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Summary: No Purchase Necessary

When Sri Lankan 8th grader Ajay discovers that the chocolate bar he was pressured into stealing bears a million-dollar prize, he’s in an ethical dilemma. As he tries to find his way around the problem, Ajay finds himself entangled in a stressful but often hilarious web of lies between his strict immigrant parents, his precocious little sister, and the best friend he kind of likes, Mindy.

The Good

I enjoyed Ajay’s story so much! Although on the surface, it’s about peer pressure, making mistakes, and trying to fix those mistakes, this story is really about Ajay and his immigrant parents and their expectations. Ajay is a high-performing student doing well in all his school subjects except, ELA (which he’s far from failing but not perfect at) and we see his parents’ response to that — a response that all children of immigrant parents, who want the best (literally) from and for their kids, can relate to.

This is one of those stories that combines humor seamlessly with serious issues as Ajay learns to better communicate with his parents, stands up to a peer pressure at school, and works hard to straighten out his web of lies, all the while encountering funny situations that maintain levity within the story.

Readers looking for books that reflect the protagonist’s faith will love seeing Ajay’s connection to his faith as a Catholic. I also loved his relationship with his sister and learning more about Sri Lankan culture and the struggles that immigrants face while assimilating into a new country. Finally, Ajay forms a warm inter-generational friendship with the owner of the store where he steals the chocolate bar, so if you enjoy seeing inter-generational relationships, you’ll enjoy this one.

Content Notes

Here are some specifics to know about the content.

Content Warnings

• Death: None on the page
• Alcohol/substance abuse: None
• Sexual content: None
• Violence: Two boys fight at school
• Religious content: References to the bible and several bible verses and parables, Ajay’s family is Catholic and he does confession, they go to mass regularly.
• Language: None

Diversity

• Ethnic: Ajay and his family are Tamil
• Sexual orientation: None

Recommended for ages: 10+

Good for kids who like:

• Web-of-lies stories
• Coming-of-age tales
• Stand Up, Yumi Chung by Jessica Kim
• Stories about immigrant families assimilating
• Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Publisher Details

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