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jessalynn_librarian's review
4.0
Coincidence is huge in this story - if you can't suspend your disbelief and throw yourself into the world of Bollywood, then this probably isn't the book for you. Once you're on board with a story that weaves together several characters and storylines into one joyful whole, you'll have fun with Dini and the rest of the characters. Movie stars, postmen, school girls, bakers - the whole story is a colorful swirl. For kids who like stories set in other parts of the world, this has the added bonus of introducing them to a fantastical version of India. This might alo particularly appeal to girls separated from a friend, or Bollywood fans, but it also has a much more general appeal.
Source: my public library
Source: my public library
quietjenn's review
3.0
Pretty cute. Dini was a little too single-minded for me to really love her, but overall I still liked reading about her adventure and the Bollywood flair.
pkadams's review against another edition
4.0
A light book whose main character skips across the pages, continents, and cultures. Perfect for the middle reader who doesn't take life seriously but cares about friends and life. Set in India, The Grand Plan To Fix Everything tells the story of a Indian-American who leaves her best friend in the US to live in India for 2 years. Her obsession with a Bollywood Starlet is central and fun to the story and provides the cross-cultural bridge that readers need to find the setting and customs accessible. A fun book that I think young readers will enjoy as they start to explore worlds outside of their own.
jennybeastie's review against another edition
4.0
Sort of ridiculous and over the top, in a Bollywood-style-plot sort of way, but delightful for all that. Set partly in Maryland, but mostly in India, it's the story of Dini's plan to find her favorite movie star, Dolly Singh. Dini also wants to make Dolly happy again, which leads to complications. Lighthearted, funny, full of coincidences.
raoionna's review
3.0
An elementary age read about an Indian-American girl who moves to India and finds herself in the midst of a Bollywood-style conundrum complete with a Bollywood actress. Wonderful illustrations and adequate text.
greenbeanteenqueen's review
3.0
About the Book: Dini's parents have just announced that they're moving to India for two whole years! Dini can't believe her parents are making her move away from her best friend Maddie and now she has to miss out on the Bollywood dance class she and Maddie were going to take. But India is home to Dini and Maddie's favorite movies and their favorite Bollywood star, Dolly Singh. Dini's parents aren't moving to Bombay, the movie capital of India, but instead to a small town called Swapnagiri. Surprises are ahead for Dini as she discovers that her favorite star might be closer than she thinks-and Dini has a plan to meet her idol.
GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Our summer reading theme this year for the kids program is One World, Many Stories, and I can't wait to highlight The Grand Plan to Fix Everything as a great read for our theme! Ms. Kishnaswami transports readers to Swapnagiri and throws us right into a storyline that is a wonderful nod to Dini's favorite Bollywood films.
I did think at times Dini seemed a bit younger than an eleven-year-old and at the beginning the narration seemed a bit simplistic. But it picked up and got better as the story went on, so maybe I was just being a bit picky at first.
The story is mainly about Dini, but there are many supporting characters that appear and we learn about their stories as well. It's a somewhat silly story and you have to suspend some belief, but that's the charm of the book. The book really does read like a script for a Bollywood film complete with some zany and charming characters, a romance, random happenstance and coincidence-I even expected the characters to break out into song!
Dini might be eleven, but I would hand this one over to early tween readers looking for a funny, light story that will take them to a new part of the world. The book has fantastic illustrations that accompany the story and the book is fast paced-I read it in one sitting. There's plenty of humor and madcap fun to keep readers engaged.
Book Pairings: Dini reminded me a lot of Allie Finkle, so I think fans of Meg Cabot's tween series would enjoy this book. I'd also pair with the Popularity Papers: Book Two by Amy Ignatow, which also features best friends separated by a move to a new country.
GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: Our summer reading theme this year for the kids program is One World, Many Stories, and I can't wait to highlight The Grand Plan to Fix Everything as a great read for our theme! Ms. Kishnaswami transports readers to Swapnagiri and throws us right into a storyline that is a wonderful nod to Dini's favorite Bollywood films.
I did think at times Dini seemed a bit younger than an eleven-year-old and at the beginning the narration seemed a bit simplistic. But it picked up and got better as the story went on, so maybe I was just being a bit picky at first.
The story is mainly about Dini, but there are many supporting characters that appear and we learn about their stories as well. It's a somewhat silly story and you have to suspend some belief, but that's the charm of the book. The book really does read like a script for a Bollywood film complete with some zany and charming characters, a romance, random happenstance and coincidence-I even expected the characters to break out into song!
Dini might be eleven, but I would hand this one over to early tween readers looking for a funny, light story that will take them to a new part of the world. The book has fantastic illustrations that accompany the story and the book is fast paced-I read it in one sitting. There's plenty of humor and madcap fun to keep readers engaged.
Book Pairings: Dini reminded me a lot of Allie Finkle, so I think fans of Meg Cabot's tween series would enjoy this book. I'd also pair with the Popularity Papers: Book Two by Amy Ignatow, which also features best friends separated by a move to a new country.
kdekoster's review
3.0
Recap:
Eleven-year-old Dini and her best friend Maddie are in love. They are in love with Dolly Singh, the most beautiful and talented actress/singer/dancer in all of Bollywood. But they have been picking up on signs - signs that only a true fan would notice! - that Dolly is in some kind of trouble. When Dini's family suddenly moves to India, she knows this is her chance to find Dolly and fix everything. The only problem is, she'll be leaving Maddie behind...
Review:
Doesn't this book just look adorable? I love the fact that the protagonist is Indian-American and that much of the story takes place in India. That is certainly a country we don't get to see much of in MG or YA literature. And the introduction to Bollywood, complete with song lyrics and descriptions of big dance numbers, was a welcome break from more typical tween obsessions.
Dini and Maddie's friendship was very sweet, and I can envision two little girls giggling over this book together in real life. In fact, it could be a perfect "going away" present for a friend who has to move - proof in print that distance doesn't end friendships!
And I need to mention that the illustrations throughout are just as charming as the cover. I think Abigail Halpin just might be my new favorite artist. Check out this interview with both Halpin and author Uma Krishnaswami for more images and details on the creation of The Grand Plan to Fix Everything.
But... something about this story just didn't sit right with me. The third person narration was a small factor in that I never truly connected with Dini. It was also a little too convenient that Dolly just so happened to be living in the same remote, rural village that Dini had moved to. *Don't worry: That's not really a spoiler. Dini figures it out the day that she moves.* In fact, all the way through the book, the narrator makes it seem like Dini is having such a hard time "fixing everything" for Dolly, when really everything just kept (very unrealistically) falling into place.
I hate being negative, and this really was a very cute book, but it's just not going to make it on my Favorites list. I picked it up from the library because it's one of the contenders for SLJ's Battle of the Kids books. It's up against Allen Say's Drawing from Memory which is a completely different book in almost every way. So... I can't wait to see which comes out on top!
Recommendation:
If you have a young tween reader looking for a book about moving, best friends, or Bollywood, this could be a great choice. If you're just looking for a good MG novel? This wouldn't be my first pick.
But of course, lots of others readers disagree. Check out these blogs for a second opinion:
- GreenBeanTeenQueen
- Heavy Medal
- The O.W.L.
- ReadKiddoRead
Eleven-year-old Dini and her best friend Maddie are in love. They are in love with Dolly Singh, the most beautiful and talented actress/singer/dancer in all of Bollywood. But they have been picking up on signs - signs that only a true fan would notice! - that Dolly is in some kind of trouble. When Dini's family suddenly moves to India, she knows this is her chance to find Dolly and fix everything. The only problem is, she'll be leaving Maddie behind...
Review:
Doesn't this book just look adorable? I love the fact that the protagonist is Indian-American and that much of the story takes place in India. That is certainly a country we don't get to see much of in MG or YA literature. And the introduction to Bollywood, complete with song lyrics and descriptions of big dance numbers, was a welcome break from more typical tween obsessions.
Dini and Maddie's friendship was very sweet, and I can envision two little girls giggling over this book together in real life. In fact, it could be a perfect "going away" present for a friend who has to move - proof in print that distance doesn't end friendships!
And I need to mention that the illustrations throughout are just as charming as the cover. I think Abigail Halpin just might be my new favorite artist. Check out this interview with both Halpin and author Uma Krishnaswami for more images and details on the creation of The Grand Plan to Fix Everything.
But... something about this story just didn't sit right with me. The third person narration was a small factor in that I never truly connected with Dini. It was also a little too convenient that Dolly just so happened to be living in the same remote, rural village that Dini had moved to. *Don't worry: That's not really a spoiler. Dini figures it out the day that she moves.* In fact, all the way through the book, the narrator makes it seem like Dini is having such a hard time "fixing everything" for Dolly, when really everything just kept (very unrealistically) falling into place.
I hate being negative, and this really was a very cute book, but it's just not going to make it on my Favorites list. I picked it up from the library because it's one of the contenders for SLJ's Battle of the Kids books. It's up against Allen Say's Drawing from Memory which is a completely different book in almost every way. So... I can't wait to see which comes out on top!
Recommendation:
If you have a young tween reader looking for a book about moving, best friends, or Bollywood, this could be a great choice. If you're just looking for a good MG novel? This wouldn't be my first pick.
But of course, lots of others readers disagree. Check out these blogs for a second opinion:
- GreenBeanTeenQueen
- Heavy Medal
- The O.W.L.
- ReadKiddoRead
mrskatiefitz's review against another edition
4.0
Dini is devastated when she learns her family is moving to India for two years. She can't imagine leaving her best friend Maddie behind for all that time! There is a glimmer of happiness, however, because the girls' favorite movie star, Dolly Singh, who stars in many Bollywood films, also lives in India, and Dini's chances of meeting her just have to increase if they're in the same country. This seems like a far-fetched expectation, at first, but upon her arrival in India, Dini learns that Dolly is hiding out in her new hometown of Swampnagiri. Through a series of coincidences and convoluted connections with her new neighbors, Dini finds a way to meet her favorite star and help her recover from a broken heart.
This book was fantastic. The Indian setting was a refreshing change of pace from books set in bland, non-descript American towns, and the playful tone made the entire story stand out as something new and fresh. I love the motley cast of characters - the postal carrier who delivers Dini's fan letter to Dolly, her manager, and his daughter, who becomes Dini's new friend, and the monkeys who wreak havoc on Dini's new house. I was reminded quite a bit of the neighbors Opal encounters in Because of Winn Dixie, and thought the party scene in The Grand Plan To Fix Everything had the same heartwarming feeling as the party at the end of Winn Dixie.
Though the plot relied heavily on coincidence, and didn't feel particularly realistic, I didn't see this as a flaw. The playful tone of the writing was so unique, and the depiction of the fillum culture, and of Swampnagiri so colorful and interesting, I didn't mind having to suspend my disbelief. I also didn't mind that the adult characters were at times cartoonish - this just made them easier for kids to relate to, and made it more plausible that a child should be able to solve their problems.
A blurb on the cover of the book from author Linda Sue Park described this story as a "modern fairy-tale," and I think that's the best way to sum it up. The events of Grand Plan couldn't happen in real life, but it doesn't matter because it's such a great story. I read this book mostly because it fit so well with the summer reading program theme, One World Many Stories, but it winds up being one of my favorite books of the year so far. I definitely recommend it to girls in grades 4 to 6, and to anyone looking for an upbeat, light-hearted, and different middle grade read.
This book was fantastic. The Indian setting was a refreshing change of pace from books set in bland, non-descript American towns, and the playful tone made the entire story stand out as something new and fresh. I love the motley cast of characters - the postal carrier who delivers Dini's fan letter to Dolly, her manager, and his daughter, who becomes Dini's new friend, and the monkeys who wreak havoc on Dini's new house. I was reminded quite a bit of the neighbors Opal encounters in Because of Winn Dixie, and thought the party scene in The Grand Plan To Fix Everything had the same heartwarming feeling as the party at the end of Winn Dixie.
Though the plot relied heavily on coincidence, and didn't feel particularly realistic, I didn't see this as a flaw. The playful tone of the writing was so unique, and the depiction of the fillum culture, and of Swampnagiri so colorful and interesting, I didn't mind having to suspend my disbelief. I also didn't mind that the adult characters were at times cartoonish - this just made them easier for kids to relate to, and made it more plausible that a child should be able to solve their problems.
A blurb on the cover of the book from author Linda Sue Park described this story as a "modern fairy-tale," and I think that's the best way to sum it up. The events of Grand Plan couldn't happen in real life, but it doesn't matter because it's such a great story. I read this book mostly because it fit so well with the summer reading program theme, One World Many Stories, but it winds up being one of my favorite books of the year so far. I definitely recommend it to girls in grades 4 to 6, and to anyone looking for an upbeat, light-hearted, and different middle grade read.
ocean_cactus's review against another edition
4.0
A lovely read! A super-sweet story of young girl following her dreams while her physician mother follows her own dreams and moves the family abroad. A great book for any YA reader who has ever faced an international move (or felt misunderstood by her parents or had friend tensions). The characters are relatable, then tension real (but not depressing or overwhelming, in a way that seems good for young-ish readers). There is a lovely multi-cultural aspect to this book in which the characters seem real and passionate, not like cultural stereotypes. The narrative shifts both among the characters and temporally, which I found a little confusing at first - I think some cues (such as a time byline or something) would have made this more immediately apparent.
briannastw's review against another edition
3.0
I loved the characters, but I didn't love the style in which the author wrote about them. Dini is a stupendous girl character who is smart, insightful, and has keen emotional intelligence for a ten-year-old girl. She is also a plotter and a planner, and I like characters with those traits. It was the unusual point of view of the narrator that kept pulling me out of the story - it ultimately made me like this book less than I anticipated I would.
Full review here: http://slatebreakers.com/2012/03/29/review-the-grand-plan-to-fix-everything-by-una-krishnaswami/
Full review here: http://slatebreakers.com/2012/03/29/review-the-grand-plan-to-fix-everything-by-una-krishnaswami/