Always Anjali

Meet Anjali! She's the spunky star of this picture book with a timeless message about appreciating what makes us special and honoring our different identities.

Anjali and her friends are excited to buy matching personalized license plates for their bikes--but Anjali can't find a plate with her name. She is often teased about her "different" name, and this is the last straw. Anjali is so upset that she demands her parents let her pick a new name! When they refuse, Anjali decides to take a closer look at who she is--beyond her name--and why being different means being marvelous. 

Actress and activist Sheetal Sheth has penned a deeply personal picture book about the experience of feeling othered and the journey toward embracing yourself.

Sheetal Sheth is an acclaimed South Asian actress, producer, author, and activist. She has starred in over twenty feature films and many TV shows and is a favorite in the independent film world, having won five best actress awards on the film festival circuit. Sheth supports marginalized communities not only through her own work as an actor, but also by appearing at workshops and panels and speaking directly to issues facing those communities. She is known as an outspoken advocate and has delivered talks and keynotes at festivals and charity galas. She has had op-eds published on CNN, the Daily Beast, and Thrive Global. She served in President Bill Clinton's AmeriCorps and is currently on the advisory board of Equality Now and an ambassador for the Representation Project, founded by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the First Partner of California.

Jessica Blank's work features strong connections to family and nature. She crafts images that move between traditional drawing practices and digital painting. She graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art with a BFA in illustration and received her MFA in graphic design from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives in the East Texas Piney Woods with her family.