Shortcuts

by Amy Bearce

Overview

If you could change people's hearts, would you?

Parker Mills has it all. She's the two-time winner of the Miss Divine Pecan Pageant, head of the 8th grade dance committee, and a secret psychic empath. Since she absorbs strong emotions from those around her, Parker has committed herself to finding shortcuts to happiness. Whether acting as a tutor, coach, or matchmaker, Parker knows that when others are happy, she's happy. Granted, all that fixing other people's drama means her own crush has no idea how she feels, but it's still a win-win so long as her psychic method remains a mystery.

At least, that's how it always worked until Mia came to town. With her mysterious past and dark cloud of depression, Mia's moods threaten to rain on Parker's happiness parade. After Parker's usual shortcuts fail-- even after bringing super cute Josh on the scene--she's forced to kick things up a notch, or two. But when Parker's psychic power goes haywire, dangerous secrets unravel... starting with her own.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781952667282
Publisher:	Snowy Wings Publishing
Publication date:	04/13/2021
Series:	Secret Psychics , #1
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	334
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.75(d)
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Amy writes magical escapes for young readers and the young at heart, with a focus on tweens and young teens. She is the author of the World of Aluvia series, Shortcuts, and the Wish & Wander series, beginning with Paris on Repeat.

She is also a former reading teacher and school librarian. As a military kid, she moved eight times before she was eighteen, so she feels especially fortunate to be married to her high school sweetheart. Together they're raising two daughters in San Antonio. You can find her online at www.amybearce.com.

Editorial Reviews

"The story feels like a blend of Willo Davis Roberts’ nerdy-psychic classic The Girl with the Silver Eyes (1980) and the Stephen King novel Carrie (1980)" —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

04/01/2019

Gr 4 Up-Parker is an empath. Everywhere she goes, she is assaulted by the feelings of those around her. If the emotions are strong enough, she can even taste them. Aside from envisioning a protective waterfall to repel these assaults, Parker's only refuge is her lunch table where she is one of the "Fab Four." She and her best friends share a long history. Their mothers were part of a fertility trial and each child possess a paranormal gift. Parker deals with her ability by overachieving. She's a tutor, an office helper, and chair of the eighth grade Halloween dance. She also dabbles in matchmaking. When she's assigned to show new girl Mia Rodriguez around school, she glimpses great pain before Mia clamps down on her emotions and builds a wall. Parker wants to help—and when her friend Avery foresees a future in which Mia reveals their secrets, it becomes imperative that Parker intervene. Readers will be either beguiled or annoyed by Parker's propensity for drama, corny humor, and shallow repetitive detail, such as the way a T-shirt hugs the muscles of her crush or his errant lock of hair. The story is bogged down by plot and timeline inconsistencies, and annoying red herrings such as an antagonist whose storyline is never fleshed out. VERDICT Purchase if demand for paranormal stories is high. Skip otherwise.-Brenda Kahn, Tenakill Middle School, Closter, NJ

School Library Journal

2019-02-06

An eighth-grade empath and her powered friends are confronted with a new friend who might reveal their secret.

Bubbly, blonde Parker can taste the feelings of people around her. Because the pain and misery of others make Parker suffer, she's become a cheery little busybody, dedicating herself to the emotional labor of cheering up all of her classmates. Her three closest friends, children born from the same discredited fertility experiment as Parker, also have secret powers: Avery is precognitive, Deshawn has superhearing, and Ethan is telekinetic. When new-student Mia arrives in their school, Parker's overwhelmed by her crushing misery, but surely Parker can cheer her new friend up. In fact, she's going to have to: Avery's had a vision that Mia will have a meltdown at the Halloween dance, and it'll endanger Parker and her friends. But Mia has her own secrets: a mysterious blond ex, artwork she won't discuss, and guilt over her dead mother. Meanwhile Parker discovers new powers that might help her with Mia—or might bring all of their secrets tumbling down. The cast is fairly diverse; Parker and Avery present white, naming convention will lead readers to believe Deshawn is black and Mia Latinx, while handsome Ethan's seemingly biracial, Korean/white. The story feels like a blend of Willo Davis Roberts' nerdy-psychic classic The Girl with the Silver Eyes (1980) and the Stephen King novel Carrie (1980). Despite those antecedents, Bearce's tendency to tell instead of show, dropped plot threads (including an entire mystery antagonist), and thin characterization make this outing a chore.

Skip. (Fantasy. 11-13)

Kirkus Reviews

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