Family and friend struggles lead to a dramatically (and magically) altered universe for Sonali, an Indian American sixth grader, in this poignant, entertaining middle-grade novel by Supriya Kelkar (American as Paneer Pie; Ahimsa).
Sonali has stuck to her decision to be stoic and never share her feelings ever since a disastrous family party five years ago when she presented a poster board display titled "Why Parents Shouldn't Fight." "All it led to was uncomfortable stares, being made fun of, upset parents, and nothing changing anyway." As the years go by and her parents' fighting escalates, Sonali knows for sure that the one thing she doesn't want to do is get as emotional as her little brother does--so emotive, in fact, that she believes he "would be a perfect fit in a Bollywood movie." Although Sonali loves her family's weekly Bollywood movie nights at home, the "loud, exaggerated, and colorful" displays make her uncomfortable.
So Sonali is horrified when she wakes up the morning after her parents announce they are separating to find that her life has become a Bollywood movie. Suddenly, she can't stop herself from performing flamboyant dance routines and bursting into song any time her emotions start to get out of control. A personal soundtrack accompanies her every mood; for a middle schooler who longs to fly under the radar, nothing could be more "mortifying, humiliating, embarrassing, and every other word you could find in a thesaurus next to them." To make matters worse, her best friend has designated another girl "co-best-friend," making a trio when Sonali was happy with the original pairing.
Supriya Kelkar uses the distinct lens of hyper-dramatic Bollywood films to explore the adolescent challenge of balancing one's emotional life. In front of her classmates and teachers, Sonali's hips inadvertently sway, her hair magically becomes windblown and song bursts from her now-shimmering lips; she is a literary every-tween (if you ignore the unwelcome-magic aspect), watching in horror as her body and voice betray her.
Take the inherent awkwardness of middle school, add in a family crisis, friend trouble and a girl's dogged commitment not to lose emotional control, frame the entire drama in Freaky Friday-like magic, and you have a script for a middle-grade novel that will have readers cringing in empathy one minute and laughing the next. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor
Shelf Talker: An Indian American girl falls under a spell that makes her sing and dance like a Bollywood movie star every time she suppresses her emotions in this hilarious and harrowing middle-grade novel.