How to Succeed in Witchcraft

This is the kind of book that I wish had been around when I was younger. And while it was a fun read it also covered some very serious topics. Shay is a young, sapphic witch. Very hard working, very intelligent, very much has her eyes on the prize. She's a junior in high school and she wants (and needs) the scholarship to the college of her dreams. In her pursuit of this she agrees to be part of a school play, even though she has plenty on her plate...and then come to find out the other lead is her school rival. In between all of this, Shay has to deal with exhaustion as she over extends herself, racism, and a teacher who may have acted inappropriate on more than one occasion. She learns along the way that she may have more people in her corner then she thought and that doing the right thing isn't as easy as it seems.
While the book is fantasy, that part of the story feels very contemporary and just part of the every day life. And I like the way that flowed because it made it feel real. For a debut novel, this was an absolute win.