Gita Desai Is Not Here to Shut Up
Written by Sonia Patel
It’s eighteen-year-old Gita Desai’s first year at Stanford, and the fact that she’s here and not already married off by her traditional Gujarati parents is a miracle. She’s determined to death-grip her good-girl, model student rep all the way to med school, which means no social life or standing out in any way. Should be easy: If there’s one thing she’s learned from her family, it’s how to chup-re—to “shut up,” fade into the background.
But when childhood memories of her aunt’s desertion and her then-uncle’s best friend resurface, Gita ends up ditching the books night after night in favor of partying and hooking up with strangers. Still, nothing can stop the little voice growing louder and louder inside her that says something is wrong. . .And the only way she can burst forward is to stop shutting up about the past.
Primary ISBN: 9780593463185
Publication Date: September 2024
Available As: Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook, eBook
Young Adult, Age 14 or older
Community Represented: Indian/Indian American
Themes: Cross-Group Dating, Cross-Group Friendship, Discrimination: Gender and Sexual, Family Relationship: Extended, Family Relationship: Siblings, Format: Audiobook, Generation: 1st, Generational Differences, Identity: Body Image, LGBTQIA+, Loss of Childhood, Mental Health, Multilingual: Gujarati Featured Words, Own Voices/Lived Experience, Trauma & Healing, Trauma & Healing: Physical Assault, Trauma & Healing: Sexual Assault, Trauma & Recovery: Substance Use
Setting: United States (California)
Character's Place in the Immigration Journey: 1st Generation
Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience
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Source: soniapatel.net