The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea

For generations, Mina's world has been beset by raging storms that take whole villages into the sea.  Those who remain fight over the few resources that survive these storms.  The people believe the sea god is angry.  Every year a beautiful girl is sacrificed to the sea in the hope one of them will finally be the sea god's true bride, the girl who can stop the storms.

Many believe the beautiful Shim Cheong might be the one, but Mina's older brother is in love with her and plans to throw himself into the sea with her, even knowing he will die.  

Mina decides to take Shim Cheong's place to save her brother.  She isn't even sure it will work until she awakens in the Spirit Realm.  This magical city is filled with spirits, ghosts, demons, and even a few minor gods.  Mina soon discovers the sea god in an enchanted slumber.  She must find a way to wake him in order to end the curse on her home, but her time is limited.  If she stays too long in the Spirit Realm, she will become a spirit herself, unable to end the curse or return home.  

She has the help of Shin, a minor god, whose fate has been bound to hers, and an assortment of other spirits and demons.  Mina believes she could be the sea god's true wife and break the curse, but can she follow through if she falls in love with someone else?

Axie Oh's beautiful fairy tale of a story is dream steeped in Korean mythology.  The plot is gentle and meandering, giving way to characters and descriptions, but it's a lovely ride through a dangerous and enchanted kingdom.  The romance is clean enough for a middle school audience and stems from true friendship and devotion.  Recommended.

Witchlings

Every year in the magical town of Ravenskill, witchlings participate in the Black Moon ceremony to be magically sorted into their covens.  Seven Salazar has always dreamed of being in house Hyacinth with her best friend, Poppy.  They plan to become reporters for the local newspaper, and House Hyacinth is the place to be for young writers.  On the night of the ceremony Seven's anxiety mounts as each new coven becomes a closed circle and is accepted into their new house.  Finally, her worst fears are confirmed.  She never even considered this as a possibility.  Seven is a spare.

Every year a few witchlings are left without a coven, without the protection of a magical house. 
Spares don't have the same rights as other witches and they aren't allowed to continue their magical studies, perform higher level spells, or even have real jobs.  To make matters worse, Seven's worst enemy and biggest bully, Valley, is also a spare and technically in her "coven."  The third member of the group is a quiet new girl named Thorn.

To escape her fate, Seven invokes the Impossible Task.  If they can complete the task, the girls will be reinstated in society.  If not...they will be turned into toads!

Claribel Ortega's newest book is full of magic, adventure, and friendship with a diverse cast of characters.  There are definitely shades of Harry Potter here, but the book has it's own perspective, too, highlighting inequities between the social classes and the right to control the rights of those with less the wealthy sometimes feel.  This is solid middle grade fantasy.