A pure magical delight. Also, a rare, but wonderful fat positive moment where an auntie is described as fat and glamorous! ( )

So, this was a tough one to rate. We all know that I'm a sucker for magical realism, and that nine times out of ten I end up loving books that fall into this category madly and deeply. A Tale of Highly Unusual Magic was, well, unusual. While the magic and mystery were definitely there, it felt bogged down by the way that it was told. So much promise, but the way it played out didn't quite hit the mark.

Let's start with the good. First of all, Leila's character is more than enough reason to read this story. Leila is a girl between worlds. Not at home in the U.S., where her Pakistani roots make her stand out. Not at home in Pakistan, where her upbringing keeps her from fitting in. Although I never had it quite as bad as Leila, I still saw myself in her. Growing up I always felt like I never quite fit in with my extended family, because of the way I was raised. I know there are other kids out there like that too, and they'll instantly take a liking to Leila and her battle to find where she fits in.

In fact, the settings that this book take place in are the other part of this that I loved. Leila spends the story in Pakistan, and Kai spends it in Texas. Watching these two go through such similar problems, in such different locales, was interesting. Lisa Papademetriou hits the trials of growing older right on the head. The bullies. The friends. The family interactions. As separate characters, these two were adorable.

So why the three stars? As I mentioned above, it was really the way that the story was told. The magical book that tied these two together, and the mystery that surrounded it all, felt off. It almost felt too surreal to really fit in with everything else that was going on. Plus, there were never any really tight resolutions. I kept wanting to see something good happen to our girls, but it never did. While this is a pretty solid coming of age story, it lacked the pieces to make it feel like it was really steeped in magic. ( )

My 10 year old read this and enjoyed it and passed it on to me to read. In the book, two characters in different situations discover the same book, a book with a touch of magic to it that starts telling them a story as they write in it. Both girls are visiting relatives in unfamiliar places, and are learning about the places and about themselves as they go. Then the book starts telling them an old story - part love story, part dark mystery - that links them together and inspires both girls to search for the truth. It was a fairly quick read, but nice to see the girls learning and growing and standing up for themselves while wrapped up in an intriguing story.

This is a book about two girls who each find a magic book that is part of a set while they are visiting their family members over the summer. One girl is named Kai and she is visiting her grandmother in Texas where she finds the book and meets a friend named Doodle and that sets out an interesting magical adventure for her during the summer. Then another girl Leila who is visiting her family in Dubai finds a copy of the book across the globe. This is about their adventures with the magical book, and what they do in each of their new and interesting environments over their summer break. The magical old book that they both find joined copies of is about their adventures that they have had throughout the summer.