When I learned that Divya Anand had a new book out, I knew I had to read it. I loved Misfit Madhu. I’ve read it with my book club twice, and the children enjoyed it each time!
Agalya in the Spotlight is just as breezy a read. I was invested in the characters from the very beginning. How could I not be when in the first chapter itself there’s a character called Varsha who loves dancing? Varsha makes no further appearance in the story, but the other characters more than make up.
When class V A is to stage Rapunzel, Agalya is delighted. She loves the story, or more specifically, the movie Tangled. She’s determined to get the lead role, and she thinks the competition between her best friend and her will be simple, friendly rivalry.
When she gets the role at the cost of her friendship, however, things start tumbling downhill. She must find courage within herself to keep going, especially as, soon enough, her friend-turned-bully Prisha no longer feels like the biggest problem she must contend with.
Agalya in the Spotlight is a story about losing friends and finding better ones. The end of the book was a little too didactic for me, but it took little away from a story about love, which finds its way to us in the most unexpected ways. A quick read that’s perfectly illustrated, I am sure I will introduce Agalya to my book club soon!
| Title | Agalya in the Spotlight |
| Author Illustrator | Divya Anand Indrani Ghosh |
| Tags | Early Middle Grade, Friendship, School Story |
| Ages | 9+ |
| Rating (out of 5) | 4 |
Leave a Reply