Nina Soni

For-mer means once-upon-a-time. Nina tried as hard as she could to keep track of everything, but somehow she still forgot about her school project. And her friend Jay is mad at her. With littlesister Kavita's birthday party right around the corner, and her longtime friendship with Jay on the rocks, there's a lot going on. Fortunately, a class lesson about Alexander Fleming suggests how she might make a great discovery-and thus a great project! But even with the help of family and friends, and her trusty notebook full of lists, will she be able to get it all done?

Em-bar-rass-ment means something you do or say that makes you wish you were someone else. Nina Soni is a problem solver-and her latest problem is her little sister Kavita, who is a real embarrassment. Not only does Kavita sing too much, she often gets the lyrics wrong or, even worse, makes up ridiculous songs. What Nina needs is a project-a plan to fix her sister. But one project isn't really enough, especially during a long rainy school break. Nina is restless. A pile of dirt in the neighbor's yard is a temptation she can't resist-a project for Nina, a distraction for Kavita, and something to do to pass the time. Soon, Nina has more to worry about than Kavita's singing. Can she fix Kavita and her own mistake before it's too late?

Im-pres-sive means something that makes you go "Wow!" It's Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, and Nina, Kavita, and Jay are all going to create gardens with Mom, a landscape architect. Naturally that's not enough for Nina, who quickly develops big ideas for an impressive business selling the vegetables she plans to grow. But her plans don't include managing the problems that inevitably arise, including rabbits, slugs, mosquitos, and more.

Ex-traor-di-nary means something extra is thrown in, so it's way more than ordinary. Halloween brings out Nina Soni's competitive spirit. Jay has a great costume planned, so she has to come up with an extraordinary idea. A bunch of old boxes in the basement inspires her to work with Kavita to create an impressively scary haunted house, for which she can charge admission. What could possibly go wrong for the Halloween Queen?

A long weekend with lots of snow sounds like a recipe for super-special fun to Nina, especially with new friends Priya and Nayan visiting. They've just moved to Wisconsin from Florida, so Nina is prepared to introduce them to lots of winter activities: snowball fights, snow angels-and maybe even a snow fort! And then Nina notices a strange car at her neighbors' house while they're out of town. Clearly, it's time to be a Snow Spy and identify MP (Mystery Person). I-den-ti-fy means to find out who the person, plant, animal, or thing really is.

When Nina Soni hears that her grandmother and cousin are going to visit from India, she can't wait to be the perfect hostess. She's got all sorts of lists and plans and she's prepared to be very mature; she'll even move into Kavita's room and let Dadi and Montu have hers. It will be fun to introduce Dadi and Montu to her life and friends, and Nina is determined to control every detail to ensure a successful visit. Not surprisingly, things don't go exactly as she planned. When Montu, who is younger than Nina, turns out to be more accomplished and confident than she expected, she isn't sure how to feel. And that makes her feel unsettled. Un-set-tled means feeling like a lake on a windy day. Not calm and smooth.