American Betiya
Written by Anuradha Rajurkar
Published by Random House Children's Books
Rani Kelkar has never lied to her parents, until she meets Oliver. The same qualities that draw her in—his tattoos, his charisma, his passion for art—make him her mother’s worst nightmare.
They begin dating in secret, but when Oliver’s troubled home life unravels, he starts to ask more of Rani than she knows how to give, desperately trying to fit into her world, no matter how high the cost. When a twist of fate leads Rani from Evanston, Illinois to Pune, India for a summer, she has a reckoning with herself—and what’s really brewing beneath the surface of her first love.
Winner of SCBWI’s Emerging Voices award, Anuradha D. Rajurkar takes an honest look at the ways cultures can clash in an interracial relationship. Braiding together themes of sexuality, artistic expression, and appropriation, she gives voice to a girl claiming ownership of her identity, one shattered stereotype at a time.
Primary ISBN: 9781984897152
Publication Date: March 2021
Available As: Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook, eBook
Young Adult, Age 12 or older
Community Represented: Indian/Indian American
Themes: Cross-Group Dating, Family Relationship: Parents, Generational Differences: Dating, Non-English Book: Spanish, The Arts
Setting: United States, India
Character’s New Arrival/New American Status: Unknown Arrival
Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience
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