Set in the early 1990s, 16-year-old Rani is living in Hawaii with her immigrant Gujarati Indian parents. Rani’s mother quietly obeys her husband but is deeply unhappy in a marriage in which he is cold and unfaithful. If Rani’s mother is overworked and unloved by Rani’s father, Rani is his princess. Then Rani catches her father kissing a young woman not much older than she is. Her anger is fierce and her home life begins to unravel. At the same time, she’s invited to join a secret rap group by her high school friend, Pono, and discovers an underground rap community on her island. Rani has a crush on Pono, but she’s also attracted to Mark, the group’s founder. Rap is the way Rani expresses her anger and pain, including pain about her father’s sexual abuse. She’s never told anyone about it until Mark becomes her boyfriend. At first he is gentle and supportive. But he’s also a 31-year-old man and recovering drug abuser who eventually starts to abuse Rani. Still, she can’t bring herself to leave him, a dynamic tied to the lasting psychological effect of the abuse at her father’s hands. Rani’s raps are fierce, and feminist, but speaking the truth about and to the people who’ve hurt her takes the support of others, and belief in her own self-worth. This gritty, triumphant novel includes an excellent author’s note about the dynamics of abuse. (Age 14 and older)

2017 William C. Morris Award Finalist

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.

Sonia Patel is a psychiatrist who works with children and adults. She was trained at Stanford University and the University of Hawaii. She lives and practices in Hawaii. Rani Patel In Full Effect is her first young adult novel.

BookExpo America Editor's Buzz Selection 2016

Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Books 2016

New York Public Library 50 Best Teen Books 2016

Book Page Top 10 Best Teen Book 2016

Texas Library Associations Top 10 Teen Books 2017

Multnomah County Library Best Books 2016

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