The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic

The Grand Plan to Fix Everything #2

by Uma Krishnaswami, Abigail Halpin (Illustrations)

Dini is back from India—with Bollywood star Dolly in tow! But life in the States isn’t all rose petal milk shakes…Dini and Maddie, very best friends, are back in the same country at the same time! Better still, Dolly Singh, the starriest star in all of Bollywood, is in America too. Dini’s only just returned from India, and already life is shaping up to be as delicious as a rose petal milk shake. Perfect. Then why can’t she untie the knot in her stomach? Because so much can go wrong when a big star like Dolly is in town. All Dini has to do is make sure Dolly has everything she needs, from a rose petal milk shake to her lost passport to…a parade? And an elephant? Uh-oh… It’s time to think. What Would Dolly Do? If Dini can’t figure it out, Dolly might take matters into her own hands—and that will surely lead to the biggest mess of all! Uma Krishnaswami has concocted a delicious sequel to her multiple star–reviewed The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, which Kirkus Reviews called “a delightful romp.”

Genres: Middle Grade, Friendship, Humor, Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Cultural, Asian Literature

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 13, 2013

Reviews

[Shenwei · Rating 5 out of 5]

as charming as book 1, with new supporting characters, new complications, and more interconnected stories. the perfect pick-me-up after reading a heavier book. :)

[Jill CD · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book with diverse characters and an unbelievable and funny plot. Grades 3-4 and up

[Brandy Painter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally posted here at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.

I enjoyed The Grand Plan to Fix Everything (my thoughts) by Uma Krishnaswami for the way it presented the mixing of cultures and the inevitable struggle a person living in two different ones experiences. I was delighted to learn there would be a sequel and even more delighted when I was able to read an e-galley of The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic from the publisher.

The first book saw Dini struggling to fit into her new world and missing her best friend, Maddie. This sequel finds her back in the US on a visit. Initially she is struggling to reconcile who she now is with this old world and fitting her and Maddie nicely together again. I would have enjoyed it if the story had focused on this a bit more. Dolly has come to town too though and, as with everything Dolly does, she overshadows the other characters. Dini, Maddie, and pretty much everyone else are there to run circles around the circus show that is the movie premiere and Dolly.


I was disappointed in how much of the book focused on one crazy plot twist after another without giving us much insight into the characters or their motivations. It is an entertaining read though and I think readers who enjoyed the first book will want to read this one. Like the first book, it reads very much like a Bollywood movie.


I read an e-galley provided by the publisher, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, via Edelweiss. The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic is available for purchase August 13.

[Ash Menacho]

This was a fun lighthearted read intended for the tween girl demographic. Bollywood comes to DC!

[AnnMarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize this was the second book, but it was still a fun read. It's definitely targeted to a pre-teen demographic, but it was cute. The only jarring note (for me) was that the author chose to write in the present simple instead of the more commonly-utilized past tense. But it was charming, and some places, surprisingly profound. My favorite quote is on page 13:

"But real life, alas, like a badly executed dance, often has pacing problems."

Isn't that the truth?

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story. I kept feeling like I was missing something. Somehow it didn't connect with me how Dini and Dolly met and became friends. I realized I was reading the sequel and not the first book, "Plan to Fix Everything".

"The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic" can still be a stand-alone book, but I think readers would enjoy reading them in order and starting the 'adventures' as they happen. A must-have series for elementary and middle school libraries.

[Child960801 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I finished before this one had strong themes about abuse and oppression and hopelessness. This was just the book I needed as a mental chaser.

Dini is back for a visit to the United States and her beloved Dolly is coming as well for a film grand opening. Hijinks ensue and Dini struggles with how her life resembles a Bollywood movie and how it doesn't.

[Tanja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of Dini will be delighted to see her reunited with her best friend Maddie in the United States, as they prepare a grand event for their Bollywood hero Dolly Singh.

[Veronica Lebedev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Return once again with Dini as she retuen to the U.S. after living in India for two years. Resume the hijinks that prevailed in the first book.

[Monica Edinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Divi is back in this sequel to the delightful middle grade novel,  The Grand Plan to Fix Everything.  Back in DC briefly, after a year in India, for the American premier of the latest movie starring the irrepressible diva Dolly Singh, whom we first met in The Grand Plan to Fix Everything. Of course, as in any Bollywood movie worth its salt, nothing goes as it should. Eager to see her best friend Maddy, Divi finds that someone new has arrived on the scene and wonders if they are still the BFF they were before she went away. Within hours of their arrival Dolly's passport goes missing, not that she is worried. Nothing seems to faze that bubble-headed star! But Divi, Dolly's new and adoring husband, and her morose and long-suffering agent are all kept on their toes trying to do what Dolly wants for the premier, say finding the right caterer, sufficient rose petals and an elephant. As in the first book, there are multiple plot threads that all come together in a very happy and celebratory ending complete with cake and dancing.  As charming as the first, I hope there are more to come!

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The characters from The Grand Plan to Fix Everything are back in this delightful book. Dini has returned to Washington, DC, after living in India, and she and her best friend Maddie are thrilled because Dolly Singh, their favorite Bollywood star, is coming to the United States, to Washington, DC, to be exact, for the premier of her latest film. As always happens when Dolly is around, there are mistakes, misunderstandings, charming interactions, and grouchy individuals are somehow tamed. Charming as she is, Dolly is revealed to have several character flaws, one of which is forgetting Maddie's name, but still, she is so loveable and larger than life that it's hard not to forgive her. Even when things seem to go terribly wrong--there is no caterer for the reception, the zoo doesn't want to lend one of its elephants to Dolly, and her passport has disappeared--somehow everything all comes together beautifully in the end. The author does a marvelous job of capturing all these different personalities and describing Dini's fear that she has been replaced by another friend Maddie has made while she has been away. The pen-and-ink and digital colored illustrations added to the book's humor, allowing readers to see Dolly, her devoted Chickoo, and her fans in action. I can just picture all that jewelry she loves to wear flying throughout the air.

[The Styling Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic by Uma Krishnaswami, illustrated by Abigail Halpin – Third Grade and up – Realistic Fiction/Multicultural – It was fantastic to return to the world of two friends, Dini and Maddie, who are reunited after the first book, The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, with this new adventure that involves elephants, rose petals, and important missing objects. I loved reading this story! Beautiful all the way through with music, Bollywood, and some dancing as well. I loved how the chapters almost felt like you were being led through a dramatic movie and had wonderful chapter titles kept you reading in addition to it wonderful beginning sentences. And the illustrations! The illustrations! I just loved the pictures by Abigail Halpin, had to look her up and find out all the other places she’s illustrated in beautiful books, knew she was familiar but WOW just love so many of the books she’s illustrated, from Laurel Snyder’s Penny Dreadful to Lauren Tarshis’s Emma Jean Lazarus series to Andrea Cheng’s The Year of the Book, just love her work… pretty dynamic illustrator that I look forward to following through other books.

[Kristen Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dini is excited for Dolly Singh to make her premier in America, but wherever Dolly seems to go, trouble follows. She loses her passport, almost gets trampled by an elephant and everything seems to be a big mess when it comes to opening night. Dini is having her own problems, meeting Maddie's new friend and trying to solve all the problems she can by herself.

What Dini realizes is that maybe she does need help and a little accidentally heroism to save the day. I loved the over the top characters in this book, really bringing Dolly to life along with rest of the characters. Dini is a sweet girl who wants everything to go perfectly for her friends and family. She's a problem solver who tries her best, but is still sensible about what she can and cannot do. I love all the culture pulled into this novel, it's still set in America, but gives the reader a taste of Indian culture and Bollywood.

Final Verdict: The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic is a fantastic adventure with great characters that has the perfect combination of realism and humor.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sequel to The Grand Plan to Fix Everything is just as cute as the first book. In this one, Dini has been able to return to Maryland, to her best friend Maddie, for a worldwide debut of the latest Dolly Singh Bollywood musical.

The Problem With Being Slightly Heroic includes a caterer and a baker who fall through at the last minute, a movie star who isn't quite as with-it as she appears on screen, a lost passport, and an elephant.

This is another light and fun romp, with enough coincidence to make Sherlock Holmes wonder what the author was thinking, but believable - barely - for all that.

[G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Until Gene Luen Yang mentioned TGPTFE in the great little comic he did for the NYT, Glare of Disdain I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed these two books when I read them a few years ago. Sadly they’re not published in the UK despite our large South Asian diasporic population, but they’re well worth investing in for kids who love all things dance and Bollywood. The books are funny and enjoyable romps, the first set in a small town in the hills of South India, the second involves a renegade elephant (I’m a pushover when it comes to elephants in stories) and the glamorous but flighty Bollywood star Dolly Singh appears in both. Oh and rose-petal milk-shakes. Delicious, frothy and fun.

[Laurel Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful story about best friends Dini and Maddie and their adventures with Bollywood star Dolly Singh, the sequel to The Grand Plan to Fix Everything never once loses its stride. Author Uma Krishnaswami pulls us inside Dini's world with the deftness of a practiced storyteller, somehow managing to shine a spotlight on both the immense differences and similarities between American and Indian cultures. I will definitely be reading this one again and recommend it for all ages.

[Addison Children's Services · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sequel to "The Grand Plan to Fix Everything." Dini is back in the States, but yea, her Bollywood idol, Dolly, is coming for a visit and the premier of her latest movie. Though snags crop up along the way, Dini is more than capable of solving them all. A fun follow up for fans of the first book. Check it out.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dini and Maddie are back at it and this time the Indian movie star Dolly is here in the states with them for her big movie premier. A rollicking and laugh out loud adventure that reminds readers just how crazy being a movie star, or friends with one, can be.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Introduce your middle grade readers to Bollywood, elephants, and rose petal shakes with this sweet, funny, multicultural novel. Dini, the earnest, "slightly heroic" protagonist outplays the adults around her as they prepare for the film festival honoring her Bollywood star friend, Dolly Singh.

[Salsabrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never seen a Bollywood movie (does Monsoon Wedding count??), but I feel like reading this book gave me the spirit of a Bollywood movie: lots of capering, unexpected twists, emotional ups and downs, and a happy ending.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

High energy plot with a mix of cultures and fun characters.