Longlisted for the 2017 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature Horn Book. School Library Journal. Publishers Weekly. Booklist. Shelf Awareness Five girls. Three generations. One great American love story. You Bring the Distant Near explores sisterhood, first loves, friendship and the inheritance of culture–for better or worse. Ranee, worried that her children are losing their Indian culture; Sonia, wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair; Tara, seeking the limelight to hide her true self; Shanti, desperately trying to make peace in the family; Anna, fighting to preserve Bengal tigers and her Bengali identity–award-winning author Mitali Perkins weaves together a sweeping story of five women at once intimately relatable and yet entirely new.