Today I’m thrilled to share a very fun and unique guest post by one of the characters from a recent favorite read of mine. As many of you know I adore middle grade novels, especially those featuring original storylines and standout characters. Well, The Problem With Being Slightly Heroic by Uma Krishnaswami is one that will standout in my mind for years to come. And today I’m excited that Maddie, Dini’s best friend and the main character of the story, is stopping by because I am a firm believer that you can’t get through life without at least one great best friend and Maddie is no exception. Enjoy what Maddie has to say and then stick around for a great giveaway below!

The Moon Gate Garden on Dolly’s Big Day
by Mapper Maddie

I have a confession: I can’t dance. Really. I mean, not really dance, the way Brenna can or Dini, or (gasp!) Dolly. And I’m not so great in the singing department either. Which I used to be embarrassed to say, because what kind of Dolly fan could admit failure like that?

But I can draw, and I am a mapper. I have a great sense of direction and I map everything, I mean everything. Since I was little, I’ve drawn maps of my room, my house, my neighborhood, the county, the woods behind my house, the sky, and more. And also of course regular map places like countries and continents. In second grade, I mapped the class ant farm and the poop patterns the birds left on the steps after they ate the cherries on the tree in the playground. Maps help me make sense of things that happen to me. You may want to try drawing one sometime.

When Dolly and everyone had gone back to India (you know, after the events in The Problem With Being Slightly Heroic, which I will refer to from here on as TPWBSH) and I was left to think about all of it, I decided the big scene needed a map. So here’s my map of the garden where stuff happens in TPWBSH. It’s the Moon Gate Garden at the Smithsonian Institution on the National Mall. Looks pretty, huh? Trust me. That evening, there was a point when things did not look so pretty. As Dini and I agreed afterwards, Dolly’s fabulous, sure. But she can mess up an event like nobody else can. Without even trying. Anyway, it’s all good now, so feel free to print the map out and keep it as a souvenir.

Uma Krishnaswami is the author of several books for children, including the first story featuring Dini, Maddie, and Dolly, The Grand Plan to Fix Everything. She is also on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Ms. Krishnaswami was born in New Delhi, India, and now lives in Aztec, New Mexico. To learn more, visit her website: http://www.umakrishnaswami.com/.

The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic by Uma Krishnaswami

Dini is back from India—with Bollywood star Dolly in tow! But life in the States isn’t all rose petal milk shakes…Dini and Maddie, very best friends, are back in the same country at the same time! Better still, Dolly Singh, the starriest star in all of Bollywood, is in America too. Dini’s only just returned from India, and already life is shaping up to be as delicious as a rose petal milk shake. Perfect. Then why can’t she untie the knot in her stomach? Because so much can go wrong when a big star like Dolly is in town. All Dini has to do is make sure Dolly has everything she needs, from a rose petal milk shake to her lost passport to…a parade? And an elephant?

Uh-oh… It’s time to think. What Would Dolly Do? If Dini can’t figure it out, Dolly might take matters into her own hands—and that will surely lead to the biggest mess of all!

Uma Krishnaswami has concocted a delicious sequel to her multiple star-reviewed The Grand Plan to Fix Everything, which Kirkus Reviews called “a delightful romp.”

Giveaway!

I have to give a huge thank you to the author, Uma Krishnaswami, for providing this fantastic guest post her as well as host a giveaway for one copy of The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic!
Be sure to enter using the rafflecopter form below and be aware that this one is for US residents only.

Follow the rest of the Blog Tour for The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic! The next stop is tomorrow at Once Upon a Story!

Find The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic by Uma Krishnaswami at the following spots:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Powell’s Books | Indiebound | Book Depository | Goodreads | ISBN-10/ISBN-13: 1442423307 / 9781442423305

Thank you so much to the publisher, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, and Blue Slip Media for providing a copy of this book for review! Connect with Atheneum Books for Young Readers on Twitter and on Facebook!

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Original article: Guest Post and Giveaway: The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic by Uma Krishnaswami

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