The Grand Plan to Fix Everything -- Uma Krishnaswami

Eleven-year-old Dini loves Bollywood movies, and she ESPECIALLY loves Bollywood star Dolly Singh. But she just realized that there's something unusual about Dolly's most recent movie: there are no happy songs. Not a single one. And now, according to her Filmi Kumpnee magazine, something IS up with Dolly, and scuttlebutt says that that something is HEARTBREAK.

So when her mother is awarded a grant that will allow the family to move to a small town in southern India for two years, Dini is devastated about leaving Maryland and her best friend Maddie behind... but she's excited about the possibility of finding and meeting Dolly Singh, too! 

Pros:

• It's about the difficulty of long distance friendships, and about the importance of staying true to your friends, but it also shows that there's room in our hearts for more than one good friend. It's about love of home, about the pleasure that comes from exploring a new place, and about how new places can eventually feel like home. Coincidences abound—Dirk Gently would approve of The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, because it very much supports his theory about the interconnectedness of all things—and there is charm and warmth and humor on every page.
• Krishnaswami's rhythm is really distinct, and while it took me a little while to get used to it, I ended up loving it. And I loved how she put words together. I loved that instead of saying that Dini moodily flips a page, she said Dini flips a moody page. And I loved Maddie's first line upon learning about Dini's big move: Maddie is flipping through the pages of the Filmi Kumpnee magazine without seeming to look at anything. "Maybe you'll get to meet Dolly," she says in a small, brave voice. OH, SHE JUST BREAKS MY HEART. (In a good way.)
• As in Penny Dreadful, Abigail Halpin's illustrations are spot on: they echo the lighthearted tone of Dini's adventures, and include lots of details from the text. Love.
• In addition to the illustrations, there are magazine articles and texts and letters and so while it's primarily a straight-up novel, fans of the scrapbook and journal-type books are likely to enjoy.

Cons:

• I've got nothing.

Nutshell:

 It's a hug in book form. Also, MONKEYS. PEACOCKS! INTERESTING CAPITALIZATION! AND CAKE.

Book source: ILLed through my library.