Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood

Abby Spencer, 13, is thrown for a loop when she learns that her estranged father is actually a Bollywood heartthrob, Naveen Kumar. Naveen is equally shocked to hear that he has a daughter (he never saw a letter Abby's mother sent when she was pregnant), and he invites Abby to visit him in Mumbai. Picture book author Bajaj's (T Is for Taj Mahal) first middle-grade novel conveys Abby's mixed emotions about meeting her father, getting her first taste of celebrity, and visiting India, though not always believably ("The muddy color of poverty was interspersed by the bright blue color of tarpaulin people used to keep the rain out," reflects Abby about Mumbai's slums). Information about India is laced throughout the story, and although the father/daughter reunion is slightly canned and the dialogue sometimes difficult to swallow ("At first, the hurt and the feeling of rejection felt like shackles that I could never break free," Abby's mother says of her failed romance with Naveen), Abby's extravagant travels and first romance are enough to satisfy and amuse. Ages 9-13. Agent: Jill Corcoran, Jill Corcoran Literary Agency. (Mar.)

Gr 5-8--Thirteen-year-old Abby Spencer longs for excitement in her happy but uneventful life as a middle schooler in Houston, Texas. After she has a severe allergic reaction to coconut, Abby finds the excitement for which she has been waiting. Needing details about Abby's inherited medical history, her mother contacts the girl's father for the first time in more than 13 years. Soon after, Abby finds herself traveling to India on a whirlwind trip to meet him--a Bollywood film star--for the first time. If not for the Indian setting, Abby Spencer would be a typical, cute-but-nothing-special story of a young girl meeting her estranged father. Abby is a sweet, relatable character, but it's the lush backdrop that sets this book apart. The narrator describes the beauty and the extreme poverty of Mumbai. She feeds beggars and street dogs and reflects on her own day-to-day luxuries in comparison. She learns some Hindi words and phrases, tastes Indian foods, and spends a day on a Bollywood film set. A light, clean romance adds a second plot thread, but this story is mainly about the teen's exploration of her Indian heritage and the relationships between Abby and her parents. Pair with Narinder Dhami's Bollywood Babes (Random, 2006) or Kashmira Sheth's Boys Without Names (HarperCollins, 2010).--Leigh Collazo, Ed Willkie Middle School, Fort Worth, TX