You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins
Published by: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux (BYR)
Publication Date: September 12th 2017
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Pages: 256 pages
Click on image for Goodreads
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, 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.
I’ve always had a weakness for stories that follow multi-generations of family, specifically women. Also, Indian culture…there was a time a few years back that I only wanted to read books that were set in India or were written about Indian culture. There’s always been a pull for me whether its because of its beauty, traditions, and richness in culture I’m sure it’s for all of these reasons and more. I’ve never come across a Young Adult book that explores Indian-American teens and the family dynamics with the older generation in their family. To say that I’m excited for this one is an understatement. This may just be one of my top fave’s if it delivers. This is also a Own Voice read which is one of my goals for 2017, to read more books by Own Voice authors. Its so exciting to see the diverse books rolling out for 2017, the tides are changing. There’s still a long road ahead for the normalization of diversity in our literature but I’m optimistic on seeing this change stronger than ever in 2017. Last but not least my lovelies, THAT cover left me speechless when I first came across it on Goodreads. Simply STUNNING, can’t wait to own a copy 🙂
Mitali Perkins was born in Kolkata, India, and immigrated to the States when she was seven years old. She’s written several books for young readers, including BAMBOO PEOPLE, RICKSHAW GIRL, MONSOON SUMMER, and SECRET KEEPER. She is also the editor of an anthology: OPEN MIC: RIFFS BETWEEN CULTURES IN TEN VOICES. Mitali maintains a website (mitaliperkins.com) and blog (mitaliblog.com) where she chats about books between cultures. Follow her at twitter.com/mitaliperkins.
What are you wonderful Bookish Peeps waiting on this Wednesday? Are any of you planning on reading You bring The Distant Near? If your WOW is a Diverse Read, please drop that link down below & I will make my way over ❤ ❤ ❤
LairOfBooks 
This sounds wonderful Lilly!! Thanks for sharing. Definitely adding to my TBR. This one is going to be quite an emotional read with all the different aspects of the women going on. That cover is *heart eye emoji*
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Thank you Gretchen! I agree, it sounds like an emotional journey, I’m so ready for it! The cover is GORGE! 😃💕
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You’re very welcome! Saw that it’s a short book which may be a major plus =)
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Yes, I need shorter books in my life but tbh I don’t mind lengthier books when it comes to faves. I’m hoping this one is satisfying:)
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I know exactly what you mean!!
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Have you reached out to try and snag an ARC, because I think you should. I agree with Gretchen that this sounds fantastic. This is the type of read that I would love to see you review. And yes that cover ❤
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Hey Danielle, it’s not up just yet on Edelweiss but I’m keeping my eyes open for this one. Thank you, I would love it if I can get an arc to read and review her on the blog 😃💕
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I’ve never heard of this book before, but the cover is gorgeous and the synopsis has me interested! Thanks for putting this book on my radar, and I hope you love it when you read it 😀
Brittany @ Brittany’s Book Rambles
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Awesome! thank you 🙂
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This book looks great! I will definitely plan to read it, thanks for posting this 🙂
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Thank you for stopping by 😃💕
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This sounds like a great book Lilly, and it’s one I’ll definitely be adding to my to-read list as well. I love stories that focus on more than one time like this, be it in a family across generations or just random people living in different periods of history. It’s always interesting seeing the ways all the individuals stories connect in the end.
Great pick for this week! 😀
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I agree Beth, these types of stories make for some of the most interesting to read. Thank you 😃💕
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Hopefully this one is as good as we both think it will be then.
And that’s all right. 🙂
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🤞🏼💕
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OOOOO thank you for bringing this one to my attention! I love multi-generational reads as well AND Indian culture also fascinated me, though I haven’t read many books that included Indian culture. I read Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran in 2016, which is not an #OwnVoices book HOWEVER I believe her husband is Indian and helped her with this book… Long story short I want to read more about Indian culture lol
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Awesome, glad I did! I love Indian culture, so rich 🙌🏼 I’m going to look into Rebel Queen, thank you for sharing 😃 I hope you enjoy this one when you get around to it, I’m really looking forward to its release 💕
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I hadn’t heard of this one before, but I’m in love with that cover and the premise sounds really interesting. I might have to add this one to my TBR. Thanks for sharing, Lilly! 😀
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Thank you for Azia! For stopping by, the cover is stunning 😃💕
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I haven’t heard this book before, so thank you for sharing your review! Like you, I’ve also been wanting to read more books about India/Indian culture and I enjoy multi-generation stories. I’m adding this to my TBR! 🙂
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Oh that’s awesome! Glad I could help & I hope you enjoy this one when you get around to it. Sounds promising 😃💕
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Thanks for sharing, Lilly! I hadn’t heard of this book yet, and I’ve been reading stories about Indian-American immigrations lately. But, they have all been adult books! I look forward to seeing this experience through the eyes of a young crowd.
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So Weird you ended up in my spam folder! that hasn’t happened in a while so I haven’t checked that folder but I really need to make it a habit to check in, sorry Jackie! I’m like a bear and these books are my honey LMAO! I can’t stay away from stories either set in India or Indian-American immigrants. I also have only read adult fiction stories so it will be refreshing to get a Young Adult perspective. YA in general has seen an increase in diverse books being announced this year & this makes my heart happy 😉
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It happens. Tsundoku is a word which weirds out the filters. If I had known that in the beginning, maybe I wouldn’t have chosen it…? NAH.
I completely agree about immigrant stories! They really attract me because they are so relevant and I feel like I just *don’t get* the immigrant plight. I need to read more to better understand it. And then? Then I can do something to help. 🙂
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Ok, this book sounds super familiar but I think I’m confusing it with another?? Idk, but I’m definitely adding it to my TBR now. Most of the books with Indian protagonists I’ve read are in the literary fiction genre, so I’d definitely like to read some YA!
Another book I desperately want is The Library Of Fates. The book is also sooo gorgeous. *drools forever*
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I was actually surprised to come across this one because I also have read books with Indian Protogs in Literary Fiction & not YA. It was an instant add for me. I seriously LOL’d just now reading your comment because I have The Library Of Fates scheduled as my WOW for next week. I am SOOOOOO happy to see all these amazing Diverse books start to make their way into YA. & yea I totally had heart eyes for both of these books… had to pick my jaw up when I saw Library Of Fates lol 🙂
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