Parents' Guide to

Pavi Sharma's Guide to Going Home

By Joly Herman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Wry story of foster kids looks at tough and tender truths.

Book Bridget Farr Coming of Age 2019
Pavi Sharma's Guide to Going Home Poster Image

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What's the Story?

In PAVI SHARMA'S GUIDE TO GOING HOME, teacher Bridget Farr's debut novel, Pavi has a side hustle advising fellow foster kids on how to get the best out of foster care. She tells them to practice their "Front Door Face," which is the first impression their future foster parents will have of them. She bribes a case worker for information with Snickers bars at the shelter where kids stay before they're placed with families. Then she researches the families, consulting with the kids about the best way to get in good with the families, or else what to watch out for with the less-than-optimal situations. When she sees a little girl about to be placed in a home where she had spent a horrible year, Pavi takes matters into her own hands, trying to prevent the child from experiencing the trauma she faced there. Plans are hatched, rules are bent, and truths twisted in an attempt to help a foster kid. But how far is too far?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This fast-paced and engrossing story features a main character who's had her share of hard knocks. Pavi Sharma's Guide to Going Home introduces a smart if jaded, clever if exhausted, hero who would rather build skills of self-reliance than be tossed about in the unknown seas of foster family life. She keeps her sad past at bay by helping kids navigate the foster care system. This very act, writing down detailed notes about each kid on her clipboard, doing internet searches about their placement families, getting paid in junk food and markers makes Pavi immediately likable and relatable. Who doesn't love a kid with a side hustle?

Though the other characters in the story aren't crafted with quite as much depth as Pavi, her big feelings of sadness, abandonment, and never truly fitting in feel universal enough to carry the book. The plot is engrossing and harrowing, but the adventure could have been detailed a little more to achieve the resolution that Pavi deserves. In this case, more would have been more.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about social media sensations Pavi Sharma's Guide to Going Home. Hamilton is done up in Goth make-up on Piper's YouTube channel and becomes an overnight sensation, then kids show up to school wearing the same make up the next day. How much do you think kids are influenced by social media influencers?

  • Even though Hamilton is unwilling to take off his shirt for the filming of a YouTube make-up demonstration, his friend pressures him into taking it off and being filmed. How do you think he should have reacted? Would you let yourself get pressured into doing something you didn't want to do on social media if it would make you popular?

  • Pavi's foster mom Marjorie has rules about using social media-- like getting a parent's approval before posting a picture or video online. Does this make sense for seventh graders? Why or why not?

Book Details

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