Media Kit

Title: AMERICAN BETIYA (pronounced BET-ee-yah, a term of endearment  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: Interracial romance raises tough questions

Short Synopsis: Fans of Sandhya Menon, Jandy Nelson, and Erika Sanchez will identify with American Betiya, a 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 award-winning author of American Betiya, a YALSA Best Book of 2022, a SABA 2022 honor book, and is included in Cosmopolitan's "125 Best YA Novels of All Time." 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 shorelines of Lake Michigan, obsessing over her garden, watching old horror flicks, and roguishly knitting sweaters without their patterns. She hopes her stories will inspire teens to embrace their unique identities and inner badass despite societal pressures and expectations. She currently lives in Evanston, Illinois with her family.

Anuradha is hard at work on her next novel, Temporary Bodies (Knopf), which will be published summer of 2024. Follow her on Instagram for thoughts on art, books, family, and plants @anuradhadrajurkar.

You’re welcome to download these hi-res images for publicity purposes.

Cover Art: Saqiba Suleman
Cover design: Angela Carlino 

Photo credit: DeAnna Heidmann