Tara and the Friendship Theorem

Chitra Soundar's Tara and the Friendship Theorem is a warm, funny story for 10 year olds about a girl who's sure she can find a best friend using maths.

What happens

Tara's family are moving from Chennai to London for two years. That's 730 days, or 1,051,200 minutes, as Tara works out in her head. Numbers always follow the rules, and that's how she copes.

The worst part is leaving Farida. They've been best friends since they were babies and live next door to each other. On their last night Farida tells Tara she's allowed to make a new best friend in London. Tara says she absolutely WILL NOT.

On the plane she finds a maths book tucked in her bag by her grandmother (everyone calls her the Professor). The first chapter is called The Friendship Theorem.

Then, straight after landing, her parents send her off to a wilderness camp for four days while the house gets decorated. Fields, woods, yurts, a very barky beagle and no gadgets allowed. Her idea of a nightmare!

So Tara decides to treat friendship like a maths problem. She draws Venn diagrams on a whiteboard. She works out that the answer must be to make friends with the most popular girl, Chloe. And she doesn't quite notice that Millie, the juggler who keeps turning up beside her, might be worth a second look.

Isn't that exactly how it goes when you're trying too hard?

There's so much to enjoy. Tara's maths jokes are properly groan-worthy (and Millie tells her so). Her mum used to be a film star in India, which some of the campers find VERY interesting. The camp leader drops her in a clown act for the talent show, which is the last thing Tara wants.

The opening family scenes are lovely too. There's a farewell dinner eaten off banana leaves, a prayer for the journey in Tamil, and Tara's precious Pallanguzhi board, a game played with cowrie shells that she brought all the way from India.

The early chapters each open with a little number fact, so your reader picks up some maths along the way without noticing.

If your reader would rather solve a puzzle than climb a rock, they'll feel very understood here.

What to read next

If they'd like more from Chitra Soundar, try Mangoes, Mischief, and Tales of Friendship. Prince Veera and his best friend Suku, a farmer's son, spy on the king's court from a hidden gallery, convinced they could solve everyone's problems better.