Tara Takes the Stage

March 15, 2018
Readers guide a middle schooler to various romance possibilities in this gentle series opener that's similar to a Choose Your Own Adventure book. Tara Singh helps out at her family's sweet shop, Mmmumbai, where famous Bollywood actress Preeti Chandran chooses to order her wedding cake and sweets. Tara, more interested in Broadway than Bollywood, plans to audition for Dorothy in the school production of The Wizard of Oz and is faced with interesting dilemmas that readers will decide: Should Tara go to the audition or to Preeti Chandran's wedding? Should she rehearse with Hiro or go to Preeti's movie with Rohan? The cast is diverse. Tara is of Indian origin (depicted on the cover with dark hair and brown skin), as is childhood friend Rohan (could he be more than annoying-older-brother material?). Best friend Yael Lewis is Jewish (whose bat mitzvah anchors companion title Yael and the Party of the Year). Meanwhile, is Tara's forever crush and BMOC Hiro Nakahara (with cued Japanese heritage) really interested in Tara? Or will quiet, shy, and clever Desmond Flynn, a white boy with blue eyes and freckles, be the one with whom Tara initiates a brief kiss? The book is heavy on teen tropes, from texting and emojis to eye rolls and air quotes. Characters, however, both primary and secondary, are not well-fleshed-out, parts of the book are repetitive, and the story on the whole is not memorable.Only for those readers who care more about romance and the gimmick than plot and character. (Interactive fiction. 10-12)

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May 1, 2018

Gr 4-7-Tara is excited about auditions for the community theater's production of The Wizard of Oz until a different kind of drama erupts with her family's bakery. A celebrated Bollywood star has requested a tasting for her upcoming wedding at the same time as the audition. Tara, who is Indian American, is torn over whether she should go to the audition or help her parents. As part of the "Yes No Maybe So" series, which is similar in concept to "Choose Your Own Adventure," readers make choices throughout the story, which follow Tara getting the starring role, a secondary role, special attention from the Bollywood star, attending the wedding reception, or going to the movies with her crush. Words relating to Tara's Indian culture are randomly italicized, which can pull readers out of the narrative. Tween speak is prevalent, but not artificially inserted. Although there's not much drama or tension, the fun of flipping through the book to choose different paths will engage readers. VERDICT Recommended for larger collections in which interactive books and light tween realism are popular.-Jennifer Schultz, Fauquier County Public Library, Warrenton, VA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2018
Grades 3-5 In this cute Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-�style book, readers get to guide the path of Tara Singh, a young actress who hopes to be on Broadway someday. She's also obsessed with Bollywood, and she helps her family out at their Indian sweets shop. Besides the usual middle-school preoccupations with potential romance, Tara (or in this case, the reader) has to decide between attending auditions for a local community theater production of The Wizard of Oz with a dreamy boy in drama club or helping her parents prepare to impress a Bollywood actress for her wedding. There's another cute boy in that situation, natch. This book nicely satisfies the what-if itch and is also ideal for those who like alternate endings and aren't married to a single interpretation of a story. Readers who dig it will rejoice to know that Tara's best friend Yael stars in Yael and the Party of the Year, released simultaneously.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)