The Night Diary ~ Veera Hiranandani

It’s rooftop season again!  Riley and I thoroughly enjoyed this beautifully written historical fiction novel by Veera Hiranandani. Written as protagonist Nisha’s diary entries, this book tells the story of Nisha, her twin brother, Amil, and her father and grandmother. Nisha writes each diary entry to her mother, who passed away during childbirth, and whom Nisha never had the opportunity to meet. Nisha writes about her fears, hopes, and dreams, as India, in 1947, is ripped apart after being freed from British rule. Violence and fear overtake the Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim people who once lived together peacefully. Suddenly, they turn on each other as India is split into two countries--India and Pakistan, Nisha and her family must make a harrowing journey to find safety, but after what Nisha experiences in her travels, she’s not sure she will ever feel safe again. Readers won’t be able to put this novel down!

Maturity: 2/4I would recommend this novel to students age 11+. Though the majority of the novel does not contain mature content, toward the end of the book, Nisha describes watching men fight and get killed. However, the descriptions are not graphic enough to be disturbing.

Pages: 254

Lexile: 700L

Lexile is a score that helps educators and parents match students with an appropriate text. A Lexile score is a measure of both a child’s reading ability and a text difficulty. However, Lexile does not take into account the content of a novel. So, pairing readers with a text is a complex process, and knowledge of a novel’s themes and plot is necessary to make a high-quality recommendation.If you are curious about the grade-level equivalent to Lexile scores, check out the conversion chart here!