Media/Press Kit
Title: AMERICAN BETIYA (pronounced BAY-tee-uh, meaning "daughter")
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Realistic Fiction
Blurb: "American Betiya is a heartfelt story about the complex and intimate relationship between culture and a young person trying to find their place in the world. I was immediately captivated by Rani’s unique voice, and her raw sincerity kept me hooked through every step of her journey. This book is overflowing with honesty, and stunningly beautiful.” – Akemi Dawn Bowman, award-winning author of Starfish and the upcoming The Infinity Courts series
Headline: Award-winning author writes a provocative tale about cross-cultural first love, immigrant families, and resistance against stereotyping, exoticization
Short Synopsis: Fans of Sandhya Menon, Jandy Nelson, and Erika Sanchez will identify with this award-winning provocative story of a young artist's cross-cultural first love, her immigrant family's boundaries, and her resistance against the stereotyping and exoticization she finds herself subjected to.
Book Excerpt (first line): "He's my mother's worst nightmare."
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House
Release date: March 9, 2021
Bio:
Anuradha D. Rajurkar is the national recipient of the SCBWI Emerging Voices Award for her contemporary debut novel, American Betiya. 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 reading, you can find Anuradha exploring the shores of Lake Michigan with her family, obsessing over her garden, watching either happy TV like Queer Eye or old horror flicks with her son, cooking Indian food, or roguishly knitting sweaters without their patterns. She hopes her stories will inspire teens to embrace their unique identities and inner badass despite outside pressures and cultural expectations. American Betiya releases on March 9, 2021 by Knopf Books for Young Readers/Penguin Random House.
You’re welcome to download these hi-res images for publicity purposes.
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Cover Art: Saqiba Suleman |
Photo credit: DeAnna Heidmann |
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