Quirky, Upbeat Teen Fantasy

Try these books if you're looking for:

• Teen books
• Upbeat or light books
• Read-alikes for Diana Wynne Jones
• Quirky tone
  

The Secret Hour
By by Scott Westerfeld
YA F WESTERFE
Upon moving to Bixby, Oklahoma, fifteen-year-old Jessica Day learns that she is one of a group of people who have special abilities that help them fight ancient creatures living in an hour hidden at midnight; creatures that seem determined to destroy Jess.

Keturah and Lord Death
By Martine Leavitt
YA F LEAVITT
When Lord Death comes to claim sixteen-year-old Keturah while she is lost in the King's Forest, she charms him with her story and is granted a twenty-four hour reprieve in which to seek her one true love.

Sabriel
By Garth Nix
YA F NIX
Sabriel, daughter of the necromancer Abhorsen, must journey into the mysterious and magical Old Kingdom to rescue her father from the Land of the Dead.

Avielle of Rhia
By Dia Calhoun
YA F CALHOUN
Taught to hate and fear the heritage that sets her apart from most people of the kindgom, fifteen-year-old Princess Avielle of Rhia must finally embrace the magic of her Dredonian ancestors to save the very people who scorn her.

Wizard Test
By Hilari Bell
YA F BELL
Fourteen year-old Dayven is devastated when he learns he has wizard powers, since wizards are considered to be disloyal deceivers who believe in nothing, until he undergoes wizard training and discovers a new way of looking at the world that will change his values, friendships, and future.

Teen Fiction with Quirky Characters

Try these books if you're looking for:

• Teen books
• Quirky Characters
• Books published in the last 10 years

The Book of a Thousand Days
By Shannon Hale
YA F HALE
Fifteen-year-old Dashti, sworn to obey her sixteen-year-old mistress, the Lady Saren, shares Saren's years of punishment locked in a tower, then brings her safely to the lands of her true love, where both must hide who they are as they work as kitchen maids.

Suite Scarlett
By Maureen Johnson
YA F JOHNSON
Fifteen-year-old Scarlett Marvin is stuck in New York City for the summer working at her quirky family's historic hotel, but her brother's attractive new friend and a seasonal guest who offers her an intriguing and challenging writing project improve her outlook.

The Wednesday Wars
By Gary D. Schmidt
YA F SCHMIDT
During the 1967 school year, on Wednesday afternoons when all his classmates go to either Catechism or Hebrew school, seventh-grader Holling Hoodhood stays in Mrs. Baker's classroom where they read the plays of William Shakespeare and Holling learns much of value about the world he lives in.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
By Ann Brashares
YA F BRASHARES
Carmen, Tibby, Lena and Bridget, four best friends, spend their first summer away from each other, and find themselves connected by a pair of magical pants.

Jekel Loves Hyde
By Beth Fantaskey
YA F FANTASKE
As seventeen-year-old Jill Jekel and classmate Tristen Hyde work together on a chemistry project, hoping to win a scholarship for her and a cure for his curse, they also uncover family secrets and a chemistry of their own.