Count Me In

Indian American author Bajaj grew up in Mumbai, India, and immigrated to the United States in 1985 to attend graduate school. In her author biography and in interviews, Bajaj explains that when she first arrived in the country, she was overwhelmed by the differences between her new environment and the home she had left behind. Only the books she read by American authors comforted her.

Bajaj’s relationship with books, literature, and stories began at a young age. Her grandfather encouraged her to read a wide range of authors as a child and adolescent. Immersing herself in literature from Britain, the US, and beyond inspired her “yearning to see and experience a diverse world” (“About Me.” Varsha Bajaj). She continued pursuing this dream in graduate school.

Bajaj was inspired to write children’s books and young adult literature by her experience of motherhood: “Reading aloud to [her] kids” made her fall in love with children’s stories and inspired her to start writing her own (“About Me”). Bajaj has published four picture books, a middle grade anthology, a young adult anthology, and four middle grade novels. In her work, Bajaj often draws upon her own life story to explore the Indian American experience, particularly considering themes of identity and culture as they relate to immigrants, all of which appear in Count Me In.