Just Harriet, by Elana K Arnold

Harriet likes things to stay the way they are, but with her mother expecting a baby that doesn't seem too likely.  And when Mom gets prescribed bed rest, Harriet finds herself and her kitty sent to grandma's for the summer.  Grandma runs a bed and breakfast on an island, a place Harriet has loved visiting in the past, but not like this!

Unhappy with being away from home, unhappy that Mom and Dad are not available to her, and unhappy that everything is changing, Harriet mopes and says mean things she doesn't mean.  

Nothing makes her happy until she discovers a mysterious key.  No matter where she looks, she can't figure out what it unlocks!  She searches all over the bed and breakfast and across the island.  When she does find is mate, a lot more than she expected will be unlocked.

Falling into the trope that the most appealing early reader protagonists are bratty, Harriet is a bit much to take.  And the fact that her meanness is endlessly forgiven and indulged lessens my interest in her otherwise amusing character.  The more fatal flaw of the book, though, is its lack of a substantive story.  The mystery of the key ought to have some sort of adventure connected with it, but what happens is resolved too quickly to provide a meaningful payoff.  The artwork is cute and Harriet's naughtiness may appeal to young readers, but mostly the book seems designed for easy lessons about what mistakes Harriet makes.

Call It What You Want, by Brigid Kemmerer

Last year, Maegan got caught cheating during an SAT exam.  As a result, all of the tests in the room were invalidated and she became a social pariah.  To make matters worse, Maegan's sister has come home from college pregnant and Maegan is unable to talk about any of it with anyone outside of family. 

No one wants to work with a cheater, which is why when Maegan's Calculus class starts a project that requires a partner, there's a lack of volunteers to work with her.  The only person left is Rob and no one wants to work with Rob either.  It was Rob's father, a financial advisor, who was arrested last year for embezzling everyone's savings.  Unable to live with the shame of what he had done and how it destroyed his family, Rob's father tried to shoot himself...and missed.  Now, Rob and his mother live in a house stripped of all of their possessions (seized by the court) and tend a vegetative man.  

So, Bob and Maegen are at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Placed together to work through their project, Rob and Maegan find comfort in their shared woes and open up to each other.  Any romantic feelings are deeply complicated by the judgements of their parents and peers.

While obviously addressing issues of familial guilt and forgiveness, the novel also spends considerable time on class and race, observing the strain between richer and poorer students.  The story is compelling and, while wrapped up all too neatly in the end, fairly rewarding.