You Bring the Distant Near

By: Mitali Perkins

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

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

Cultural facination

Perkins captures the life of an immigrant family in a heart gripping way through a very creative narrative. Highly recommend.

Nothing really

I don’t like the book it was confusing. The story whiched from one topic to the other.