Mitali Perkins

Mitali Perkins is an Indian-American writer of children's and young adult literature.

Early life Mitali was born in Kolkata, India, and moved to the United States when she was seven. As a child she lived in India, Ghana, Cameroon, London, New York City, and Mexico City.

Education Mitali Perkins earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science at Stanford University and a Master of Public Policy at University of California, Berkeley.

Career Perkins has taught middle school, high school, and college students. Perkins was an adjunct associate professor at Saint Mary's College of California.

Published works

The Not So Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen (1993) Monsoon Summer (2004) Rickshaw Girl (illustrated by Jamie Hogan, 2007) First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover (2007) First Daughter: White House Rules (2008) Secret Keeper (2009) Bamboo People: A Novel (2010) Open Mic: Riffs on Life Between Cultures in Ten Voices (editor, 2013) Tiger Boy (2015) You Bring the Distant Near (2017) Forward Me Back to You (2019) Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border (illustrated by Sara Palacios, 2019) Home Is in Between (illustrated by Lavanya Naidu, 2021) Steeped in Stories: Timeless Children's Novels to Refresh Our Tired Souls (2021)

Bare Tree and Little Wind: A Story for Holy Week (illustrated by Khoa Le, 2022) The Story of Us (illustrated by Kevin Howdeshell and Kristen Howdeshell, 2022) Hope in the Valley (2023) Holy Night and Little Star: A Story for Christmas (illustrated by Khoa Le, 2023) Between My Hands (illustrated by Naveen Selvanathan, 2024) Just Making: A Guide for Compassionate Creatives (2025) The Golden Necklace: A Darjeeling Tea Mystery (illustrated by Maithili Joshi, 2025) Doing Something New: A Prayer for Beginnings (illustrated by Andrés Landazábal, 2026)

Awards and recognition

2008 Jane Addams Children's Book Award for Rickshaw Girl 2011 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Top Ten for Bamboo People 2016 South Asia Book Award for Tiger Boy 2017 National Book Award for Young People's Literature longlist for You Bring the Distant Near 2018 Walter Dean Myers Teen Honor Book for You Bring the Distant Near 2020 Rise: A Feminist Book Project Top Ten for Forward Me Back to You 2020 Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature for Between Us and Abuela