It's 1947, and India, newly freed from British rule, has been separated into two countries- Pakistan and India. Many people are killed crossing borders as tensions among Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and others flare. Nisha, who has always carried two parts in her- Muslim and Hindu, doesn't know which side she has to be on or why she must choose.
Nisha has already lost her mother. She can't imagine losing her homeland, too. But Papa says it's too dangerous for them to stay in Pakistan. And so Nisha and her family become refugees and embark on a treacherous journey by train and by foot to reach their new home on the other side of the border.
Told through letters Nisha writes to her mother in her journal, The Night Diary is a poignant story of the largest human migration in history and of one girl's search for home, her own identity, and a hopeful future.
A 2019 NEWBERY HONOR BOOK
"A gripping, nuanced story of the human cost of conflict appropriate for both children and adults."
-Kirkus, starred review
In the vein of Inside Out and Back Again and The War That Saved My Life comes a poignant, personal, and hopeful tale of India's partition, and of one girl's journey to find a new home in a divided country
It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries- Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders.
Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home. The journey is long, difficult, and dangerous, and after losing her mother as a baby, Nisha can't imagine losing her homeland, too. But even if her country has been ripped apart, Nisha still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together.
Told through Nisha's letters to her mother, The Night Diary is a heartfelt story of one girl's search for home, for her own identity...and for a hopeful future.
Author Biography:
Veera Hiranandani, author of the Newbery Honor-winning The Night Diary, earned her MFA in creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She is the author of The Whole Story of Half a Girl, a Sydney Taylor Notable Book and a South Asia Book Award finalist, and How to Find What You're Not Looking For, winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award and the New York Historical Society Children's History Book Prize. A former editor at Simon & Schuster, she now teaches in the Writing for Children and Young Adults MFA Program at The Vermont College of Fine Arts.
