Recommended Age:
11
+
Best for independent readers who enjoy quiet, emotionally resonant historical fiction told in diary format with themes of identity, displacement, and survival.
About the Book
In the summer of 1947, twelve-year-old Nisha writes letters to her deceased mother in her diary as her family is forced to flee their home in what becomes Pakistan and travel to the newly created India during the Partition. Nisha, who is half-Muslim and half-Hindu, must navigate a journey filled with danger, loss, and the search for belonging in a world suddenly divided by violence. A quiet, deeply affecting novel about identity, displacement, and survival.
Content Ratings
💡
Moderate Themes
Nisha confronts religious and cultural identity as a child of mixed heritage during violent sectarian conflict; themes include forced displacement, communal violence, grief, and the trauma of losing home and community.
⚔️
Moderate Violence
The family witnesses communal violence during Partition including burning homes, threats from mobs, and the death of a beloved character; violence is not graphic but emotionally significant and reflects historical reality.
Engagement:
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Published:
2018
Page Count:
264
