I cannot believe I’m writing this post! After five years of fighting to get the rights back to this book, Brown Voices: South Asian American Experiences in Schools is finally, officially open for preorder!
As you likely know if you’re here on this site, years ago I was elbow-deep in academic research on South Asian American experiences in schools. I dreamt of writing a book on that research. And then I got a book deal from a big-deal publisher.
…And then they ended up pricing out my entire audience.
They priced the book at $100 for the hardcover and nearly $50 for the paperback, which meant the people I actually wrote it for, teachers, parents, South Asian American adults who never saw their own school experience reflected back at them, weren’t buying it (only university presses were).
But it’s all in the past now, because the rights were reverted, and the fully revised rerelease of Brown Voices arrives this October 2026.
This edition is fully restructured. It includes words from some of the inspiring people who’ve recently been part of the Brown Voices Be Inspired project, like Vishal Vaidya, Jyoti Chand, Sabeen Marghoob, and a few other names you might recognize. It has a new cover, still featuring the art of Dean McKeever, whose work you may know from Treehouse Brewing Company’s cans.
And most critically: it is not $100. Nor is it $50—not even the hardcover.
(The paperback will be 19.99, the hardcover will be 29.99, and the ebook version will be 9.99.)
→ Read what’s new in this edition of Brown Voices
It became especially meaningful because I am a Brown person looking back on my own experiences in school. But in the decade-plus since the original research began, it’s only become more important.
And now, as the parent of two Brown kids navigating school experiences still so reminiscent of what I remember, this book feels that much more urgent. I want it, and its findings, out in the world where everyone can get them.
If you’ve been waiting to read Brown Voices, you can preorder a copy now.
*Note, if you’d like to order a signed preorder and you live locally AND have made arrangements to pickup copies from me, you can use code LOCALPICKUP during checkout (to remove the shipping charge). Please note that orders using this code will not ship.
→ While we countdown to October, add Brown Voices to your Goodreads shelves
Thank you for sticking with me through every part of getting this back into print. I can’t wait for you to read it.
Love,
Punita 🖤
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