You're Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner

Interest Level: YA

Lexile: HL610L
Reading Level: 4.4
Genre: Realistic Fiction

When Julia finds a slur about her best friend scrawled across the back of the Kingston School for the Deaf, she covers it up with a beautiful (albeit illegal) graffiti mural. Her supposed best friend snitches, the principal expels her, and her two mothers set Julia up with a one-way ticket to a "mainstream" school in the suburbs, where she's treated like an outcast as the only deaf student. The last thing she has left is her art, and not even Banksy himself could convince her to give that up. Out in the 'burbs, Julia paints anywhere she can, eager to claim some turf of her own. But Julia soon learns that she might not be the only vandal in town. Someone is adding to her tags, making them better, showing off--and showing Julia up in the process. She expected her art might get painted over by cops. But she never imagined getting dragged into a full-blown graffiti war.

Yeah! A book that I carried around just in case I had a minute to read a page or two while I waited for my daughter to get out of work. Great story line, characters that you care about, this book had both. You want YP and Julia to remain friends. You hope that Julia sees through Donovan's fake exterior. I will be recommending this book be nominated for the 2022 Oregon Readers' Choice Award.

Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven by Bella Forrest

Interest Level: YA

Lexile: NR
Reading Level: NR
Genre: Fantasy

Harley Merlin can sense people’s emotions, among other things. It’s how she snagged her first job pinpointing cheaters at a casino. But she has no clue where she got these freakish powers because she spent her childhood jumping from home to home in the foster system, and her father left her with nothing more than a cryptic note. Then she crosses paths with a terrifyingly real monster and a mysterious, annoyingly arrogant young warlock named Wade Crowley. Wade introduces her to a hidden world of beasts, magic, and covens riddled with secrets—as well as clues about her murky past. Whether she likes it or not, this new world is where she belongs. But after a disturbing twist of events, Harley quickly realizes that her past is darker than she could ever have imagined. And that someone in the coven is out for her blood. With the help of Wade and her new friends, she must figure out who the traitor is and why they’re targeting her... Before the human and magical worlds dangerously collide.

This book was recommended for the middle school library. I could not find any reviews that talked about age appropriateness so I read the book. The first scene in the book made me question the appropriateness but I thought that it could be alright for 8th graders. Then I was told by a friend that as the series gets more and more mature as it goes on. I decided to send the book to the high school librarian. I thought the book was interesting. I don't think the plot moved quickly enough to hold a middle school student's interest. I will not continue to read the series because I am just not invested in the characters.