Books with author Mitali Perkins

Nominated for the National Book Award.Six starred reviewsSchool Library Journal's Best Book of the Year.Publisher's Weekly's Best Book of the Year.Horn Book Fanfare List.ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults.New York City Public Library's Notable 50 Best Book for Teens.South Asia Book Award Winner.Mississippi's Magnolia Award Winner.This elegant young adult novel captures the immigrant experience for one Indian-American family with humor and heart. Told in alternating teen voices across three generations, You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture--for better or worse. From a grandmother worried that her children are losing their Indian identity to a daughter wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair to a granddaughter social-activist fighting to preserve Bengali tigers, award-winning author Mitali Perkins weaves together the threads of a family growing into an American identity. Here is a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new.

"One of the new tiger cubs has escaped from the reserve!"When a tiger cub escapes from a nature reserve near Neel's island village, the rangers and villagers hurry to find her before the cub's anxious mother follows suit and endangers them all. Mr. Gupta, a rich newcomer to the island, is also searching--he wants to sell the cub's body parts on the black market. Neel and his sister, Rupa, resolve to find the cub first and bring her back to the reserve where she belongs.The hunt for the cub interrupts Neel's preparations for an exam to win a prestigious scholarship at a boarding school far from home. Neel doesn't mind--he dreads the exam and would rather stay on his beloved island in the Sunderbans of West Bengal with his family and friends.But through his encounter with the cub, Neil learns that sometimes you have to take risks to preserve what you love. And sometimes you have to sacrifice the present for the chance to improve the future.Awards & Honors* Notable Books for a Global Society* NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction (Honorable Mention)* CBC-NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People* A Junior Library Guild Selection* CCBC Choices* North Dakota Library Association Flicker Tale Children's Book Award nominee, intermediate fiction* South Asia Book Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature

Junior Library Guild SelectionTop Ten ALA Best Fiction for Young AdultsStarred Reviews in PW and School Library JournalBook Page's Top Ten Middle Grace NovelBang! A side door bursts open.Soldiers pour into the room. They're shouting and waving rifles.I shield my head with my arms. It was a lie! I think, my mind racing.Girls and boys alike are screaming. The soldiers prod and herd some of us together and push the rest apart as if we're cows or goats.Their leader, though, is a middle-aged man. He's moving slowly, intently, not dashing around like the others. "Take the boys only, Win Min," I overhear him telling a tall, gangly soldier. "Make them obey."Chiko isn't a fighter by nature. He's a book-loving Burmese boy whose father, a doctor, is in prison for resisting the government. Tu Reh, on the other hand, wants to fight for freedom after watching Burmese soldiers destroy his Karenni family's home and bamboo fields. Timidity becomes courage and anger becomes compassion as each boy is changed by unlikely friendships formed under extreme circumstances.

Adapted for the stage by the Bay Area Children's Theater.Under development for the screen by Sleeperwave Films.Selected by the New York Public Library as one of the best 100 children's books of the past 100 years. Jane Addams Honor BookMaine Library Association Lupine Honor BookALA Amelia Bloomer Project Award BookBank Street Best Children's Books List (Starred)Boston Author's Club Highly Recommmended BookAssociation of Children's Booksellers Best Book

"... Simple prose belies complex themes around faith, service, personal identity, and trauma, and Perkins adroitly threads carefully balanced perspectives throughout the story and draws readers' attention to cultural bias ... This timely, realistic story filled with lots of heart yet devoid of a pat ending is sure to capture readers' interests and spark contemplative conversations around global issues and activism. A must-have for teen and new adult collections." ― School Library Journal, starred review "... [E]xpertly explores personal identity, faith, trauma and ethnocentrism, cleverly using a dual narrative to depict Kat's and Robin's individual points of view. Perkins also uses the teens' experience in Kolkata to highlight the way many view service when done in cultures other than their own. Forward Me Back to You respectfully tackles heavy issues with a poignant, honest and refreshing outlook. ―Shelf Awareness, starred review"...The third-person narrative perspective is as accessible as it is literary. Perkins, who was born in Kolkata, India, knows how to write fiction about serious issues such as trauma, healing, identity, cross-cultural service, and social justice. Her inclusive, diverse characters leap off the page with distinctiveness and relatability. Perkins also does superlative work in creating characters of faith who pray, attend church and enact Christian principles. While there is an element of romance, this novel is about character growth, friendship, loyalty, self-discovery, and global awareness ... Unique and refreshing, Forward Me Back to You should bring even more fans to Perkins's novels." ~ VOYA Magazine, starred reviewWinner of the South Asia Book AwardSchool Library Journal Best YA Book of the YearNominated for the American Library Association's Best Fiction for Young Adults listNominated for the Amelia Bloomer ListBarnes and Noble Most Anticipated YA

A Bank Street Best Book of the Year.Nominated for the Massachusetts Book Award.ALA Amelia Bloomer Book.IRA Notable Book for a Global Society.When her father loses his job and leaves India to look for work in America, Asha Gupta, her older sister, Reet, and their mother must wait with Baba's brother and his family, as well as their grandmother, in Calcutta. Uncle is welcoming, but in a country steeped in tradition, the three women must abide by his decisions. Asha knows this is temporary--just until Baba sends for them.But with scant savings and time passing, the tension builds: Ma, prone to spells of sadness, finds it hard to submit to her mother- and sister-in-law; Reet's beauty attracts unwanted marriage proposals; and Asha's promise to take care of Ma and Reet leads to impulsive behavior.What follows is a firestorm of rebuke--and secrets revealed! Asha's only solace is her rooftop hideaway, where she pours her heart out in her diary, and where she begins a clandestine friendship with Jay Sen, the boy next door. Asha can hardly believe that she, and not Reet, is the object of Jay's attention. Then news arrives about Baba . . . and Asha must make a choice that will change their lives forever.

Naima is a talented painter of traditional alpana patterns, which Bangladeshi women and girls paint on their houses for special celebrations. But Naima is not satisfied just painting alpana. She wants to help earn money for her family, like her best friend, Saleem, does for his family. When Naima's rash effort to help puts her family deeper in debt, she draws on her resourceful nature and her talents to bravely save the day. Includes a glossary of Bangla words and an author's note about a changing Bangladesh and microfinance. Selected by the New York Public Library as one of the best 100 books of the past 100 years.

Nominated for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature ★ Horn Book ★ School Library Journal ★ Publishers Weekly ★ Booklist ★ Shelf Awareness ★ VOYAFive girls. Three generations. One great American love story. You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture--for better or worse. Ranee, worried that her children are losing their Indian culture; Sonia, wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair; Tara, seeking the limelight to hide her true self; Shanti, desperately trying to make peace in the family; Anna, fighting to preserve Bengal tigers and her Bengali identity--award-winning author Mitali Perkins weaves together a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new.

A refugee and child soldier challenge the rules of war in this coming-of-age novel set against the political and military backdrop of modern-day Burma. Chiko isn’t a fighter by nature. He’s a book-loving Burmese boy whose father, a doctor, is in prison for resisting the government. Tu Reh, on the other hand, wants to fight for freedom after watching Burmese soldiers destroy his Karenni family’s home and bamboo fields. When Chiko is forced into the Burmese army and subsequently injured on a mission, the boys’ lives intersect. Timidity becomes courage and anger becomes compassion as both boys discover that everything is not as it seems. Mitali Perkins delivers a touching story about hopes, dreams, and the choices that define who we are.

Nominated for the National Book Award * Winner of the South Asia Book Award * Walter Award Honor for Teen Literature * PW Best Book of the Year * SLJ Best Book of the Year * Horn Book Fanfare List * Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year * NYPL Best Book of the Year * Boston Globe Best Book of the Year * ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults * Mississippi Magnolia Award * Six starred reviews: ★ Horn Book ★ School Library Journal ★ Publishers Weekly ★ Booklist ★ Shelf Awareness ★ VOYAFive girls. Three generations. One great American love story. You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship, and the inheritance of culture--for better or worse. Ranee, worried that her children are losing their Indian culture; Sonia, wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair; Tara, seeking the limelight to hide her true self; Shanti, desperately trying to make peace in the family; Anna, fighting to preserve her Bengali identity--award-winning author Mitali Perkins weaves together a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new."Perkins tells a nuanced, quintessentially American story. She affectionately traces four young women's interrelated yet distinct paths to determining their identities, and, later in the book, adds a fifth. Ranee, the Das family matriarch, has long lived according to Bengali tradition. In her 60s, she embarks on a process of discovery familiar to many immigrants who move to this country as adults: She reshapes herself from the blended clay of her native and adopted homes." -- Chicago Tribune

The award-winning author of You Bring the Distant Near explores identity, homecoming, and the legacy of assault in this personal and ambitious new novel. Katina King is the reigning teen jujitsu champion of Northern California, but she’s having trouble fighting off the secrets in her past.Robin Thornton was adopted from an orphanage in India and is reluctant to take on his future. If he can’t find his roots, how can he possibly plan ahead?Robin and Kat meet in the most unlikely of places―a summer service trip to Kolkata to work with survivors of human trafficking. As bonds build between the travelmates, Robin and Kat discover that justice and healing are tangled, like the pain of their pasts and the hope for their futures. You can’t rewind life; sometimes you just have to push play.In turns heart wrenching, beautiful, and buoyant, Mitali Perkins's Forward Me Back to You focuses its lens on the ripple effects of violence―across borders and generations―and how small acts of heroism can break the cycle.This title has Common Core connections.

Katina King is the reigning teen jiu-jitsu champion of Northern California, but she's having trouble fighting off the secrets in her past. Robin Thornton was adopted from an orphanage in Kolkata, India and is reluctant to take on his future. Since he knows nothing about his past, how is he supposed to figure out what comes next? Robin and Kat meet in the most unlikely of places ― a summer service trip to India to work with survivors of human trafficking. As bonds blossom between the travel-mates, Robin and Kat discover the healing superpowers of friendship.At turns heart-wrenching, beautiful, and buoyant, Mitali Perkins's new novel explores the ripple effects of violence ― across borders and generations ― and how small acts of heroism can break the cycle.