Chelsea Clinton ripped off an upstate author when she published her best-selling feminist kids book, “She Persisted,” a federal lawsuit claims.

Christopher Janes Kimberley, 56, of Albany, is suing the former first daughter and Penguin Random House for copyright infringement, seeking up to $150,000, according to the lawsuit, filed Thursday in Southern District of New York court.

“I did months of painstaking research on my book. Her version looks like a ninth-grade homework assignment,” he vented to The Post. “I am in disbelief.”

The little-known writer claims he sent a pitch for his illustrated kids book, “A Heart is the Part That Makes Boys And Girls Smart,” to the president of Penguin Young Readers US, Jennifer Loja, in May 2013, according to the lawsuit.

Instead of publishing it, she passed the idea off to Clinton, who cashed in on his hard work, he claims in court papers.

“She Persisted,” published May 30, features at least three of the same quotes from inspiring historical women — including Helen Keller, Harriet Tubman and Nellie Bly — that appear in Kimberley’s book, along with similar images, the writer claims.

Clinton’s book centers on “13 American Women Who Changed the World” and is an “unauthorized reproduction of [Kimberly’s] work,” court papers state.

“The appearance of impropriety is striking,” he says in the lawsuit.

The writer filed a cease and desist order in April to stop Clinton from publishing the book.

Clinton’s book is a now a New York Times best seller.

The title, “She Persisted,” is a nod to a feminist meme adopted earlier this year after Senator Elizabeth Warren objected to the confirmation of Senator Jeff Sessions as U.S. Attorney General.

Reps for Clinton and Penguin Random House didn’t return calls Tuesday.