Abstract
Reviewed by: The Grand Plan to Fix Everything Kate Quealy-Gainer Krishnaswami, Uma. The Grand Plan to Fix Everything; illus. by Abigail Halpin. Atheneum, 2011. 266p. Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-4169-9589-0 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-4169-9591-3 $9.99 Ad Gr. 4–6 Despite her obsession with all things Bollywood, eleven-year-old Dini is utterly horrified when her parents announce that their family is moving to India. Leaving her best friend Maddie behind, Dini is dragged along by her parents, who don’t even have the decency to set up their new home in Mumbai, “the center of the filmi universe,” but rather move to Swapnagiri, a small (fictional) town in southern India. To distract herself from her current woes, Dini sets out on a mission to find her favorite movie star, Dolly Singh, who, after a series of tragic heartbreaks, is rumored to be taking a much-needed hiatus in a small, southern village. As literary fate would have it, Dolly is staying in Swapnagiri, and it only takes a missing cell phone, a malfunctioning car, a kindly postman, and a random celebration to bring Dini and Dolly together. In true Bollywood fashion, this breezy romp is a bit over the top, from Dini’s fanatical devotion, to her parents’ cluelessness, to Dolly’s diva-like attitude. The setting plays an integral role, and Krishnaswami easily incorporates both the everyday and the more unfamiliar aspects of India into the story, making the country as much of a character as Dini herself. The third-person narration, however, can border on instructional, often doing the thinking for the reader and leaving too few opportunities to explore the emotional depths of its characters. As a result, Dini herself seems two-dimensional, as do most of the supporting cast. Nonetheless, readers with their own cinematic passions will most likely find Dini’s encounter with her film star hero total wish fulfillment, making this an entertaining read for fellow Bollyphiles. Copyright © 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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