Radha and Jai’s Recipe for Romance

Gr 9 Up–Radha is a gifted dancer of kathak, a North Indian classical dance form. Devoting her life to global kathak dance competitions, she is highly successful until the day she overhears other dancers claiming that her mother has had an affair with a judge and that Radha’s past wins were unfairly awarded. Radha immediately leaves the competition, destroying her reputation and relationship with her dance school. Upon moving to New Jersey with her newly divorced mother, Radha meets Jai, who is captain of the school’s Bollywood dance team and fiercely loyal to his family and willing to give up his dreams of med school for them. The two relatable high school seniors kindle a romance amid family drama, and along the way Radha finds herself and forges a relationship with her chef father through cooking. Mayuri Bhandari’s narration is lively and expressive, although at times some of her character’s voices seemed interchangeable. Bhandari skillfully conveys Radha’s struggles with anxiety. Neil Shah excels in the narrative portions of his sections, but his characters’ voices are soft-spoken and not differentiated well, except for the elderly school director, whom he performs splendidly.