This middle-grade book is a jumbo-sized metaphor to teach younger readers about the benefits of expressing their feelings instead of bottling them up.

Sonali has always loved her Bollywood movie nights with family, but she herself couldn't be further from the singing, dancing, overacting, emotional expression of the movies. Tension and fighting between her parents has wounded her so deeply over the years that she thinks the only way to cope is not to feel. Then her family starts to split up for real.

In a fantastical, magical twist, suddenly Sonali's world is turned into a Bollywood extravaganza, where everyone has their own soundtrack and everyone sings or dances their feelings at the drop of a hat. Including Sonali herself. She's horrified at the way her feelings are starting to escape her. The longer it goes on, the more Bollywood her life becomes. Will she ever get out of this absurdity? The only hope is if she can learn to genuinely speak her feelings to the people around her.

The message is a truly worthy one, and I really liked the discussion that Sonali finally has with her best friend Zara about how friends aren't mind readers and that they have to tell each other what they're feeling.
But the device of a magically-Bollywood-infused world goes on rather too long and could have been more effective in a somewhat shorter book. Also, different readers may have different reactions to the supposedly inevitable split-up of Sonali's family, which to me was the most regrettable part of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for this advance review copy. ( )

Cute story that explains a lot about Bollywood, but the main character takes a little too long to even start to learn what she needs to. ( )

I have a soft spot for Bollywood and was thrilled to get my hands on this ARC, hoping that it would hold all the magic and fun of the productions. This book not only does that but so much more.

There's one big rule in Sonali's family—never give outsiders a reason to gossip and embarrass the family. In other words, keep your mouth shut about personal issues. This works fine, normally, but with her parents' increasing fights and sudden pause from each other, Sonali's walls are needing extra fortification. Add that her best friend seems to have found a new friend she likes more...plus, her falling grades...and well, it's a bit much. But she can take it. Unfortunately, as she learns to hold it all back, strange things start happening...things no one else notices. But could her world really be turning into a musical, Bollywood reality?

There are several tough themes in this book, ones very fitting for the age group. While facing parents' separation and divorce is a common issue, this one also addresses the problem of changing friend groups and learning to stand up for what you really think. Sonali has a lot on her plate, but the problems are ones many readers will identify with.

I love Sonali's glow. I'm just going to call it that because her personality...even when she's bottling things up...is really a shining one. She's a positive person, who cares very much about those around her. She loves fun and joy and happiness, and is silly in her own way. Those around her are also very supportive people, but even when there is a lot of positivity, it doesn't mean it always radiates through everything or makes life perfect. But it's this glistening inner part of Sonali, which allows the magical elements to hold the perfect fairy tale atmosphere and Bollywood to come across as if it naturally should be there. The mix of magic and reality is simple well done. Plus, the addition of some of India's culture was nice.

There is a lot going on in these pages thanks to the various issues, and that did mean a little less depth for some of the side characters. There were a couple, I would have loved to get to know a little better. The ending also hit a little off. At first, I thought it might be too quick, but this really isn't the case. It rounds of nicely and wraps things up well. But the main message of the book warped slightly. While Sonali learns her lesson and has a chance to correct her mistakes, one of her parents happens to have the exact same trouble that she does. While this mistake is admitted at the end, it's treated as if its too late and while admitted, the parents doesn't even think of trying to find a way to make amends. It reflects the reality of such situations and, of course, has it's own important meaning, but it cheapened the overall lesson for me.

But this was an awesome read, and I have no doubt any middle graders who know anything about Bollywood will enjoy it. ( )