You Bring the Distant Near

A 2017 National Book Award Longlist Title with six starred reviews A School Library Journal's Best Books of 2017 A New York City Public Library's Notable 50 Best Books for Teens 2018 South Asia Book Award Winner 2018 White Ravens Award Winner A Louisiana Readers' Choice Award Nominee 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.

Perkins has written novels for young readers, including Rickshaw Girl (a NYPL Top 100 Book) and Bamboo People (an ALA Top 10 YA novel). Tiger Boy is a Junior Library Guild selection. Mitali was born in Kolkata, India, and has lived in Bangladesh, India, England, Thailand, Mexico, Cameroon, and Ghana.

She currently resides in San Francisco, where she is a lecturer at Saint Mary's College of California.