The Night Diary​, ​by Veera Hiranandani, and published by Kokila, is an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, and is an Honor Book in the Books for Older Children Category. The Night Diary vividly shows the impact of India’s partition in 1947 as the political events in one country become personal. Twelve-year-old Nisha records her observations in a diary written to her deceased mother as her home becomes unsafe for her family, and they flee across the desert, seeking solace with her maternal uncle and then later with her father’s family. The daughter of a Muslim mother and a Hindu father, Nisha gains strength from her writing and her cooking, but is shocked into silence at one point, finding her voice, losing it, and finding it again as she takes tentative steps toward a future in a world that is nothing like her beloved homeland.

Author:  Veera Hiranandani
Award:  2019, Honor Book for Older Children

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