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.