Hari Kumar, Ultimate Superstar (Hari Kumar, Book 1) Rashmi Sirdeshpande 9780008738198

Meet HARI KUMAR, superstar-in-the-making, in this laugh-out-loud doodle-packed diary series for 8+ readers.

Hari Kumar: 10 years old, 75% Indian, 25% French, and 100% going to be a superstar. All Hari needs to make it big is a lucky break - a chance to get his name out there. And when that arrives in the form of a film festival competition at school, it's Hari's chance to shine.

But life isn't always like the movies. The new kid Hari thought would be his sidekick turns out to have the makings of a true villain, the crack team he's assembled have minds of their own, and censorship (in the form of the Deputy Head Teacher) is looming. Can Hari keep things together and pull off an epic comeback, or will his film-making debut be cancelled before it's even released...?

Packed full of friendship, doodles and draaaaama, this series is perfect for fans of TOM GATES and LOKI!

Rashmi Sirdeshpande is an autistic ADHDer and British Indian children's author and an advocate for underrepresented voices in children's publishing. A former World Book Day author and BookTrust Writer-in-Residence, Rashmi has won a number of awards, including the Diverse Book Awards (for Dadaji's Paintbrush, illustrated by Ruchi Mhasane) and the Society of Authors Queen's Knickers Award, which celebrates "outstanding" picture books (for Never Show a T-Rex a Book, illustrated by Diane Ewen). Her factual book Good News (illustrated by Adam Hayes) was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards and her latest, Amazing Asia (illustrated by Jason Lyon), has been shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing awards.

'Pure chaotic comedy joy! Hari is brilliantly funny and so relatable. Filled with heart and humour and much needed representation with a neurodivergent South Asian main character whose personality just zings off the page' Serena Patel, author of Anisha, Accidental Detective

'Hari Kumar has big dreams of Bollywood in this fantastic fast-paced book for fans of Wimpy Kid. Mega fun and filled with nuggets from South Asian culture, Hari is the superstar we all need. What a zinger of a book!' Maisie Chan, author of Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths