces a treacherous world and uncertain future. Fresh, riveting and rich with surprise, this Dystopian series will leave readers hungry for more.

The Herald of Autumn


J.M. Guillen - 2011
    Hungry monstrosities that the sons of man cannot fathom. It is The Herald's place to hunt them, protecting us from the darkness that we cannot see. Every year, with the death of summer, Tommy Maple, the Herald of Autumn, awakens to again wander the land. Wherever he goes, red and golden leaves follow him, and he hunts the twisted creatures in the darkness. This Autumn, however, is different from those in the past. Tommy awakens to the taunting of a depraved enemy, a mysterious and elusive shaman. Tommy is powerless before his strange, bent magics, and knows that the old man has slaughtered his kind in the past. He is the last person the Herald should trust. And yet, Tommy is forced to listen. Soon, a sinister tale unfolds- a story that spans centuries and the entire continent. A story made from the whispering of forgotten legends that ends with a dark revelation. A story that Tommy has always been part of, even though he didn't know it. Now the Herald faces an ancient abomination, unlike anything he has ever known before. For once, the hunter is the one that is hunted, chased through a misbegotten wood by a creature who seems to be little more than darkness and feckless hunger. The behemoth is pure horror, and can unmake everything Tommy is. As the Herald faces a foe unlike any other, will he fall to the darkness that haunts our world? Will the shadows of a lost age devour him, causing him to be reborn as one of the world's terrors? Or can he trust the shaman, a creature spun from little more than trickery, malevolence and deceit?

Shadows Gray


Melyssa Williams - 2012
    Her family is one of the Lost; time travelers who have no power over their journeys. Hopelessly old fashioned and yet more modern than most girls, Sonnet speaks several languages and takes care of her motley crew back home by working in a coffee shop and playing guitar. Over time, the Lost leave behind those they love and pick up new characters along the way. In twenty-first century America, Sonnet meets Emme, a Lost young woman with a questionable line of work, Luke, a mysterious photographer, and Israel, a young doctor . But no one can take the place of Sonnet's sister, Rose, who was left behind as a baby in the fifteenth century. The ghost of her beckons from each time and place; but what's real and what isn't? Is Rose Gray trying to contact her before it's too late?A ghost story with a sci-fi, Gothic romance twist, Shadows Gray will keep you up at night, wondering: is the redemptive power of love enough to change history?

In Strange Worlds


Brenda Cheers - 2014
    This book has it all: an amazing plot, good portrayals of the novel's characters, mystery and suspense.”“Brenda Cheers writes with almost simplistic style that has its own melodic rhythm.”“'In Strange Worlds' is an intriguing book and one that leaves you thinking for days after.”‘It is the sort of novel you don't want to put down.”“This is the most interesting novel I've read in years!”

Lady X


Claudy Conn - 2013
    He has the power to do this before she reaches her majority, which will occur at Samhain, Halloween. Her mother has a plan and against her daughter’s will, implements that plan, which sends Exerilla into the past, where she must remain until October 31st—months away. And magic is something she can’t use because her father could trace it to her.Here is the problem, plans have a way of seeping from black and white into gray

Island of Fog


Keith Robinson - 2009
    Atmospheric and mysterious, ISLAND OF FOG is the story of eight children living in a dismal, perpetually foggy community on an island just off the north east coast of America.Increasing curiosity leads these 12-year-olds to question what lies "Out There" beyond the fog. Is the world really as dead as their parents insist? Are they truly the last surviving humans on the planet? Or are the children the subject of a dark scientific experiment?When the friends begin to experience frightening physical changes, they realize that their parents are keeping secrets. And when a stranger arrives on the island, it seems clear that the world beyond the fog can't be as dead as they've been led to believe. Convinced of a conspiracy, the children resolve to find out the truth once and for all... and discover a secret far greater than they could have imagined.

Murder in Wizard's Wood


Michael J. Allen - 2018
    At the same time, a vengeful mercenary company lays a trail of suspicious murders directly to Jedediah's door. Unwitting pawns to a deeper menace, both serve a centuries-long plot to steal magic's deepest secret.The bloody conflict thrusts Jedediah's family into Death's reach. As the body bag count rises and law enforcement closes in, Jedediah is forced to make desperate choices to protect his loved ones and magic itself by stopping the murders in his wood.

Amulet Collection


Kazu Kibuishi - 2012
    Combining a fast-paced fantasy adventure with gorgeous full-color art, this captivating graphic-novel series follows two ordinary kids on a life-or-death mission.

Silverkin


Jeff Wheeler - 2004
    Thealos Quickfellow has the right to claim the Silverkin but knows little about the deadly consequences befalling those who wield it. Before he can lay claim to it however, he must first slip beyond the web of Sorian who have beset Landmoor and battle amongst themselves for supremacy. On his journey Thealos will learn personally of the sacrifices required to become a Sleepwalker and how to use the Silverkin to save his people. But will using it destroy him?

Resurrection


Arwen Elys Dayton - 2001
    It carried a group of scientists to a small, distant planet - a primitive place called Earth. Its mission was peaceful observation. But when the ship was destroyed, the Kinley crew found themselves stranded in ancient Egypt, participants in the pageant of life in the time of the Pharaohs. They buried remnants of their technology deep beneath the desert and sent a last desperate message home….Five thousand years later, the Kinley homeworld hovers on the brink of extinction. An enemy that nearly obliterated their race has risen again - now with the ability to destroy them for good. A lone Kinley soldier named Pruit is sent on a desperate mission: to follow the ancient beacon back to Earth and recover the secrets to faster-than-light travel. It is their last hope. Technology that once allowed them to cross vast reaches of space might allow them to outrun their enemies and find a safe world to call their own. But Pruit’s mission will be harder than she can imagine. Her quest will draw her enemies after her and will awaken ancient foes on Earth. As she gets closer to what she seeks, she will find each adversary willing to risk everything to stop her, each hoping to steal the knowledge for themselves.The rivals will meet in modern-day Egypt and their struggle will alter the fate of worlds.©2012 Arwen Elys Dayton (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Chameleon


Cara Bristol - 2020
    Instead, she gets a shapeshifting alien who apparently has never seen a leaky faucet before. But his loving and noble spirit make him just the man to fix her wounded heart. He hasn’t promised her forever, but a girl can hope, can’t she? Maybe she’ll make another wish…When his ship tumbles out of the sky and lands on Earth, Chameleon never expects to fall for a human woman. Unfortunately, he can’t stay. He made a mistake that led to the devastation of an entire planet, and now the survivors are depending on him to get them to safety. He must repair his ship and leave before the Xeno Consortium finds him and Earth becomes endangered, too. But oh, he wishes he could stay with Kevanne forever… Can a twist of fate make their wishes come true?

Ice Diaries


Lexi Revellian - 2012
    Okay, so London is under twenty metres of snow, almost everybody has died in a pandemic or been airlifted south, and the only animals around are rats. Plus her boyfriend never returned from going to find his parents a year ago when the snow began - but she's doing fine. Really.She lives in an apartment that's luxurious, if short on amenities, in a block which used to be home to rich City bankers. A handful of fellow survivors are her friends, and together they forage for food and firewood, have parties once a month and even run a book club. The problem is they have no long-term future; eventually provisions will run out. Tori needs to find transport to make the two-thousand-mile journey south to a warm climate and start again.One day she comes across an exhausted and wounded stranger face down in the snow, and saves his life. Morgan is a cage fighter from a tougher, meaner world where it's a mistake to trust people. He's on the run from the leader of the gang he used to work with. He's disturbingly hot. And he has a snowmobile.

A Tide of Shadows


Tom Bielawski - 2011
    That is until he is wrongly accused of rebellion and murder. Saved from execution at the hands of the authorities by the very band of rebels he despises, Carym must risk everything to repay the criminals for his freedom by undertaking a dangerous quest for a vial of water from the mythical Everpool. Meanwhile, a dark wizard in league with the evil god, Umber, leads an army bent on the conquest of the entire Northern Continent. He, too, seeks the Everpool, but for far more sinister purposes and his powerful minions hunt Carym at every turn.A shake up is occurring in the heavens as the offspring of the Father God war with each other and with Him for dominance over the peoples of Llars.In order to reach the Everpool Carym must learn to deal with his new powers, dodge monstrous hunters, guard against betrayal, and resist the evil temptations that threaten to overwhelm him like a Tide of Shadows. Newly revised 3rd edition. Estimated page count is 400.

Gulliver's Travels


Saddleback Educational Publishing - 2010
    This series features classic tales retold with color illustrations to introduce literature to struggling readers. Each 64-page hardcover book retains key phrases and quotations from the original classics. In this humorous satire, which makes fun of English politicians in the early 1700s, you'll travel to many strange make-believe worlds. Join Gulliver as he sails from the land of the tiny six-inch people called Lilliputians and the land of the giant people called Brobdingnagians, to the land of the Houyhnhnms- where wise and understanding horses tame herds of wild Yahoos, creatures that are strangely human!

Rippler


Cidney Swanson - 2011
    Handsome Will Baker offers help and secrecy, but soon Sam will have to choose between keeping her secrets and keeping Will in her life. Suspenseful and romantic, Rippler and its sequels capture the collision of the beautiful with the dark.Two further sequels form a complete trilogy. Four additional books in series for those who fall in love with the Ripple world and want even more!RIPPLER is the free first book in a teen and young adult paranormal fantasy series set in a contemporary world where invisibility has long been a well kept secret. It combines the heart pounding action of a thriller with a touch of clean romance and a science fiction twist.