Indian American Dini and her best friend, Maddie, are two heartbroken eleven-year-olds after learning Dini’s family is moving to India for two years after her mother receives a medical grant to work in the village of Swampnagiri. There’s only one bright spot: Dini and Maddie are huge fans of Dolly Singh, star of their favorite Bollywood movies. Dini thinks she can track Dolly down and meet her, despite Bombay (as all the filmi people call Mumbai) being far from Swampnagiri. Uma Krishnaswami’s lighthearted escapade is plotted like a Bollywood film, meaning the many obstacles that would seem to stand between Dini and Dolly will surely be overcome. There’s plenty of coincidence fueling their eventual encounter in a story that not only follows Dini’s life in India and her ongoing connection with Maddie via email, but also peeks in on the lives of Dolly and a variety of other characters who all have a role to play in Dini and Dolly’s meeting. An over-the-top, movielike happy ending with all the characters’ assorted problems clearing up simultaneously is simply part of the charm of this funny and original novel. (Ages 8–11)