HarperCollins
978-1-4434-7261-6
256 pp.
Ages 9-12
January 2025
Ajay Anthonipillai and his parents and sister Aarthi recently moved to Bridge Creek to be closer to some family and save money. It's now a three-hour commute for Appa to the city where he is studying for his master's in civil engineering, but the Tamil Sri Lankan family understands the sacrifices that must be made to succeed. While understanding that money is tight and that his parents have very high expectations for him, Ajay really wants to fit in. And so, when taunted by alpha classmate Jacob Underson to steal a Mercury chocolate bar in Scary Al's convenience store, Ajay does it. This one mistake changes everything for Ajay.
Jacob refuses the chocolate bar since Ajay hid it in his pants, so Ajay eats the chocolate himself. "It tasted like bliss and guilt." (pg. 25) But there's more than candy in the package. There's also the message on the wrapper that tells him he's won Mercury's $1 million Grand Prize. He knows all the good that money would do his family, including helping his aunt's family in Sri Lanka but Ajay knows he doesn't deserve it. In fact, if he hadn't taken it, his classmate Mindy Yu would've won it, grabbing the next bar after him.
What to do? He has learned much from karate about integrity and respect, as he had from attending Catholic Church with Father Freddie, so Ajay is torn about what to do. Return the wrapper to Scary Al? Give it to Mindy? Confess to his parents? Cash in the ticket? Even as Ajay vacillates between all his options–not unlike Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" for an assignment with which Ajay is struggling–he ends up working for Scary Al at the store, becoming friendly with Mindy who helps him with his English assignment, and fighting and then collaborating with his tormentor Jacob.
But lies have a life of their own. Some lies beget other lies. Or the lies morph into something completely different. And they can always be exposed. Whether it's because someone lets something slip or the liar is overcome with guilt or because the truth was known all along, lies do unravel, and for Ajay, it's just a question of when and how, not if.
Maria Marianayagam, herself a Sri Lankan-Canadian, undoubtedly drew from her own cultural experiences to give life to Ajay and his family. The high regard for education and family and hard work are evident, all solid foundations for Ajay and Aarthi. But these same values are challenged when they intersect with the culture of their new home, in which kids defend themselves when bullied, do extracurricular activities, and try to fit in with their peers. The balancing act of being different people, one at home and both a peer and your parents' child at school is a precarious one and one that challenges Ajay. Maria Marianayagam does not make Ajay a perfect kid who handles it all. She makes him real, struggling with himself and others, trying to do what's right though it might make life harder, and wishing for a break occasionally to just be himself. When Ajay and Aarthi can finally unmask themselves to their parents, it's both refreshing for all and illuminating.
Winning a million dollars seems like a dream but for Ajay it becomes a nightmare of conflict between honour and want. Thankfully, the rules of his family and those of the dojo and his faith help guide him to make the best choice and ultimately to enrich his life in unforeseen ways.