✦ HOW TO GET MAGICALLY POPULAR – Radhika Sanghani ✦
Seeing the future doesn’t make the present any easier.
Pre-Reading Thoughts
I really enjoyed Sanghani’s debut, so I had high hopes for this magical middle grade. I expected laughs, awkward friendship drama, and maybe a magical disaster or two. (Also: I love a story about not quite fitting in.)
Post-Reading
As I thought...
Sabina’s voice is relatable, funny, and full of heart. This is a story about magic, yes—but it’s really about identity, friendship, and learning to live in the moment. It treats tween anxieties with respect, never talking down to the reader.
It surprised me by...
Leaning into the darker side of “popularity” and showing how hard it can be to make the right choices when everyone wants something from you. Sabina’s powers don’t just make her special—they make things complicated, and that tension is handled so well.
🎵 MUSIC PAIRING
🎵 Featured Song: “Dog Days Are Over” – Florence + The Machine
🎶 Vibe Album: Haim – Women in Music Pt. III
🎧 Artist Rec: Maggie Rogers
🌿 VIBE CHECK
🎨 Colour Palette: pastel pink, sky blue, fresh green
🎬 Soundtrack: Anne with an E x A Wrinkle in Time
🌸 Season: Spring
💭 Mood: Hopeful, overwhelmed, trying her best
📚 Scent: New notebooks, cherry lip gloss, pencil shavings
🃏 Tarot Pull: Page of Cups – Kids Tarot
This curious figure balances in a canoe, enchanted by flying fish leaping through the air. Like Sabina, he’s just beginning to understand the weird and wonderful things happening around him—and within him. This card holds that mixture of awe, vulnerability, and messy growth that defines the middle-grade journey.
For fans of:
📘 Lottie Brooks
📘 Dork Diaries
📺 Anne with an E