American Betiya - Outside of a Dog

pbk., 366 pages

Published March 1, 2021 by New York : Alfred A. Knopf, [2021].

ISBN:: 978-1-9848-9715-2

Rani Kelkar 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. When Oliver's troubled home life unravels, he starts to ask more of Rani than she knows how to give. 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. -- adapted from jacket

1 edition

Lindsay the Librarian reviewed American Betiya by Anuradha D. Rajurkar

Kinda Hot, Hella' Fierce

4 stars

What initially feels like the typical "scandalous" YA love story quickly unfolds into a dialogue about cultural identity and patriarchy. Rajurkar shows us how cultural microaggressions look and feel like through the eyes of Rani, an Indian-American experiencing first love. Emotionally messy and definitively fierce!