High school junior Twinkle Mehra’s ultimate dream is to become a great filmmaker. She also wants to leave behind the social stratum she’s dubbed “the groundlings” and carve out a place among the “silk hats,” where her former best friend, Maddie, and Twinkle’s longtime crush, Neil, are counted as members. When Neil’s geeky twin brother, Sahil, offers to help Twinkle shoot a film for the annual arts festival, she jumps at the chance. Sahil’s kindness, love of film and respect for Twinkle’s art soon have her falling hard. But Twinkle’s goals thus far—making films, regaining Maddie’s friendship and winning Neil’s heart—have become so entwined that it’s hard for her to make room for a new goal and new possibilities with Sahil. Twinkle speaks out through her films, but is she seeing the world around her for what it truly is, or has her perspective become warped by long-held assumptions?
In her second novel, Sandhya Menon (When Dimple Met Rishi) gives readers a spunky, smart but sometimes misguided heroine, a delightful romantic hero, a strong cast of secondary characters and a window into the world of amateur filmmaking. Narrated through Twinkle’s letters to her favorite female directors, From Twinkle, with Love will both resonate with creative young people and remind them to balance their search for art and truth with respect and empathy.
This article was originally published in the June 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.
