Media Kit

Title: AMERICAN BETIYA (pronounced BET-ee-yah, an endearment term for "daughter" in Hindi)

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Age group: 14 and up

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 about cross-cultural first love, immigrant family boundaries, and resistance against racism, patriarchy

Short Synopsis: Fans of Sandhya Menon, Jandy Nelson, and Erika Sanchez will identify with this powerful, award-winning story of a young artist's cross-cultural first love, her immigrant family's boundaries, and rising against stereotyping, racism, and patriarchy in places she least expects. 

Book Excerpt: Click Here

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers | Penguin Random House Sponsoring Rep: Kristin Schulz at kschulz@penguinrandomhouse.com

Publicist: Kris Kam at kkam@penguinrandomhouse.com

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 South Asian 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 hiking the shores of Lake Michigan with her family, obsessing over her garden, watching old horror flicks with her sons, eating too many baked yummies, 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 is her first novel. 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.

Cover Art: Saqiba Suleman
Cover design: Angela Carlino 

Photo credit: DeAnna Heidmann