Book picks similar to
The Art Kids by Kate Spofford


young-adult
mf-friendship
high-school
read-ya

Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer


Demelza Carlton - 2013
    The worst part is that they're human. "Name?" "Nathan Miller.""What happened?""I was shot.""By whom?""A homicidal lunatic with a gun and bad aim." "Her name?""Caitlin Lockyer.""What happened to her?""Looks like someone tried to kill her."Nathan found Caitlin on a beach covered in blood. Saving her life was just the start. Now he's the prime suspect and he has to find out who's really responsible. Both of their lives depend on it.Who hurt her? Why was he shot? What did he promise? Why doesn't his story add up? Who was the dead man on the beach? What will she remember when she wakes up? A tiny taste of what's in store: "Stay away from her, Nathan. That girl isn't good for you."Stay away from her? I'd go crazy with worry in a day. "You don't know her."Chris looked grim. "Neither do you. Is there anything you wouldn't do for her?" "Yes," I snapped. "I wouldn't die for her."Chris turned around to stare at me, her mouth hanging open. "Do you want to know why?" I asked steadily. "I wouldn't die for her because I wouldn't be able to protect her any more. What if I missed one of the people who hurt her? I couldn't take that risk. She's too important." Nightmares Trilogy Dark, disturbing and definitely scary - Nightmares of Caitlin Lockyer is the first book in Demelza Carlton's Nightmares Trilogy. The second book is Necessary Evil of Nathan Miller.

Breathing Underwater


Alex Flinn - 2001
    What no one knows--not even his best friend--is the terror that Nick faces every time he is alone with his father. Then he and Caitlin fall in love, and Nick thinks his problems are over. Caitlin is the one person who he can confide in. But when things start to spiral out of control, Nick must face the fact that he's gotten more from his father than green eyes and money.

The Castrofax


Jenna Van Vleet - 2014
    Because of his remarkable talent in wielding the elements, however, he is appointed her protector until she can take the throne, but word of his magical power slowly spreads to untrusting ears. Imprisoned because his abilities constitute a threat, Gabriel fights for his freedom as Princess Robyn is forced to fight for her throne. Only through learning the true meaning of strength can either of them be saved, but all power comes with a cost.

Broken Ice


J.R. Rain - 2019
    Rain and Matthew S. Cox! Mina Barrett is the CIA’s best defense against the Dominion. She’s young, charming, intelligent, motivated… and she’s a vampire. Twenty years ago, vampires revealed themselves to the world. Society hadn’t expected them to be real at all, much less a species entirely separate from humans. The government feared hostile foreign powers would also seek to exploit their psychic talents, and put out a call for recruitment. After a childhood spent in isolation, Mina saw a chance for adventure and signed on the dotted line. Unlike the Dominion, she doesn’t feel humans are inferior creatures and works to stop others of her kind from enslaving them. A deep cover asset discovers information that vampires want to keep out of human hands. The CIA sends Mina in to bring him—and his information—out alive. But the Dominion has their sights set on the secrets buried for centuries beneath a Siberian glacier… secrets that could reshape the world.

Wrecked


Elle Casey - 2012
    When forced to work together, they discover they have more in common than they ever imagined ...

Saving Wishes


G.J. Walker-Smith - 2013
    Thankfully, it's temporary. Her lifelong dream of travelling the world is just months away from becoming reality. All she has to do is ride out the last few months of high school, which is easier said than done thanks to a trio of mean girls known as The Beautifuls.When Adam Décarie arrives in town, all the way from New York, life takes an unexpected turn. His arrival sets off a chain of events that alters her life forever, convincing her of one thing. Fate brought him to her.

The Truth About Thongs [aka Putting Boys on the Ledge]


Stephanie Rowe - 2004
    And that's pretty much Blueberry Waller's life. Freshman year might have started off as zero for Blue, but when she gets a part in the school musical as her crush's mother, it's her chance to get noticed by him. Yes, Heath is much cooler than she is. Yes, he's a senior, and she's a freshman. And yes, he has to kiss another girl in the play. But when he runs into Blue at a cast party, suddenly, she's on his radar. Things are moving fast, faster than Blue is prepared for. It takes her three best friends, and a very hot senior named Colin, to help her figure things out….until things suddenly become a lot more complicated than she ever intended…including a first kiss that's all wrong. Or is it? Books in the Once Upon an Ending Series: The Fake Boyfriend Experiment Ice Cream, Jealousy & Other Dating Tips The Truth About Thongs How to Date a Bad Boy (Oct. 2016) Pedicures Don't Like Dirt (Nov. 2016) Geeks Can Be Hot (Dec. 2016) ABOUT THE AUTHOR: New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Stephanie Rowe is the author of more than forty novels. She has received starred reviews from Booklist and high praise from Publisher's Weekly, and has been nominated as a YALSA Quick Pick For Reluctant Readers. For more information on Stephanie, visit www.stephanierowe.com. Author's Note: This novel was originally published in paperback in 2004 by Dorchester Publishing with the title Putting Boys on the Ledge under the author's pen name of Stephie Davis. This edition has been substantially revised and expanded.

Ashes, Ashes #2: Snow and Smoke


Karyn Folan - 2016
    After a perilous escape from the nuclear wreckage of their Washington, DC suburb in Ashes, Ashes, the surviving kids reach their destination, a mountain safe house, only to find their troubles have just begun. There are no adults and the kids are still all alone. Fifteen-year-old Nester Bartlett's biggest worries had been growing up black in America... but the nuclear apocalypse has changed all of the rules. Now, instead of getting good grades and struggling against the negative stereotypes against African American men, he's fighting just to stay alive. With no skills for his new life of tending animals, maintaining fires and defending their mountain cabin against intruders, he's unprepared for the threats that bombard him and his friends from the weather, from escaped prisoners from a nearby correctional facility and from their own grief over their losses. Then, as nuclear winter sweeps over their mountain home killing crops and animals, a medical emergency threatens one of their number. Nester must make a desperate choice that shatters their little community and irrevocably alters their chances for survival.

The Complete Opposite of Everything


Nour Abou Fayad
    He just doesn’t. He doesn’t overthink, he doesn’t second-guess himself, and he most certainly does not cry.YetThat’s all he’s been doing lately.He’s a mess and he just can’t seem to get it together.His friend, Rami, is no help.Nobody is.UntilYasmin comes along to reconnect with her homeland. She’s been away for too long. She needs to know her roots.And she’s the one person who understands what Adam’s going through, even when he doesn’t.But can two people, both with minds that can’t fully be trusted, help each other navigate the other’s journey towards self-discovery?

Maybe I Will


Laurie Gray - 2013
    It's about the drinking and stealing and lying and wondering who you can trust. It's about parents and teachers, police officers and counselors--all the people who are supposed to help you, but who may not even believe you.It's about how suddenly all of your hopes and dreams can vanish, and you can find yourself all alone, with nothing and no one. Your only choice is to end it all or to start over... and all you can think is Maybe I Will.Author Laurie Gray presents a compelling picture of the realities of sexual assault in Maybe I Will, drawing on her years of experience as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, dealing with crimes against children. The twist in the story is that we never know for sure if the victim is a boy or a girl, and we realize that it doesn't matter, because it's not about sex.

SPED


Re Marzullo - 2013
    Jack Parker has been content to go through middle school in a SPED small group class for the last two years and stay off the radar of the bullies in his school. While life at Hickory Hills Middle School has been safe for Jack, it has also gotten a bit dull with only four classmates (all boys) to spend the school day with. All of that changes in Jack's eighth grade year when girls and trouble show up in his small group class. Fast paced and funny, SPED tells the story of Jack and his classmates as he handles bullies at school and challenges at home and learns that growing up means taking chances - not only for himself but for those he cares about.

For Always


Danielle Sibarium - 2011
    Such is the case for fourteen-year-old Stephanie Barrano, self-proclaimed misfit and death magnet. A freshman in high school, Stephanie is befriended by Jordan Brewer, a hot, in-demand senior, who pulls her from the outer circle of obscurity into the realm of acceptance. Jordan quickly works his way into Stephanie’s heart. He’s her everything. And the only person she trusts with the truth about her father’s death. But he won’t act on the strong feelings he has for her. Stephanie vows to wait for him, knowing in time she’ll win his heart. Two months before her eighteenth birthday, Jordan serves as an impromptu prom date. After sharing a magical evening, Jordan leaves Stephanie with the promise of a future together. Then tragedy strikes. Jordan not only shuts Stephanie out, he also blames her for what happened. Feeling broken and beaten, will she try one last time to get through to Jordan or will she lose him forever?

Not Hungry


Kate Karyus Quinn - 2019
    June also has an eating disorder, but no one sees. When she doesn't eat, her friends and family think they see a fat girl on a diet, not someone starving herself. When June's secret is found out by Toby, the new boy next door, she is panicked. Then she learns he also has a secret. Everyone has their own little lies.

Voodoo Academy


Theophilus Monroe - 2020
    This girl, however, came with strange abilities bestowed upon her in the after life. When Kalfu, an evil Loa, discovers Annabelle he hopes to use her abilities to his advantage—to escape the spiritual realm and take a corporeal form. When Ogoun, the Loa of War, intervenes he recruits Annabelle to join him as a student at the Voodoo Academy. Will Annabelle master the arts, and fend off Kalfu’s spiritual assaults? Or, is she ultimately a puppet in a battle between Voodoo demigods? Voodoo Academy is the first book in the Gates of Eden: The Voodoo Legacy series. Theophilus Monroe’s Annabelle Mulledy is a snarky badass heroine with attitude. Monroe draws on the legend and myth of Voodoo lore in a way that neither caricatures the arts as “demonic” nor glosses over the dark side of the Voodoo tradition. With dark magic, dragons, vampires, and a slow burn academy romance the Gates of Eden: The Voodoo Legacy series has something for everybody.

Gravity


A.B. Bloom - 2016
    The world is plunging into darkness, the days growing shorter and the nights longer. Meteor showers are falling to the earth and there are some who would take advantage of the growing darkness.For sixteen-year-old Bronte Bell, her problems are closer to home. Since her birthday she's become weaker, her bones breaking, her hair falling out and plagued with constant migraines. No one can explain why. Until a mysterious new boy arrives and tells her that everything is not as it seems. She is not what she seems.Drawn into a war that divides the sky, Bronte is torn between her desire to save the world and her growing connection with Nick. But she will have to let go of reality as she knows it, if she is to accept her role in destiny before the Hunter, who has been tracking her since birth, finds and destroys any chance she has of making the choice which is her birthright to make.Her destiny will change everything . . .