Anuradha D. Rajurkar is the award-winning author of American Betiya (Knopf), named a Best Book by the American Library Association (YALSA), Bank Street, and many others, and is included as one of Cosmopolitan's 125 Best Young Adult Novels of All Time. Born and raised in the Chicago area to Indian immigrant parents, Anuradha earned two degrees from Northwestern University and for many years had the joy of being a public school teacher by day, writer by night. 

Nowadays, when she’s not writing or working her day job in academia, you can find Anuradha exploring the shores of Lake Michigan, reading by the fire, or roguishly knitting sweaters without their patterns. She hopes her stories will inspire teens to embrace their unique identities and inner north star. Anuradha is currently editing her second upcoming novel, a gothic thriller entitled Temporary Bodies (Knopf, 2026), along with short stories included in two anthologies Home Has No Borders (HarperTeen, 2025) and ONWARD: Climate Fiction to Ignite Hope & Spark Activism (Charlesbridge Press, Earth Day 2026). She currently lives in the Chicago area with her family, including its newest member: a sweet, highly opinionated rescue pup named Cleo.