Nina Soni: Sister Fixer can be used in a 3rd-5th grade classroom as an introduction to reading chapter books. This book is part of a series. This book could be used as a partner read where partners can read through the series together. This book tells the story of a sister bond and getting through things together. ( )

Nina is back, with another problem (or set of problems) that she hopes her list-making skills can fix! Her main problem is her little sister Kavita. She loves her, but does she HAVE to be so, well, weird? She sets out on a project to fix her, but a long, rainy weekend gives her another idea of a project to pass the time and at first it seems to be working well... but then disaster hits!

This is another delightful slice-of-life story in Nina's Indian-American family. Readers will be delighted to revisit her warm, caring family and sympathize with the irritation of dealing with an annoying younger sibling. Nina also deals with some cultural misunderstandings from the family of friends, and continues the ups and downs of friendships at school.

Parents will laugh hysterically when Nina turns her stomach yellow, while young readers will absolutely get the utter embarrassment when Kavita tells people about it! There are more projects to keep Nina busy (and in and out of trouble) including some beaver-related engineering, which brings in some science and math problems.

This is a bit under 200 pages and would be just right for 2nd to 4th grade readers who enjoy family stories with gentle humor. I have quite a few families who like this type of story, and it's great to have more diverse offerings for them!

Verdict: Add this to the most recent Ramona read-alikes, with plenty of humor and heart and recommend to readers who enjoy Stella Batts, Amelia Bedelia, and other similar chapter books.

ISBN: 9781682630549; Published April 2020 by Peachtree; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library