Studyplans

Dini has made the long trip from India to visit her friend, Maddie, in Washington, D.C. and is excited to find the Dolly Singh, a famous Bollywood actress who Dini knows from her small town in India, is going to be at the Smithsonian for the grand opening of her latest movie.  Dini, Maddie, and their new friend Brenna are invited to dance at the opening.  However, before that can happen Dini and her friends need to solve many problems for Dolly involving a lost passport, an elephant, a caterer who backs out at the last minute to provide food for the Easter Egg Roll at the White House, a hotel cook and his staff, a broken toe, and other disasters.  Dini keeps her wits about her during it all and in the end everthing turns out very well. 
Because this book is based in Washington, D.C., it would be an interesting book for middle school aged children to read before, during or after a trip there.  They could recognize some of the places where Dini went, such as Union Station, the zoo, airport, metro, taxis, and street names.