Rani Patel in Full Effect
Sonia Patel
(Author)
Description
William C. Morris Award for YA Debut Novel Finalist, American Library Association (ALA)
Amelia Bloomer Project - Feminist Task Force, American Library Association (ALA)
Best Teen Books, Kirkus Reviews
Rani's fully present as MC Sutra, "Call my solution a female revolution / retribution in the form of rhyme electrocution."
Almost seventeen, Rani Patel appears to be a kick-ass Indian girl breaking cultural norms as a hip-hop performer in full effect. But in truth, she's a nerdy flat-chested nobody who lives with her Gujarati immigrant parents on the remote Hawaiian island of Moloka'i, isolated from her high school peers by the unsettling norms of Indian culture where "husband is God." Her parents' traditionally arranged marriage is a sham. Her dad turns to her for all his needs--even the intimate ones. When Rani catches him two-timing with a woman barely older than herself, she feels like a widow and, like widows in India are often made to do, she shaves off her hair. Her sexy bald head and hard-driving rhyming skills attract the attention of Mark, the hot older customer who frequents her parents' store and is closer in age to her dad than to her. Mark makes the moves on her and Rani goes with it. He leads Rani into 4eva Flowin', an underground hip hop crew--and into other things she's never done. Rani ignores the red flags. Her naive choices look like they will undo her but ultimately give her the chance to discover her strengths and restore the things she thought she'd lost, including her mother.
Product Details
| Publisher | Cinco Puntos Press |
| Publish Date | October 11, 2016 |
| Pages | 224 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Paperback / softback |
| EAN/UPC | 9781941026502 |
| Dimensions | 8.9 X 5.9 X 1.0 inches | 1.1 pounds |
About the Author
Sonia Patel knows teenagers inside and out. As a child and adolescent psychiatrist, trained at Stanford University and the University of Hawaii, she has spent over fifteen years listening to and understanding the psyche of teenagers from all walks of life. She's also been a teenage girl herself, growing up on Moloka'i as a first generation Gujarati-American. As a writer, Sonia is passionate about giving voice to the underrepresented youth she treats. Her YA debut featuring a Gujarati-Indian American teen, Rani Patel In Full Effect, was a finalist for the Morris Award and was listed on YALSA's Best Fiction for Young Adults and Kirkus' Reviews Best Teen Books of 2016. Her second YA novel, with a Gujarati-Indian trans boy and a mixed ethnicity girl, Jaya and Rasa: A Love Story, was selected for the 2019 In the Margins Book Award Recommended Fiction Book List. She chose South Korea as the setting for her third YA novel, Bloody Seoul, because of her extensive treatment experience with Korean and Korean American teens on Oahu (and her love for the Korean gangster film genre).
Reviews
* "Debut author Sonia Patel offers a unique perspective in Rani, whose punchy first-person narrative, peppered with early-'90s hip-hop references, Hawaiian, Hawaiian pidgin, Gujurati phrases, and her own slick rhymes packed with an empowering feminist message, commendably and strikingly stands out in the YA landscape." -- Booklist, starred review
* "A powerfully particular, 100 percent genuine character commands this gutsy debut." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* "Sonia Patel sets her powerful debut novel in 1991, filling it with bygone rap references and an electric verbal blend of Gujarati, slang, Hawaiian pidgin, and the rhymes Rani crafts. Patel compassionately portrays Rani's entangled emotions, lack of self-confidence, and burgeoning sense of empowerment as she moves forward from trauma." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
* "[Rani's] story will appeal to readers who prefer gritty, darker fiction without a pat, happy ending, and characters who don't always overcome their challenges but must face them repeatedly. A strong, unique choice for YA collections." -- School Library Journal, starred review
"You haven't heard this voice in YA before." -- The Globe and Mail
"Rani's environment leaps off the page in vivid and satisfying detail, from the winding roads and small shops of Moloka'i to the intricacies of '90s hip-hop fashion. . . . Author Sonia Patel is a psychiatrist, and her determination to portray Rani's response to trauma truthfully is unrelenting." -- BookPage
"Rani Patel's story spoke to me with power and intensity. I felt Rani's pain, but also her energy, determination and her hope for healing . . . Get it soon especially if you enjoy references to 90s hip-hop." -- Rich In Color
"This book is so amazing and incredibly well-written and unique, and there is no punch left unpunched. This book gutted me. Sonia Patel knocked it out of the f*cking park. Buy this book." -- Anderson's Bookshop
"Rani Patel In Full Effect by child and adolescent psychiatrist Sonia Patel is an extraordinary and deftly crafted novel that will have particular and special appeal to young readers ages 12 to 18." -- Midwest Book Review
"This book is an open wound. Sonia Patel does not sugar coat. . .heartbreak, sorrow, and patriarchy, the kinds of things intended to bend and break girls who rap. Girls like Rani. But Rani writes words. Words that go boom. And in Rani Patel in Full Effect, so does Patel." -- Isabel Quintero, author of Gabi, A Girl In Pieces
Rani Patel is a kickass, girl-power hip hop performer, but that's her secret life. As the daughter of Gujarati immigrants, she's been taught to believe that "husband is God," and has to live under their cultural norms on a remote Hawaiian island. -- Bustle "21 Best New YA Novels"
"ani Patel, MC Sutra herself, is so much more than a character on the page. . . . Rani shows us the power every girl has inside themselves to break the cycle of abuse and reminds us that self love is what frees us up to become the amazing beings we are." -- Cleaver Magazine
One of our favorite reads this fall is marketed for young adults, but make no mistake: Rani Patel in Full Effect will hit you just as hard, if not harder, than any "adult" title. -- The Riveter Magazine
William C. Morris Award for YA Debut Novel Finalist, American Library Association (ALA)
Amelia Bloomer Project - Feminist Task Force, American Library Association (ALA)
Best Teen Books, Kirkus Reviews
BookExpo America Editor's Buzz Selection, BookExpo America
Top 10 Best Teen Book, Book Page
Best Books, Multnomah County Library
50 Best Teen Books, New York Public Library
Top 10 Teen Books, Texas Library Association (TLA)
Best 20 of 2016, The Volumes Bookcafe Staff
15 Essential Novels Of The #MeToo Movement, Bustle
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