*No Purchase Necessary by Maria Marianayagam

The protagonist of No Purchase Necessary is a young man of Sri Lankan heritage faced with his first great moral challenge.

*No Purchase Necessary by Maria Marianayagam. Harper, 2025, 237 pages.

• Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12
• Recommended for: ages 8-14

It all started with the first mistake, week one at my new school – not surrendering my eraser to Jacob Underson. One thing led to another, and by week three I had stolen a million dollars. That was an accident . . . sort of.

Ajay (pronounced Ah-jay) Anthonipillai is at a new school because his father (Appi) has enrolled at the university to get an engineering degree. Appi already earned an engineering degree in his native Sri Lanka, but employers in the States don’t recognize it, so after years of working in menial jobs he’s finally in a position to focus on school. That means the family is living in a shabby two-bedroom apartment on a skimpy budget. Also that Ajay and his sister Aarthi have to start from scratch at new school and with new teachers. New friends would be nice too, but to the parents, grades are much more important: so important that when Ajay scores a 79 on his first English paper, he tells them it was 90. His first lie.

The million dollars enter the picture when the abovementioned Jacob Underson dares Ajay to steal a candy bar from the nearby convenience store. His first theft, but as it happens, the candy manufacturer is running a million-dollar anniversary promotion, and that stolen bar is the grand prize winner. Stealing is a sin, but might it be God’s will that he claim the money and relieve pressure on his family? While deciding what to do, Ajay is forced to tell further lies – or rather, finds each lie easier to tell. But the cost is alienating his sister and jeopardizing a budding friendship with a girl he’s beginning to like. A lot.

Ajay’s parents will seem impossibly strict to most American readers, but many of their rules are culturally derived and it’s clear they want the best future for their children. Ajay’s anxiety is understandable, but he’s basically a likeable kid in a quandary most middle schoolers can relate to, even if they’ve never had a potential million to dispose of. His family are devoutly Catholic and frequent scripture references provide a moral framework for the story – a rare and refreshing reminder that God has provided the standard, as well as a means of forgiveness when we fail to live up to it.

Considerations: none

Bottom Line: An engaging story that will make readers think about their own response to similar circumstances.

*indicates a starred review, the best of the best

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Reviews: The Picasso Curse features another protagonist with a potential million-dollar property, and a quandary not necessarily moral.
• Reviews: A few of us can win the lottery; most of us earn money by working for it. See our roundup of books that are Talking about Money, as well as The Survival Guide to Money Smarts and The Money-Smart Family System.
• Reviews: More books that look at lying and its morality: Code of Silence and How to Tell a True Story.

You may purchase No Purchase Necessary from Amazon.