Devarajan, Ananya. Kismat Connection. Inkyard Press, 2023. 978-1-335-45368-6 304 p. $18.99. Grades 9-12. 

Madhuri Iyer and Arjun Mehta have been friends all their lives. They know just about everything there is to know about each other, and now they’re facing their senior year together. Vedic astrological foretelling is Madhuri’s aunt’s strength, and in the first chapter, she foretells Arjun’s and Madhuri’s futures. For Arjun, “your hard work will be rewarded in the fields of education, athletics and love,” and for Madhuri, “expect mediocre grades, misunderstood emotions, and failed relationships.” The negative horoscope and the ‘family curse’ of women marrying the first man with whom they fall in love infuriates Madhuri, who has never met a challenge she hasn’t overcome. She devises a plan to foil kismat (fate) and the curse: dating the one person she’s sure she wouldn’t fall in love with: Arjun. Unknown to her, Arjun has been in love with her since they were 13. He agrees to her scheme, and Auntie Iyer’s predictions begin to come true: Arjun finds success in all he attempts whether scholastically, socially or athletically, while Madhuri faces trials and, worst of all, fails to gain acceptance at Stanford, her dream school. Meanwhile, Arjun faces a chronically absent mother who has placed her career above him since his father’s death, and Madhuri finds it difficult to reconcile her once-loved Indian heritage with the mockery of her American classmates. Madhuri’s being drawn to Arjun, but she’s determined to be the master of her own destiny, and that means ending their relationship. What will become of these two best friends?

THOUGHTS: Devarajan presents a fun romantic story with strong cultural roots and real relational problems for her characters.

Romance