Praise for The Night Diary By Veera Hiranandani
John Newberry Honor, 2019
2019 Walter Dean Myers Honor Award
2018 Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children’s Literature[TN1]
A New York Times Editor’s Choice Pick
Georgia Children’s Book Award 2019-2020 Nominee
Camellia Children’s Choice Book Award Nominee ALABAMA 2021-2022
Malka Penn Book Award Winner CONNECTICUT 2018
Nutmeg Book Award CONNECTICUT Nominee 2021
Georgia Children’s Book Award GEORGIA Nominee 2019-2020
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award ILLINOIS Master List 2020
Young Hoosier Book Award INDIANA Nominee 2020-2021
William Allen White Children’s Book Award KANSAS Reading List 2020-2021
Louisiana Young Readers Choice Award LOUISIANA Nominee 2020-2021
Maine Student Book Award 2019-2020 Master List
Massachusetts Children’s Book Award MASSACHUSETTS Nominee 2020-2021
Great Lakes Great Books MICHIGAN Nominee 2020-2021
Mark Twain Readers Award MISSOURI Nominee 2020-2021
Great Stone Face Book Award NEW HAMPSHIRE Nominee 2019-2020
Garden State Book Award NEW JERSEY Nominee 2021
Oregon Reader’s Choice Award (ORCA) OREGON Nominee 2021
Pennsylvania Young Readers’ Choice Award PENNSYLVANIA Nominee 2020-2021
South Carolina Book Awards SOUTH CAROLINA Nominee 2020-2021
Volunteer State Book Award TENNESSEE Nominee 2020-2021
Lone Star Reading List TEXAS Reading List 2019
Beehive Book Award UTAH Nominee 2020
Just One More Page! WISCONSIN Reading List 2019
ILA 2019 Teachers’ Choices Reading List
2019 Jane Addams Honor Book in the Books for Older Children Category
A Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews
A Best Book of the Year by The New York Times
A Best Book of the Year by NPR
A Best Book of the Year by School Library Journal
A Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post
Junior Library Guild Selection
2019 ALSC Notable Children’s Books
2019 Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens
CCBC Choices 2019 Choice: Fiction for Children
Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the 21st Century (So Far) [2025]
“Veera Hiranandani is a master storyteller. This riveting and important book speaks to the power of love in a world divided by hate and raises questions that still need to be asked seventy years after its events took place. Nisha and her story are a part of me now. My question is how do we make this a ‘community read’ for the whole world?”—James Howe, author of The Misfits
“Nisha’s sweet, sheltered world disappears overnight when her country splits in two—now Hindus must live in India, Muslims in Pakistan. But Nisha’s both. Where can her family be safe? Hiranandani’s story is set in an historical time little known to American children, but she tells it in a way that makes it accessible, timely, interesting and real.”—Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, author of Newbery Honor–winning The War That Saved My Life
“Veera Hiranandani’s storytelling is exquisite and compelling. For Nisha, like so many of us, home is a complicated place and this heartbreaking and hopeful novel reminds us that even in places where there is great loss and strife, there is deep joy, renewed faith. The Night Diary is a treasure for young readers who are searching for their place in the world, who are determined to bring home with them wherever they go.”—Renée Watson, Piecing Me Together
* “Believable and heartbreaking…A gripping, nuanced story of the human cost of conflict appropriate for both children and adults.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
* “This rich, compelling story, which speaks to the turbulence surrounding India’s independence and to the plight of refugees, should be in all libraries.”—School Library Journal, starred review
* “The diary format gives her story striking intimacy and immediacy, serving as a window into a fraught historical moment as Nisha grapples with issues of identity and the search for a home that remain quite timely.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Hiranandani’s prose shines in both emotion and simple, rich description…A clear, compelling, and deeply felt historical novel.”—Booklist, starred review
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