Jaya and Rasa: A Love Story
Seventeen-year-old Jaya Mehta detests wealth, secrets, and privilege, though he has them all. The big secret he keeps from his traditional Gujarati Indian parents: he's transgender. Rasa Santos, a beautiful young woman, is of mixed ethnicity. She's the sole provider for her three younger siblings, three of them. Rasa's only inheritance is her stunning beauty and her mother's trade, prostitution. Neither Jaya nor Rasa have ever known real love or close family—not until their chance meeting one sunny day on a mountain in Hau’ula.
The unlikely love that blooms between them must survive the stranglehold their respective pasts have on them. Each of their present identities has been shaped by years of extreme family struggles. By the time they cross paths, Jaya is a transgender outsider with depressive tendencies and the stunningly beautiful Rasa thinks sex is her only power until a violent pimp takes over her life. Will their love transcend and pull them forward, or will they remain stuck and separate in the chaos of their pasts? In the end, their story is a testament to the healing power of love.
SONIA PATEL'S YA debut, Rani Patel In Full Effect, was a finalist for the Morris Award, was listed on YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults, and was named by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Teen Books of 2016. 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.
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Jaya and Rasa: A Love Story
978-1-941026-86-1, hardback, $16.95
978-1-941026-87-8, trade paper, $11.95
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