If you like The Rithmatist....
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
"More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rihtmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity's only defense against the Wild Chalklings—merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalkings now threaten all of the American Isles." (From the font cover).
Joel is tired of sitting through classes that don't interest him. What he's really interested in learning, Rithmatics, is restricted to only the Rithmatist students. Rithmatists can make chalk figures, chalklings, come to life. When they are not defending the United Isles in Nebrask they can compete in duels and the like. Joel missed his chance of becoming a Rithmatist and is just starting to accept the fact that his life will never be as involved in Rithmatics as he would like. That is, until the disappearances begin. Rithmatic students start disappearing around Armedius Academy with only trails of blood and a few Rithmatic markings left behind and Joel believes he can help. With his knowledge of Rithmatics, his classmate Melody, and the old Rithmatist professor, Professor Fitch, they just might be able to figure out who is behind the mysterious disappearances. The academy is counting on them.
Then you should check out these novels as well!
How to Lead a Life of Crime by Kirsten Miller
"I never set out to be a thief. I suppose I once had something grander in mind. But when you live on the streets, you find out that your career options are limited. You can be one of the kids who disappear with the strangers who cruise through every night. You can sell the stuff that helps those kids forget what they've seen. Or you can be a thief. If those choices don't suit you, you can always be dead."
At 17 years old, most adolescents would be focused on family, succeeding in school, and what their futures hold for them. The same can be said about Flick, except his only concern about family is getting enough proof on his father to turn him in for being the murderer of his (Flick's) brother, succeeding in school means being a top-notch criminal, and his future might result in him dying before graduation. Flick was just a pick-pocket on the streets of New York after having run away from his rich-but-abusive father, until one day Lucian Mandel approached Flick and asked him to join Mandel Academy, a school with a very good reputation whose students went on to be leaders of great corporations. Flick was reluctant, but Mandel promised that he had enough dirt on Flick's father for Flick to finally turn him in, and Flick was desperate to make his father pay for all the abusive and the murder of his brother. Soon after Flick was enrolled in classes, he realized that this school's main goal was to train criminals, with classes such as Blackmailing 101, Embezzling, and Assassination Techniques. Soon after Flick rose to the top of his class, his old love interest from the streets, Joi, became his biggest competition. With both of them being tied for the top of the class, Mandel informed them that only one would come out of the school alive, and the other would die. This leaves Flick in a dilemma. Will he kill Joi, be killed by her, or will neither of them make it out alive?
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
"There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knowcking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them."
"Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time."
Harry Potter is just a regular 11-year-old boy, living with his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and his spoiled cousin Dudley. Harry became an orphan as a baby, so living with his extended family is the only life he's ever known. Strange things always seemed to happen around Harry, like the time he was running away from bullies and somehow ended up on the rooftop of a building, or another time when his cousin Dudley was taunting a snake at the zoo and the glass in the exhibit mysteriously disappeared. Harry always assumed he just had bad luck, until one day he discovered the real reason and a whole new world was introduced to him. Harry is a wizard and a famous one, at that. He begins his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a celebrity with about the most minimal amount of knowledge a newcomer could have. Harry makes friends, enemies, and has some suspicions about his menacing potions professor. Harry and his friends, Ron and Hermoine, are faced with the year's greatest adventure, and Harry looks death in the eye as he confronts his enemy.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
"He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!"
"Thursday afternoon, three days after I'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting lesson. . . We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armor. I guess I did okay. At least, I understood what I was supposed to do and my reflexes were good."
I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter
"I suppose a lot of teenage girls feel invisible sometimes, like they just disappear. Well, that's me— Cammie the Chameleon. But I'm luckier than most because, at my school, that's considered cool. I go to a school for spies."
From the outside, Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women looks just as it sounds— like a boarding school for bright young women. While this is not false, it's not entirely true either. Gallagher Academy fosters a sisterhood of spies. The students take classes such as P&E (protection and enforcement), languages (they are required to know many), countries of the world, and more. Cammie, the headmistress' daughter, is a sophomore at Gallagher and within the first few weeks of her new classes, she and her best friends, Bex and Liz, are given a mission for their covert operations class. They need to tail their teacher, Mr. Smith, to find out what he likes to drink with his funnel cake. It sounds trivial, and maybe it is, but the task itself is difficult because Mr. Smith is a master spy who is wanted in at least 3 different countries around the world. Cammie, as usual, has an easy time blending into the crowd, until Josh notices her. Cammie is love-struck almost instantly and eventually she and Josh are secretly dating. But will she be able to hide her identity as a spy? Bex and Liz work together with Cammie to keep an eye on Josh to make sure he is not a secret spy himself. But when something happens at school, Cammie is forced to choose between the sisterhood and her new love.
The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
"'Natural aptitudes, like yours, peak in the teen years. Formal education, college, the wrong influences, could all interfere with the incredible raw potential you have now.' He folded his hands neatly in front of him. 'I want to see to it that you have the right influences, that your gift is molded into something extraordinary, something that you can use to do an incredible amount of good in this world."
"'You can take as much time as you need to think about it, Cassie, but what I'm offering you is a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Our program is one of a kind, and it has the potential to turn Naturals—people like you—into something truly extraordinary.'"