Jean Thesman

From the book:

"The quail fell silent in the woods. I blessed them as well as I could, even though my heart was still beating so hard and fast that I could scarcely think. I tried to surround them with the circle of bright protection that I'd known how to cast all my life, but I was too nervous to do a proper job. It took a lot of confidence to cast a proper circle, and it had been a while since I had been strong enough. It had been since school started.

"No, that's not true, I thought. It had been since I decided to fight off my nature, my own self."

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Ever since she can remember, Bridget Raynes has been able to do things other people can't - read minds, move objects without touching them, hear the songs and stories the wind and rain tell. She has pushed her powers down for years, trying to be normal, like everyone else. But what is "normal," really?

There are only two beings who know and understand, and neither of them make things any easier. Aunt Cait, a witch herself, urges Bridget to accept her true nature. And xiii (pronounced shhh), the threshold guardian, is forever shapeshifting, making sarcastic comments, and infuriating Bridget until she wishes she could make him disappear.

Then baffling, fragile Althea Peale comes to Bayhead, and Bridget is forced to choose. She is the only one who has the power to help Althea - or, if she turns away, to hurt her. Can Bridget give up her lifelong dream of fitting in to save someone she doesn't even know?

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An ALA Best Book for Young Adults, Society of School Librarians International Honor Book