11 Books With South Asian Characters You Should Read in 2019

In this beautiful novel about sisters, chosen families, and profound loss, 11-year-old Viji and her sister Rukku run away from their abusive father after he breaks their mother’s arm and kicks Rukku. On the streets of Chennai, they meet Muthi and Arul, two boys who live under an abandoned bridge, and join them. The brothers, in turn, show the girls how to earn money on the streets by scavenging for trash. When tragedy strikes, her new family helps Viji come to terms with her situation. The story is told through a letter from Viji to Rukku.

In this perhaps not-so-speculative dystopian fiction novel, New York Times best-selling author Samira Ahmed imagines a United States in which Muslim Americans are forced into internment camps. Two years after a virulent Islamophobe is elected U.S. president and a Muslim ban is instituted, 17-year-old Layla Amin and her family are violently “relocated” after her poet father’s best-known verse, “Revolution,” attracts the ire of the government. Soon, idealistic Layla and her new friends, other teen detainees, and her boyfriend on the outside, begin a fight against silent complicity. This heart-thumping book horrifies and inspires; Layla’s struggle reminds readers to speak up and that only the persistent and resistant can make a change.

Fantasy author Roshani Chokshi returns with a sequel to Aru Shah and the End of Time (2018). This entertaining romp is the second in a quartet of novels titled the Pandava Series, a gender-bending twist on the Hindu epic, the “Mahabharata.” In Book 1, Aru learns that she is the reincarnation of Arjuna, an archer and one of the Pandava brothers; in Book 2, Aru is accused of stealing the god of love’s bow and arrow. In order to prove her innocence, she teams up with her soul-sister, Mini, and two new friends: ultra-strong Brynn, and Aiden, literally the boy next door. Together, they travel through a serpent-filled other realm and battle demons, both real and imagined, along the way.

This novel is inspired by Tina Athaide’s own childhood experiences as a Ugandan-born British-Indian whose family was affected by the 1972 expulsion of the country’s “foreign Indians” by the president of Uganda, Idi Amin. It tells the story of best friends Asha, who is Indian, and Yesofu, who is African, as they navigate this crisis. Told in alternating perspectives, the novel compassionately illustrates both Asha and Yesofu’s confusion and misgivings. The book is beautiful and important, but also deeply sad. The main characters face unavoidable brutality, and Athaide does not shy away from portraying it as such.

The Tiger at Midnight is the first book in a fantasy trilogy by Swati Teerdhala. It’s set in an ancient-India inspired world where a spy, Esha, is determined to avenge her family after a royal coup. Meanwhile, she’s also being tracked by Kunal, a dutiful soldier who believes Esha killed his general. What follows are high-stakes pursuits, many near captures, repeated escapes, and a fully realized, palpably hot romance between ostensibly mismatched protagonists. Teerdhala creates a lush, detailed world and incredible tension as events drive the protagonists together — and apart.

Beloved ‘90s television series Doogie Howser, M.D. meets The Fault in Our Stars in this tender rom-com about 16-year-old Saira Sehga, the country’s youngest oncologist. In the book, she faces many very adult challenges, such as proving herself to coworkers who don’t take her seriously. All the while, Saira is also crushing on a cute boy named Link, who happens to be living with stage II leukemia. Inspired in part by the author’s own experiences as the daughter of two pediatricians, Symptoms of a Heartbreak explores the devotion of family and first love.

Shakespeare and the Great British Baking Show collide in this Midsummer Night's Dream-inspired middle-grade novel. Mimi Mackson has a big, impressive Indian-American family and feels small among their accomplishments. When the new bakery in town launches a baking contest, Mimi sees it as a step toward her ultimate goal: to become a celebrity chef like her culinary idol, Puffy Fay. When her food-writer father mysteriously loses his impeccable sense of taste, she is drawn into the Massachusetts woods by Pan-like Vik, and together they discover exotic ingredients that Mimi incorporates into her enchanting treats. But when people around her start acting loopy, she begins to wonder if her baking is what’s causing all the mayhem.

In this companion novel to her New York Times bestseller When Dimple Met Rishi, Sandhya Menon follows Rishi's brother, Ashish, and Sweetie, a fat, confident track star, as they navigate parental and cultural expectations — and their own hearts. After Ashish is dumped by Celia, he agrees to being set up by his parents with an Indian-American girl of their choosing. Sweetie’s mother, on the other hand, is harshly critical of her weight, and doesn’t think she is worthy of dating at all. Told in alternating perspectives, this teenage rom-com features plenty to tease your heart.

Simran “Simi” Sangha is a 15-year-old who comes from a long line of Indian matchmakers. She wants to turn her school’s social hierarchy topsy-turvy and put her best friend Noah at the top by starting a matchmaking service — via an app, of course. As her classmates begin swiping and her app inadvertently connects a school wallflower with the star of the soccer team, she finds herself a social pariah instead. A breezy, high-spirited novel, full of helicopter parents and high school drama, Simi's story subtly updates familiar tropes while questioning teenage social norms.