Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Ila Isham has a lot to worry about – the angst of being an Ali Zafar groupie and the extra layers of fat she has inherited from her Punjabi lineage. Add to this separated parents,an enthusiastic best friend, Deepali, whose idea of variety means dating three guys at the same time and Aunty Maleeka, mom’s BFF, whose savvy skills throw up more problems than solutions.
Ila’s life takes an exciting turn when she decides to hunt for the perfect partner for her mother. With a little help from Deepali, Aunty Maleeka and Dev of the inviting chocolate-pool eyes, she’ll have to brave it all – from Lagaan.com and Ok-cupid profiles to handlebar-moustache colonels and middle-aged psychos, if she wants to succeed in her quest!
Author Reenita M. Hora’s YA novel Operation Mom presents the point of view of a Mumbai-based teenager who thinks her mother needs a new focus in her life besides herself.
Ila’s mom, Veena, is a successful freelance journalist and enjoys yoga. But as a traditional Hindi single mother, she is focused on Indian values and mores. Veena definitely doesn’t approve of Ila’s obsession with a local pop star. In Ila’s eyes, her mother is obsessed with parenting and Ila’s future. The summer is just beginning, and Ila and her best friend, Deepali, decide to focus on a perfect summer project; to find her mom a date.
Underneath her irritation at her mother’s meddling, Ila really idolizes her mom. She unconsciously tries to please her mom and get her attention. Although living with her mom and an elderly house manager, Ila’s dad is still in the picture. She even seeks some advice from him and her mother’s best friend as she and Deepali create the plan for Operation Mom.
With little knowledge of online dating profiles, Ila must get assistance from one of Deepali’s rejected boyfriends. Dev enters the scene to create the profile and assist the girls in finding background on each potential online match. Matchmaking proves more difficult than any of them suspected, but along the way, it creates circumstances to allow Ila to shift her own obsession from the out-of-reach pop star to Dev.
The plot of the book is clever, and the author inserts humor that could be enjoyed by teenagers and mothers alike. However, I feel that readers rooted in Indian culture will understand Hora’s writing more than I could. As I began reading, I felt fairly confident of my ability to understand the storyline as I work and socialize with many who proudly share this culture with me. Yet, the book included a plethora of pop culture, food names, places, and general colloquialisms that precluded me from visualizing what was really happening in too many scenes.
Operation Mom establishes a storyline filled with Indian culture that shows the discord between teenage girls and mothers. In spite of that, her characters show their true devotion and go to great lengths to help each other find happiness. 
Reenita is a founder, executive-level content, operations & marketing leader, and prolific writer. With multiple years of experience in media, entertainment, communications, tech/innovation and wellness industries in the USA and Asia, she grows organizations, ranging from early stage startups through mid-size businesses, through storytelling, creative marketing and business strategy. Reenita has written seven books – five non fiction and two fiction. She is the writer, anchor and executive producer of Shadow Realm and True Fiction Project podcasts and founder of the Chapter by episode fiction app. She has contributed to The Hindu, South China Morning Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNN, Asian Investor, Times of India and National Geographic Kids, Cartoon Network Asia, Disney and more.
