Selected by a distinguished independent panel of experts including our editorial expert, Julia Eccleshare, for Diverse Voices - 50 of the best Children's Books celebrating cultural diversity in the UK.
This highly personal story was partly influenced by Bali Rai's own experiences, it looks at the impact cultural traditions can have on young people growing up in modern times and the book will resonate with all who have experienced the pressure of expectation at the hands of their family.
Set partly in the UK and partly in the Punjab region of India, "(Un)arranged Marriage" is a perceptive look at a young man's fight to free himself from family expectations and an arranged marriage he doesn't want.
Bali Rai was born in Leicester where he grew up in a multicultural community dreaming of playing football for Liverpool FC, being Bob Marley or becoming a writer. He writes the books he would have enjoyed as a teenager and Rani and Sukh is a set-text for GCSE English. His novel Killing Honour won the North East Teenage Book Award and was described as “utterly compelling” by The Bookseller; Now or Never was shortlisted for the Little Rebels Prize in 2020.
