The Night Diary

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 HalfMuslim halfHindu twelveyearold 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 identityand for a hopeful future