A youth group’s temple road trip through India is a liberating escape for a former mean girl and sunshine boy to explore their past and their feelings for each other in the much-anticipated novel about self-discovery by the award-winning author of My So-Called Bollywood Life.

Born and raised in the US, Tara Bajaj hides her family secrets. With beautiful clothes, a popular social media presence, and a spot on the Rutgers High Bollywood dance team, she does it well—until her carefully cultivated image shatters. Shut out by friends and with her future in flux, Tara accepts a guide position for a youth group’s temple tour through North India. Rediscovering the heart of her ancestry is as good a place as any to start over.

Silas D’Souza-Gupta is an aspiring photojournalist retracing the journey his two mothers took when they fell in love. The last thing he expects on this road trip through his roots is a girl with a history of her own. As Tara and Silas embark on the trip to remote pilgrimage sites from Punjab through the Himalayas, they each discover what it means to be a child in the Indian diaspora, the significance of karma, and the healing power of love.

“A heartwarming story about personal growth.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Sharma smartly interlocks…classic road-trip novel tropes, capitalizing on the inherent freedom of self-discovery while navigating familial traditions and expectations…[and] issues of class, identity, and spirituality.” —Publishers Weekly

“The book wrestles with the spirituality and ritualistic nature of Hinduism and centers the struggles of being a not-here-nor-there diasporic teen.” —Teen Vogue

Nisha Sharma is the author of critically acclaimed YA and adult contemporary romances including My So-Called Bollywood Life, Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance, the Singh Family Trilogy, and Dating Dr. Dil in the If Shakespeare Was an Auntie series. Her writing has been praised by NPR, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, BuzzFeed, Entertainment Weekly, and more. She lives in Pennsylvania with her Alaskan husband; her cat, Lizzie Bennett; and her dogs, Nancey Drew and Madeline. For more information, visit www.nisha-sharma.com.