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The year is 1947 and India, now free of British rule, has been split into two countries: India and Pakistan. Because of the divide, tension has erupted between Hindus and Muslims. Twelve-year-old Nisha and her family are Hindu, but her deceased mother was Muslim; Nisha is uncertain where she belongs. When Nisha and her family become refugees, forced to journey alongside thousands of others to a new home, she charts her arduous trek via letters written every night in her journal � beginning each one, Dear Mama.

I’ve never had a diary before. When Kazi gave it to me, he said it was time to start writing things down, and that I was the one to do it. He said someone needs to make a record of the things that will happen because the grown-ups will be too busy.*

The cultural significance of Nisha’s story is not limited to her record of historical events. While recording her thoughts, Nisha reveals to young readers the many ways in which her life differs from other children around the world. �Not all girls go to school,�* she explains, and everyone’s varied religions � Muslim, Hindu, or Sikh � are evident �by the clothes they [wear] or the names they [have.]�* On Nisha’s birthday, she receives the diary as a gift �wrapped in brown paper, tied with a piece of dried grass.�* In reflecting on the extravagant nature of this gift, the simplicity of her life is most evident.

I once read an English story where a little girl got a big pink cake and presents wrapped in shiny paper and bows for her birthday. I thought about the little gifts Kazi gives us all the time � a piece of candy under our pillows or a ripe tomato from the garden, sliced, salted, and sprinkled with chili pepper on a plate. Cake and bows must be nice, but is anything better than a perfect tomato?*

Food is central to Nisha’s story. Hiranandani’s descriptions of warm unleavened bread (chapatti), spiced split pea and lentil soup (dal), and potatoes and vegetables deep fried in a seasoned batter (pakoras) are liable to make anyone hungry. For Nisha, cooking is a source of comfort; the kitchen is a place where family comes together. When her family has walked for days and faces death by starvation, a simple bowl of rice and lentils is a saving grace � unseasoned food becomes the most wonderful thing she’s ever tasted.

Comfort found in preparing and eating food sustains Nisha, but it cannot quell her confusion about what’s happening around her. In contemplating her country’s upheaval and the way it has affected her family as well as everyone around her, Nisha explores weighty themes and, through questioning her situation, inadvertently makes powerful assertions.

[Papa] says that when you separate people into groups, they start to believe that one group is better than another. I think about Papa’s medical books and how we all have the same blood, and organs, and bones inside us, no matter what religion we’re supposed to be.*

So a Hindu family kills a Muslim family, who kills a Hindu family, who kills a Muslim family. It would never end unless someone ended it. But who was going to do that?*

I don’t want to think about the answer, but my pencil needs to write it anyway: If you were alive, would we have to leave you because you are Muslim? Would they have drawn a line right through us, Mama?*

Though Nisha’s story is moving, the narrative is limited by the constraints of its epistolary format. As a first-person narrator, Nisha’s voice is occasionally dull and the prose often lacks sparkle. Making up for this are the moments when Nisha’s longing for her mother saturates her letters, making for a sentimental read that will force some readers to reach for a box of tissues.

Sometimes I hear you talking to me. You have a sweet, low voice. “Nisha, just one more step,� you say. And I take it. You said to me when we were so thirsty, “Pretend the air is water. Drink it in.� I did, Mama, I wouldn’t ever say this to anyone else but if we died, would that mean we could be with you?*

Violent content bears mentioning, given the age group of the book’s intended audience (ages 8 to 12). At one point, Nisha is held captive with a knife at her throat. Nisha encounters a man who says, �Hindus killed my family [. . .] Sliced their throats as I watched. And then I escaped, but I should have let them kill me, too.�* Also, Nisha witnesses several men fighting and describes violent images such as blood, a man with a slashed leg, a man with a gun, a man being stabbed in the chest, a man getting his throat slashed, and people dying.

The Night Diary is a moving story of a refugee girl’s search for home, identity, and family in a divided country; however, parents are well advised to be mindful of the book’s content before handing it to young readers.
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Special thanks to for providing a free copy of The Night Diary in exchange for an honest review.

*Note: All quotes are provided from an uncorrected proof.