The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic

Written by Uma Krishnaswami
Illustrated by Abigail Halpin

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Dini, our young main character, is finally home from India and looking forward to spending time with her best friend Maddie. The book about her time there was called, The Grand Plan to Fix Everything. Now, in the sequel, she is back in America but still a huge fan of Dolly Singh, the big star of Bollywood in India. So she goes completely wild about helping arrange a trip and tour for Dolly in America. Who could imagine all the problems involved with a lost passport? An escaped elephant? Finding a good rose petal milk shake in an American hotel?

Dini is confused by all the changes that happened while she is away. Like her best friend, getting another best friend. How is that supposed to work? She is also confused by jet lag.

This is a fun story about girlfriends trying their best to get along and make a parade, a milk shake and a cake for their favorite movie star. They also work out a dance routine for her grand opening that uses flowing ribbons and swaying dance steps. It illustrates their background as East Asian Americans and the beautiful blend of cultures that they experience.

It would make a great book club or read aloud for third graders. The literacy skills strengthened include: humor, cause and effect, dialogue and the differences between things that are real and those that are fiction. As Dini finds out, life is not always like the movies.

  • Slightly HeroicTitle: The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic
  • Author: Uma Krishnaswami
  • Illustrator: Abigail Halpin
  • Publisher: Atheneum, 2013
  • Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
  • Format: Harcover, 274 pages
  • ISBN:  978-1-4424-2328-2
  • Genre: Realistic Fiction
  • Grade Level 3

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