Mitali Perkins Books in Order

Eighth grader Sunita Sen wants to fit in with her American classmates. When her grandparents arrive from India, their customs complicate school friendships and her crush, forcing Sunita to reconsider the heritage she has tried to hide.

Jazz Gardner reluctantly accompanies her family to an Indian orphanage, leaving behind her business and the boy she loves. Friendship with Danita, a young cook facing difficult choices, challenges Jazz's reluctance to get involved.

Mitali Perkins offers Christian parents a framework for helping children engage with popular culture. Drawing on diplomatic imagery, biblical examples, case studies, and discussion questions, she explores how families can evaluate media while maintaining their convictions.

Sixteen-year-old Sameera's adoptive father is running for president, and his campaign wants a more marketable daughter. As advisers reshape her public image, Sameera struggles to retain her Pakistani heritage, personal voice, and independence.

Ten-year-old Naima paints beautiful traditional alpana designs, but her family needs money more than artwork. After an attempt to help her rickshaw-driver father causes expensive damage, she searches for a way to earn the repair costs.

When Asha's father leaves India to seek work in America, she, her sister, and their mother move into relatives' Calcutta home. Restrictive expectations threaten Asha's ambitions, while a secret rooftop friendship offers temporary freedom.

Sameera's father has become president, bringing White House privileges and relentless public scrutiny. Criticism of her supposedly pampered life and complications with her boyfriend push Sameera to seek ordinary experiences beyond her tightly managed public role.

Bookish Chiko is forced into Burma's army, while Tu Reh, a Karenni boy, wants revenge against soldiers who destroyed his home. Their intersecting circumstances test both boys' loyalties amid persecution, violence, and displacement.

Edited by Mitali Perkins, this anthology brings together ten young adult writers exploring race and cultural identity through humor. Stories, personal reflections, poetry, and comics examine awkward encounters, assumptions, and the experience of belonging.

Neel and his sister Rupa search the Sundarbans for an escaped tiger cub before a poacher can capture it. Meanwhile, preparations for a scholarship examination threaten to take Neel away from the island he loves.

Five women across three generations of an Indian American family navigate migration, sisterhood, romance, and conflicting ideas of belonging. Their alternating teenage perspectives reveal how inherited expectations shape choices about culture, relationships, and personal identity.

Maria, her mother, and her younger brother visit their grandmother at the United States–Mexico border for Christmas. When Juan's handmade present cannot pass through the fence, Maria looks for a way to deliver his gift.

Jujitsu champion Katina and adopted teenager Robin join a summer service trip to India. Working with survivors of trafficking, they confront personal trauma, questions about Robin's origins, and the possibilities and limits of helping others.

After moving from India to America, Shanti encounters familiar Bengali traditions at home and unfamiliar customs outside. As she moves between family life and school, she tries to find a comfortable place in both worlds.

Mitali Perkins revisits seven children's classics through memories of her Bengali American upbringing, literary criticism and reflections on faith. Examining their flaws alongside their enduring appeal, she explores how familiar stories can restore adults' hope and shape moral growth.

Little Wind and Bare Tree watch Jerusalem prepare for the arrival of a king. A quiet man's appearance overturns their expectations, drawing the two observers into a picture-book retelling of the events of Holy Week.

This Christian picture book tells a story of creation through people and the elements of air, water, earth, and fire. Their growing conflict raises questions about broken relationships, Jesus' redemptive work, and restoring harmony.

Little Star prefers her familiar place above Bethlehem and hesitates when Maker asks the heavens to welcome a newborn child. As Christmas approaches, she must discover whether her quiet gift can contribute to the celebration.

Twelve-year-old Pandita retreats to reading and writing in an abandoned mansion while grieving her mother and dreading middle school. Plans to replace it with housing divide her family, forcing her to find her voice amid unwelcome change.

Bored during summer vacation, Maya watches her neighbors work and wonders what her small, empty hands can accomplish. Inspired by the gesture of namaste, she begins exploring how children can offer love and help their community.

Drawing on her immigrant background and creative life, Mitali Perkins examines how making art can serve justice amid suffering. Practical strategies, conversations with other artists and reflection questions help creators reconcile their work with responsibility toward others.

On a Darjeeling tea plantation, Sona investigates the disappearance of her friend Tara's valuable jewelry. With Tara's inheritance threatened by a scheming manager and Sona's brother suspected of theft, solving the mystery becomes a personal challenge.

This illustrated prayer helps children face unfamiliar schools, homes, teams and other beginnings. Drawing on Jesus' experiences and the Beatitudes, it offers language for anxiety and change, encouraging families to discuss trust and companionship through difficult transitions.