Abby Spencer Goes Bollywood

Bajaj, Varsha. Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood
March 1st 2014, Albert Whitman & Company 
E ARC from Netgalley.com

Abby is enjoying life with her single mother and her friends when she has a very bad allergic reaction to coconut. Her mother and grandparents don't have this, but the father she has never met does. Turns out that since her father Naveen last saw her mother, her father has become one of the most popular film stars in India. He's open to meeting Abby, however, especially since his elderly mother is in ill health, so he arranges for Abby to come and stay with him in India. It's a whole new world, from faithful family retainers, to dad's glamorous girlfriend, to the whole Bollywood scene. It doesn't hurt to have cute Indian American boy Shaan nearby, either. The press doesn't know that Naveen has a daughter, and he must consider how to let them know on the eve of his big movie premier without sabotaging the release of his film. Things never go smoothly, but Abby is ultimately glad that she got to know not only her father, but a lot about a facet of her heritage that she didn't know.
Strengths: While this looks like a fun and fluffy "chick lit" novel, it really had deeper moments of self discovery that were spot on for middle school students. Abby has a wonderfully supportive family in both countries, and her mishaps and self doubts will speak to middle grade readers.
Weaknesses: The start of this didn't go down as well for me as the rest of this book. Something about the allergies, the father not knowing the mother was pregnant... certainly by 1999 people were still in touch on line more than this would indicate, but that's a small quibble, since the book did explain it fairly convincingly.

The No-Dogs-Allowed Rule; Buddy

Sheth, Kashmira. The No-Dogs-Allowed Rule.
1 September 2012, Albert Whitman and Co.
E-ARC from Netgalley.com

Ishan Mehra desperately wants a dog, but his busy parents don't want to get one. His brother Sunil also wants a dog but is more responsible and less irksome to his parents. Ishan tries every trick under the sun, from trying to make his mother breakfast with disastrous results, pretending to be a dog, and plotting to mention dogs at every available opportunity. Ishan's exuberance gets him into a lot of trouble, and his chance at redemption comes when he finds a neighbor who has a stroke and had the opportunity to take care of the man's dog.

Strengths: This was a funny book that early elementary students will enjoy, and it is great that Ishan's life is filled with details revolving around his ethnic background, but the book is not about him being Indian, it's about him wanting a job.

Weaknesses: This is too young for middle school, and I would have loved to have one like this for a slightly older crowd, something like Paulsen's Liar, Liar series.

Herlong, M.H. Buddy.
13 September 2012 (ARC from Baker and Taylor)
Reviewed at Young Adult Books Central

Li'l T is happy with his life in New Orleans in 2005 except for one thing: he desperately wants a dog. When the family car hits a dog on the way to church, they rally support and take the dog to the vet, who has to amputate one of the dogs legs. Li'l T is happy that he finally has a pet, and assumes extra responsibilities, like mowing yards, in order to pay for Buddy's upkeep. Of course, in the late summer of 2005, Li'l T's family has bigger issues to worry about-- they have to leave their home because of Hurricane Katrina, and when they can't fit Buddy in the car, they leave him locked in an upstairs bathroom. Once the storm passes, they try to retrieve him and are devastated when he is not there, although relieved that he has been rescued. The pastor of the family's church tries to help locate the dog, and it turns our Buddy has been adopted by a family in California. When the adoptive family contacts Li'l T, money is raised to send him out to bring the dog back. Once there, he realizes how much the other family loves Buddy and has to make the decision as to what is best for the dog he adores.
Strengths: Strong sense of place and community, as well as another view of the events of Hurrican Katrina and the devastation that it brought to communities. I'm assuming that Li'l T is African American, which would be great, because there aren't as many multicultural dog books, but looking back, I have nothing concrete to indicate this; even the cover is ambiguous.
Weaknesses: The pacing on this is rather slow, and since my students were about 5 when Katrina hit, they don't know much about it.

Middle Grade Monday-- India

Behera, Sanjiv. Vikram and the Enchanted Seals.
Rickshaw Books, Ebook received from author.

Vikram and his family travel from their home in California to India for the funeral of his grandmother. He meets and bonds with his grandfather, who gives him a very old family seal... right before he goes missing. When Vikram, his brother Jai, and a family servant, Manu, go looking for the grandfather, they meet Toral, whose grandparents have been kidnapped by horrible, giant monsters called Rakshasas. Toral's grandparents also have a seal,and the Rakshasas, led by the evil King Kama, think that they can rule the world if they can assemble all of the seals and destroy the Dharma Cube. Vikram knows that he can't let this happen, so the group, aided by some very clever langurs, set out to find the seals and destroy the Rakshasas. Vikram begins to realize that his purpose in holding the seal is to save the world from destruction, so even though he despairs at times, he holds fast to his purpose in order to fulfill his destiny.
Strengths: This was a well-written and well-plotted fantasy novel with great action scenes. While it has much in common with many other quest and/or "teens save the world from utter destruction" books, the refreshingly unique part it that the mythological base for this book is Indian and not Celtic. Other than Lloyd Alexander's The Iron Ring, I can't think of another middle grade book with an Indian setting. I also liked Vikram's longing for a relationship with his grandfather, and his desire to understand his culture of origin. For another review, check out Boys Read.org.
Weaknesses: The new cover is better than the old one, but at first I thought the "enchanted seals" were animals rather than seal stones, which didn't sound as interesting.

Thanks to a very kind offer from Mr. Behera, this Kindle eBook is available today for FREE! Here are his instructions:

The book will automatically be priced for free on the amazon.com website. Your readers just need to go to amazon.com, find the book, and the purchase price will be $0. No code necessary. Here is a link you can use: http://tinyurl.com/79xlyft

(Currently, the price is $2.99, but will change on Monday @ 12:01am pacific time.)

Ellis, Deborah. No Ordinary Day.
Valli works in the coal town of Jharia picking up stray pieces of coal, living with an abusive aunt and uncle. When she find out that these people were merely given money by her family to take her in, she runs away to Kolkata. When there, she is at first taken in by woman running a brothel (although this is not clearly explained-- I inferred it) until the woman realizes that Valli has leprosy. Valli lives on the streets for a while until she meets Dr. Indra, who cleans her up and tries to treat her injured feet. Valli balks at being cooped up inside and runs away, but eventually comes back to the hospital. Dr. Indra explains why her feet have no feeling due to the nerve damage caused by leprosy, and Valli decides to stay and get treatment because she wants to grow up to be like Dr. Indra.
Strengths: Ellis' work is always short and very powerful. We use The Breadwinner as a class novel in the 6th grade, and it is a very popular unit. No Safe Place is another powerful work.
Weaknesses: The short length of Ellis' work appeals to students, but I would have been glad to read more about Valli and her experiences.

It's Marvelous Middle Grade Monday! Hop over to Shannon Whitney Messenger's blog to see the complete listing of middle grade reviews for this week.