You Bring the Distant Near

by Mitali Perkins Narrated by Sneha Mathan, Shivali Bhammer, Priya Ayyar, N'Jameh Camara, Zehra Jane Naqvi

Overview

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.


Full Cast:
Sneha Mathan, as Narrator
Shivali Bhammer, as Sonia
Priya Ayyar, as Tara
N'Jameh Camara, as Chantal
Zehra Jane Naqvi, as Anna

Editorial Reviews

OCTOBER 2017 - AudioFile

Five narrators represent the alternating voices of three generations of women from South Asia. A chime separates different characters, settings, situations, and time periods beginning in 1970s, when two sisters immigrate to America. Tara’s softness represents her artistic soul while Sonia’s tone is sharper, especially when it comes to her evolving activism. Both slip facilely into Indian accents as they shift between cultures, searching for their identities and acceptance. Both show tenderness for their supportive father, frustration with their traditional mother, Ranee, and caring for each other. Ranee speaks only briefly; her deep, rich voice hints at the depth locked within her. Later, different narrators portray Tara and Sonia’s daughters, who also struggle to understand their identities, their heritage, and their grandmother, Ranee, who is transformed by the 9/11 tragedy. S.W. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

★ 07/17/2017
Perkins (Bamboo People) delivers an unforgettable novel that spans decades and continents as it moves among three generations of Indian women, some new immigrants to the U.S., all struggling to bridge cultures. She begins in 1965 with sisters Sonia and Tara Das as they move from Ghana to London and then New York City, eager for new opportunities but very aware of the cultural expectations of their Bengali parents. The stories of Sonia’s romantic and political rebellion (she’s a devoted liberal and later marries a black man, sparking a rift with her mother) and Tara’s acting aspirations segue into those of Chantal and Anna, their daughters, as the novel jumps ahead to 1998. It’s a profound and moving story of personal growth—perhaps most dramatically in the case of Sonia and Tara’s mother, Ranee, whose dourness and preoccupation with tradition give way to a broader embrace of American culture as she takes to the role of grandmother. Perkins’s vibrantly written exploration of a family in transition is saturated with romance, humor, and meaningful reflections on patriotism, blended cultures, and carving one’s own path. Ages 12–up. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary. (Sept.)

From the Publisher

A 2017 National Book Award Longlist Title
A Junior Library Guild Selection
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
A Shelf Awareness 2017 Best Book of the Year
South Asia Book Award Winner
2018 White Ravens Award Winner
A Louisiana Readers' Choice Award Nominee

"Full of sisterhood, diversity, and complex, strong women, this book will speak to readers as they will undoubtedly find a kindred spirit in at least one of the Das women." —Booklist starred review

"... an unforgettable novel... Perkins’s vibrantly written exploration of a family in transition is saturated with romance, humor, and meaningful reflections on patriotism, blended cultures, and carving one’s own path." —Publishers Weekly starred review

"This stunning book about immigration and cultural assimilation is a must-purchase for teen and new adult collections." —School Library Journal starred review

"...an ambitious narrative that illuminates past and present, departure and reunion, women and family." —The Horn Book starred review

"...features inspiring South Asian girl and women protagonists grappling with love, faith, and culture, as well as the intersections among their personal, communal, and national histories...lushly drawn and emotionally resonant." —Kirkus

"The fully fleshed characters and complex family dynamics provide a vibrant background for exploration of multigenerational adaptation to a diverse America and of the familial and romantic love that nourishes their new roots." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"With wisdom and wit, You Bring the Distant Near illustrates the beauty in diversity. Perkins's striking imagery and deep, heartfelt insights illuminate the darkest corners of ignorance, providing a bright path to understanding and embracing differences in all their many splendors." —Shelf Awareness starred review

School Library Journal

★ 08/01/2017
Gr 9 Up—Related in the alternating voices of two sisters and their respective daughters, this work captures the unique and, at times, fraught experience of navigating multiple cultures. Perkins examines the delicate balance between meeting family expectations and attaining personal happiness, a common motif in immigrant narratives. The story opens in 1970s New York, where the Das family has immigrated from England in hopes of planting roots and finding acceptance. Desperate for the adolescent freedoms they lacked in London, the teens chafe against their mother Ranee's traditional Indian values. Older sister Tara (Starry) longs to be an actress, and budding feminist Sonia (Sunny) craves autonomy. The relationship between Sunny and Ranee is at the crux of the novel, representing the collision and ultimate blending of cultures. In the United States, Ranee struggles in vain to hold on to her "Indianness," not only for herself, but also for her children. While Starry follows through on her entertainment dreams in Bollywood, it's a slightly rougher path for Sunny. Perkins does not shy away from the complexities of race and culture with her realistic depiction of painful estrangement between mother and daughter when Sunny marries Lou, a black man. It is only through her connection to her granddaughters, Chantal and Anna that Ranee finds redemption and transformation. This novel underscores the importance creating a home no matter where you are in the world. VERDICT This stunning book about immigration and cultural assimilation is a must-purchase for teen and new adult collections.—Lalitha Nataraj, Escondido Public Library, CA

Kirkus Reviews

2017-08-02
Perkins' latest, inspired by the author's own experience as the youngest of three sisters who arrived in the United States in the 1970s, is told in alternating voices across three generations. This saga tells the intertwined stories of Ranee Das, the matriarch, who uproots her family from Ghana (and then the United Kingdom) to find fortune in the United States; Sonia and Tara, her daughters, who struggle with identity and acceptance; and Anna and Chantal, Ranee's granddaughters, who fight injustices at home and in their communities. As in the author's other books, this novel features inspiring South Asian girl and women protagonists grappling with love, faith, and culture, as well as the intersections among their personal, communal, and national histories. The chapters from Ranee's point of view, highlighting her redemptive transformation from racist mother-in-law to doting grandmother to a half-black grandchild, and those told in Sonia's and Tara's voices, including their turns from awkward and aspiring immigrant teenagers to New York Times reporter and Bollywood star respectively, are lushly drawn and emotionally resonant. The final third of the book, however, from the points of view of Anna and Chantal, is less so; its plotlines—Anna's quest to redecorate her elite private school's locker rooms and Chantal's wrecking of her rich, white boyfriend's Porsche—seem contrived and hastily written. While "issues" permeate the book (war, migration, racism, colorism, body positivity, environmentalism), they are more deftly woven into the narrative in the earlier, historical chapters than the later, contemporary ones. Although the book loses steam and heart toward the end, the earlier chapters, moving and rich in character and setting, make up for it. (Historical fiction/fiction. 12-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172195426
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	09/12/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

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