18 books like That was then, this is now

What to read after That was then, this is now — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger · 2003 · ★ 4.0 · 543p · ≈ 18h · Moderate Audrey Niffenegger's innovative debut, The Time Traveler's Wife, is the story of Clare, a beautiful art student, and Henry, an adventuresome librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when Clare was twenty-three and Henry thirty-one. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder:… Shares: Community pick

Wait till Helen comes Mary Downing Hahn · 1986 · ★ 4.4 · 184p · ≈ 6h · Moderate Molly and Michael dislike their spooky new stepsister Heather but realize that they must try to save her when she seems ready to follow a ghost child to her doom. Shares: Stepfamilies, Children's fiction

The glass slipper Eleanor Farjeon · 1946 · ★ 3.0 · 194p · ≈ 6h · Challenging In her haste to flee the palace before the fairy godmother's magic loses effect, Cinderella leaves behind a glass slipper. Shares: Stepfamilies, Children's fiction

Vampire Kisses 3 Ellen Schreiber · 2006 · ★ 4.4 · 232p · ≈ 7h · Moderate Can Raven stop Dullsville from becoming Vampireville?For goth-girl Raven, dating her dream boyfriend is complicated, especially because Alexander's secret means they can only meet at night. And now they must be extra wary, with Alexander's archrival, Jagger, creeping around town. Then Jagger's exquisitely pale sister Luna also surfaces—and seems to have her sights on Raven's own longtime nemesis.… Shares: Teenagers, Young Adult, Children's fiction

Dread Nation Justina Ireland · 2018 · ★ 4.3 · 464p · ≈ 15h · Moderate Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Civil War era America derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children to attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also… Shares: Social problems, Young Adult, Children's fiction

After Tupac and D Foster Jacqueline Woodson · 2008 · ★ 3.8 · 160p · ≈ 5h · Moderate D Foster showed up a few months before Tupac got shot that first time and left us the summer before he died.The day D Foster enters Neeka and her best friend's lives, the world opens up for them. D comes from a world vastly different from their safe Queens neighborhood, and through her, the girls see another side of life that includes loss, foster families and an amount of freedom that makes the… Shares: Teenagers, Friendship, Young Adult, Children's fiction

Monsters of men Patrick Ness · 2010 · ★ 4.3 · 608p · ≈ 20h · Moderate As a world-ending war surges to life around them, Todd and Viola face monstrous decisions, questioning all they have ever known as they try to step back from the darkness and find the best way to achieve peace. Shares: Social problems, Young Adult, Children's fiction

Meltdown Andy McNab · 2007 · ★ 4.0 · 287p · ≈ 9h · Moderate Fourth in a gripping, action-packed sequence of thrillers about Danny and Fergus Watts, from the bestselling author of Bravo Two Zero, Andy McNab, and Robert Rigby, veteran of many successful TV screenplays. Ideal for adventure-seeking readers.A lethal new drug with devastating side effects, known as Meltdown, is threatening to destabilize society. Dudley knows that the security services have to… Shares: Drugs, Young Adult, Children's fiction

Blood and chocolate Annette Curtis Klause · 1997 · ★ 3.8 · 264p · ≈ 8h · Moderate Vivian Gandillon relishes the change, the sweet, fierce ache that carries her from girl to wolf. At sixteen, she is beautiful and strong, and all the young wolves are on her tail. But Vivian still grieves for her dead father; her pack remains leaderless and in disarray, and she feels lost in the suburbs of Maryland. She longs for a normal life. But what is normal for a werewolf?Then Vivian falls… Shares: Teenagers, Young Adult, Children's fiction

Stoner & Spaz Ronald Koertge · 2002 · ★ 3.6 · 169p · ≈ 5h · Moderate A troubled youth with cerebral palsy struggles toward self-acceptance with the help of a drug-addicted young woman. Shares: Drug abuse, Young Adult, Children's fiction

The Dangerous Days of Daniel X James Patterson · 1998 · ★ 4.3 · 290p · ≈ 9h · Moderate Fifteen-year-old alien hunter Daniel X is on a mission to finish the job that killed his parents - to wipe out the world's most bloodthirsty aliens on The List. At the number-one spot, The Prayer is Daniel's ultimate target. With mind-blowing skills like telepathy and the ability to transform and create, Daniel's got more than a few tricks up his sleeve. Along with his friends Willy, Joe-Joe,… Shares: Teenagers, Friendship, Young Adult, Children's fiction

The rest of us just live here Patrick Ness · 2001 · ★ 3.7 · 326p · ≈ 10h · Moderate What if you aren't the Chosen One? The one who's supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you're like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again. Because sometimes there are… Shares: Teenagers, Friendship, Young Adult, Children's fiction

Valiant Holly Black · 2005 · ★ 3.8 · 335p · ≈ 11h · Moderate Second in the Modern Tale of Faerie series. Shares: Drug abuse, Friendship, Children's fiction

Kristy's Great Idea Ann M. Martin · 1986 · ★ 4.1 · 176p · ≈ 5h · Moderate Follows the adventures of Kristy and the other members of the Baby-sitters Club as they deal with crank calls, uncontrollable two-year-olds, wild pets, and parents who do not always tell the truth. For the graphic novel based on this book, see Kristy's Great Idea–Baby-Sitters Club Graphic Novels #1. Shares: Stepfamilies, Friendship, Children's fiction

All the Bright Places Jennifer Niven · 2014 · ★ 4.1 · 409p · ≈ 13h · Moderate Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him. Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death. When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at… Shares: Teenagers, Friendship, Young Adult, Children's fiction

Looking for Alaska John Green · 2005 · ★ 4.0 · 304p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is… Shares: Drugs, Young Adult, Children's fiction

Downsiders Neal Shusterman · 1999 · ★ 3.8 · 246p · ≈ 8h · Moderate When fourteen-year-old Lindsay meets Talon, who lives in the secret Downsider community that evolved in the subterranean passages of the subway built in New York in 1867, she and her new friend try to bridge the differences between their two cultures. Shares: Teenagers, Friendship, Young Adult, Children's fiction

The Reappearance of Rachel Price Holly Jackson · 2024 · ★ 4.1 · 443p · ≈ 14h · Moderate 18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness. Rachel is gone, presumed dead. The case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. But then Rachel Price reappears, and… Shares: Young Adult, Children's fiction

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