Maulik Pancholy is an award-winning actor whose career has spanned hit television shows (30 Rock, Whitney), animated favorites (Phineas and Ferb, Sanjay and Craig), the Broadway stage, and films. He served on President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and he is the cofounder of the anti-bullying campaign Act to Change. The Best At It (Balzer + Bray), is Maulik Pancholy’s funny and heartfelt middle grade debut novel about a gay Indian American boy coming into his own. As Rahul Kapoor heads into seventh grade in a small town in Indiana, the start of middle school makes him feel increasingly anxious. Then his favorite person in the whole world, his grandfather, Bhai, gives him some well-meaning advice: Find one thing you’re really good at and become the BEST at it. While Rahul is not quite sure what that special thing is, he is convinced that once he finds it, bullies will stop torturing him at school and things will change. But what if he discovers he isn’t the best at anything? Funny, charming, and incredibly touching, this is a story about friendship, family, and the courage it takes to live your truth. In a starred review Kirkus highlighted how “The protagonist’s devastatingly honest voice pulls readers deeply into a fast-paced journey […] heartbreakingly authentic.”
