That Thing about Bollywood by Supriya Kelkar

Given the heavy nature of some of what happens, I think readers need to start by admiring the cute cover but then forgetting it. The blurb does include the conflicts of the story but in such a way that it still seemed to me that things would be lighter. Unfortunately, this is another instance of a mismatch between what a book cover promises and what the book actually delivers. Can she figure it out before it’s too late? Sonali knows something has gone wrong, and she suspects it has something to do with her own mismanaged emotions. And somehow, everyone is acting as if this is totally normal.

Her friends are also breaking out into song and dance. Her parents have had Bollywood makeovers. The next morning, much to her dismay, Sonali’s reality has shifted. When Sonali gets upset during a field trip, she can’t bury her feelings like usual-instead, she suddenly bursts into a Bollywood song-and-dance routine about why she’s upset! But then something strange happens, something magical, maybe. It’s embarrassing to let out so many feelings, to show the world how not okay you are. Sonali’s little brother, Ronak, is not taking the news well, constantly crying. The truth is, Sonali’s parents don’t get along, and it looks like they might be separating. You know how in Bollywood when people are in love, they sing and dance from the mountaintops? Eleven-year-old Sonali wonders if they do the same when they’re breaking up. Jayne Book Reviews / C+ Reviews Bollywood / divorce / family relationships / First-Person / Indian American / Magical Realism / middle grade / POC / POC author / self discovery Comments Off on REVIEW: That Thing about Bollywood by Supriya Kelkarīollywood takes over in this contemporary, magical middle grade novel about an Indian American girl whose world turns upside down when she involuntarily starts bursting into glamorous song-and-dance routines during everyday life. REVIEW: That Thing about Bollywood by Supriya Kelkar