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18th out of 45 books
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17 voters
The Grand Plan to Fix Everything
Kindle Edition
Published
(first published May 24th 2011)
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And now Dini sees something that only those who listen-listen, look-look, can understand. Open one problem up, like the hood of a car, and you may find another problem waiting to be solved. Try opening that one up and you are likely to find several dozen others just waiting to get in your way. It is all very depressing.
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Dini has two especially special things going for her: a wonderful best friend who shares everything with her, has the same tastes, and thinks just like her, and a movie star...more
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Dini has two especially special things going for her: a wonderful best friend who shares everything with her, has the same tastes, and thinks just like her, and a movie star...more
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 ado...more
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 ado...more
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. Surpr...more
Dini and her best friend Maddie love to watch movies from Bollywood. They memorize lines from songs and know all the situations that can be solved by their favorite actress, Dolly Singh. When Dini’s mom gets a grant to study at a clinic in southern India for two years, Dini is both upset and excited. She’s upset to leave Maddie and her home in Delaware. But she’s also excited that she’ll be closer to Bombay, as all the filmi people call Mumbai. Maybe she’ll even have a chance to meet her screen...more
Dini and her friend Maddie share everything--even an interest in Bollywood and the films of Dolly Singh. But when Dini's mother has a grant approved that enables her to work in a clinic in a small town in India for the next two years, the friends are upset at being separated. The only thing that lessens the pangs of their separation is the possibility that Dini will meet her favorite star. Off to India Dini's family goes, and through a series of unlikely coincidences, Dini hatches a plan to stra...more
I recently finished the book The Grand Plan To Fix Everything By: Uma Krishnaswami. The book is good and I think people who like realistic fiction, friendships, and " Bollywood Stars" would like this book. When Two friends leave each other one stays ( Maddie ) and one goes ( Dini ). Dini leaves to go to India where she hopes she will find her favorite Bollywood Star Dolly Singh. I think this book is a little bit cheesy and a little hard to get in to. I think Uma Krishnaswami did a good job const...more
So dumb. And like, not just because I'm (way) too old for it. I read it for SLJ's Battle of the Books and, man, I don't know if I'd have finished it if it weren't so short and large-printed.
I mean, the characters are stupid. The writing kind of nags at you in a bad way. The bits with the monkeys are not for anyone, not funny even if you're five, and I have to say, I don't think I would have liked this book at all, even when I was a kid. It all just comes together too easily, and it's stupid, an...more
I mean, the characters are stupid. The writing kind of nags at you in a bad way. The bits with the monkeys are not for anyone, not funny even if you're five, and I have to say, I don't think I would have liked this book at all, even when I was a kid. It all just comes together too easily, and it's stupid, an...more
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 o...more
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 accessibl...more
What I liked about this book is that it deals with immigrants but not in a having-trouble-fitting in way. Here 11-year-old Dini (East Indian background) has a very best friend in Takoma Park MD (and I like this since this is my vicinity) and they share a love of Indian movies. The theme of movie scripts goes through the story as Dini hopes to meet the girls' favorite movie star Dolly Singh in India where Dini's family moves for two years. Will she or won't she. She meets a new friend in India, P...more
I will get this book for my libraries, because there are few contemporary books set in India. I think many of my students will enjoy it; it was just a little too contrived for me, but I think many of them will relate to Dini and her big dreams. I am ashamed to admit that I do not know more about India, and I was disappointed that there is not a real Swapnagiri. The font and illustrations are a lot of fun. Some of the transitions are a little abrupt, and the continual use of "blinking" bothered m...more
Eleven-year-old Dini and her best friend Maddie LOVE Bollywood movies, especially those in which Dolly Singh stars. So when Dini's mother gets a grant to work with mothers and infants in a small village in the south of India, the girls see this as the opportunity for Dini to meet Dolly in person. Dini manages to pull this off with all of the panache and ingenuity of her movie heroine. There is just enough local color to bring rural India alive, and the friendship between the two girls is superfi...more
What a lovely story, so full of warmth, friendship, Indian flavors, and hope that eventually everything will be fine! I loved accompanying 11year-old Dini from America to India, learning about a part of India I hadn't heard of before. I admired her for her courage and persistence in trying to locate a famous Bollywood star and to fix everything not just for the star but for herself as well. This book will be a wonderful addition to our collection and I have already several readers in mind who wi...more
Eleven-year old Dini adores Bollywood movies, those entertaining Hindi musicals set in India and filled with grand production numbers, adventure, and romance. As summer vacation begins her life is upended when she learns that instead of dance camp with her best friend Maddie she and her parents are heading out across the ocean for a two year-stint in Swampangiri, a small town in India.
While understandably sad, shocked, and surprised Dini is also a trooper and, appreciating how important this opp...more
While understandably sad, shocked, and surprised Dini is also a trooper and, appreciating how important this opp...more
Originally posted here.
Sometimes a book comes along that is a balance of quirky, enjoyable, and well written. When it happens to be a contemporary fiction novel about a culture many young readers are not familiar with, so much the better. If you are looking for such a book then Uma Krishnaswami's The Grand Plan to Fix Everything is one to check out.
This is a book many kids will be able to identify with even if they don't know anything about Bollywood or Indian culture. They will be able to sympa...more
Sometimes a book comes along that is a balance of quirky, enjoyable, and well written. When it happens to be a contemporary fiction novel about a culture many young readers are not familiar with, so much the better. If you are looking for such a book then Uma Krishnaswami's The Grand Plan to Fix Everything is one to check out.
This is a book many kids will be able to identify with even if they don't know anything about Bollywood or Indian culture. They will be able to sympa...more
Dini, an Indian-American girl, is moving to India with her parents for two years. She is distraught about leaving her best friend Maddie and excited to have the possibility of meeting her favorite Bollywood star. The plot and writing aren't super smooth but the story definitely captures the excitement and anxiety that preteens experience. I teach in a school with Indian-American students -- I'll have to see what they think of this upper elementary story.
I bought this book for a very specific purpose - one of our kids (who is Indian-American) wanted more books about Indian-American kids, and I saw this one. She has it now, so I'll ask her if she likes it.
As for me - I think this is a really cute book and the setting is lovely. However, third-person present tense makes for a super weird reading experience - weird enough that I found it distracting the entire time. There was also a lot going on and I kept losing track of what was happening. So...y...more
As for me - I think this is a really cute book and the setting is lovely. However, third-person present tense makes for a super weird reading experience - weird enough that I found it distracting the entire time. There was also a lot going on and I kept losing track of what was happening. So...y...more
Eleven-year-old Dini loves movies, and so when she learns that her family is moving to India for two years, her devastation over leaving her best friend in Maryland is tempered by the possibility of meeting her favorite actress, Dolly Singh.
I read this for Mock Newbery, and I've got to say, not really impressed. I would recommend this book to kids, but not for the Newbery award.
I read this for Mock Newbery, and I've got to say, not really impressed. I would recommend this book to kids, but not for the Newbery award.
I really, really enjoyed this one. I might have liked it even more, though, if I was a big fan of Bollywood movies (or had seen even one!) because it is clear that the book has been made out to be like a film. I found it quite clever and a lot of fun to read. Others may find it silly. But I thought it was fabulous. Not for every kid, that's for sure. But some ought to find it quite entertaining.
I did like the way that Dini thinks in terms of possible plotlines, and how the movie theme was carried through with cuts to other characters' scenes and lines like "Life doesn't let you save the bloopers for the archives."
But overall, I didn't connect with any of the characters, and I didn't really care about Dolly. At all.
But overall, I didn't connect with any of the characters, and I didn't really care about Dolly. At all.
I liked this book for a positive view of Indian-America 11-year-old girl and one from Takoma Park MD, near me. The infatuation with Bollywood is shared by her friend Maddie in the US. When she has to go to India for two years she hopes to find their favorite movie star Dolly Singh. It all fits together in a fun way for grades 3-6.
When Dini has to move to India with her parents and will be separated from her best friend for two years,the friendship is stressed, stretched and strengthened. The plot is advanced by Dini's interest in a Bollywood actress. A light read (like the Rose Petal milkshakes Dini drinks?) for 3rd - 5th graders.
Tried this on my daughter, pretty sure she wouldn't like it, and was right. But I was surprised at how I really didn't care for it much either.
The storytelling is as muddled and artificial as the Bollywood movies Dini loves. Might work in a movie, but as a kids book? Nope.
The storytelling is as muddled and artificial as the Bollywood movies Dini loves. Might work in a movie, but as a kids book? Nope.
High-energy, intelligent, confident character with a clear mission from the beginning. This story takes readers on a journey with eleven-year-old Dini with her parents to India where she discovers the kurinji flower, tiny bananas, pesky monkeys on the roof and bottle brush flowers.
I picked this up because I saw that it was going to be in this year's SLJ Battle of the Books. It's a cute story with an endearing character but I found the present tense annoying. There was a reason for it, however, since 11-year-old Dini tends to treat life like a Bollywood movie script. And it reads like one too!
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...more
This fast-paced story is a Bollywood film in the guise of a children's book. Colorful characters, vivid setting, quick action, coincidence (or is it kismet?), and a lively dance to finish. Fun, fun, fun, but Dini is such a normal kid through it all that readers will have no problem relating.
Dini has to move with her parents to India, away from her best friend Maddie. Her "grand plan" is to find her favorite Bollywood star and A)fix her life and B)get an autograph for Maddie.
Cute, but not too cute. I liked it.
Cute, but not too cute. I liked it.
A fun book about Dini who suddenly finds out she is moving to India for 2 years. While she doesn't want to leave her best friend they decide her mission is to find their all-time favorite Bollywood star Dolly Singh.
Oct 20, 2011
Marilyn
added it
I really enjoyed this book. I loved the voice and the style and the cast of quirky, individualized characters. Most refreshing. And, as a lover of Indian food, it made me want to try a curry puff.
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