AMIL AND THE AFTER by Veera Hiranandani
Praise for AMIL AND THE AFTER
★ “A quietly brilliant, deeply insightful story of living in uncertain times.” –Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW
"A splendid historical fiction tale of bravery and determination." —School Library Journal, starred review
"A powerful blend of important themes and everyday triumphs and sorrows." —Kirkus, starred review
"...explores the benefits and costs of assimilation and the complexity of being both white and a religious minority in America then—and now." —Publisher's Weekly, starred review
Author’s Letter for Amil and the After
I’m thrilled to share my sequel to The Night Diary with you! When I began Amil and the After, I wasn’t sure what this new journey would look like. At first, I was just so happy to be with these characters again. I didn’t realize how much I missed them. As I developed the story, however, I thought about how I had changed since writing The Night Diary and how that would change the sequel’s perspective.
The first big decision I made was to shift the point of view. This time, I wanted to focus more on Nisha’s twin brother, Amil. I partly did this because my young readers had so many questions about him after reading The Night Diary. I also thought it would be wonderful to include his drawings as a way of expressing himself like Nisha did with her diary. This was my attempt to make the story new while keeping it familiar.
The Night Diary, which tells the story of these same characters when they first flee their home shortly after the Partition of India, is about survival. But this book is about what happens after--after we survive and experience something life-changing and traumatic. When I started writing, we were in the second year of the Covid pandemic. In a different way, I was asking myself the same questions—how do we heal after a traumatic experience as individuals and as a society? How are we forever changed in both good and bad ways?
Many of the things that happened in both The Night Diary and Amil and the After are based on the Partition experiences of my father, my grandparents, and my aunts and uncles. I’ll never know exactly how they felt, but I believe we all carry the resilience, pain, and joy of our ancestors. Ultimately, this is a story about hope and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
From acclaimed author Veera Hiranandani comes AMIL AND THE AFTER (Kokila; on sale January 23 2024; ISBN 9780525555063; $17.99; ages 8-12), the highly anticipated companion novel to the Newbery Honor book The Night Diary. Filled with hope and the idea of finding joy after tragedy, the novel picks up where The Night Diary left off following the aftermath of the Partition of India, the greatest human migration in history. Through Amil’s story, young readers will learn of the complicated physical, emotional, and psychological impact that comes from being forced to leave your home—an experience many kids globally still experience today.
At the turn of the new year in 1948, Amil and his family are trying to make a home in India, now independent of British rule. Both Muslim and Hindu, twelve- year-old Amil is not sure what home means anymore. The memory of the long
and difficult journey from their hometown in what is now Pakistan lives with him. And despite having an apartment in Bombay to live in and a school to attend, life in India feels uncertain. Nisha, his twin sister, suggests that Amil begin to tell his story through drawings meant for their mother, who died when they were just babies. Through Amil, readers witness the unwavering spirit of a young boy trying to make sense of a chaotic world, and find hope for himself and a newly reborn nation.
Veera Hiranandani says, “This book is about what happens after—after we survive and experience something life-changing and traumatic.” She wrote this book during the second and third years of the COVID-19 pandemic and found herself asking, “How do we heal after a traumatic experience as individuals and as a society? How are we forever changed in both good and bad ways?” Amil’s story addresses those hard to answer questions.
The experiences in AMIL AND THE AFTER were largely inspired by Hiranandani’s own family history. Her father, grandparents, aunts, and uncles made a similar journey as Amil’s family, forced to leave their homeland and make a new life in India following the partition.
In an author’s note, Hiranandani shares, “Writing historical fiction based on my family background is a way for me to understand something that’s a part of me even though I never experienced it directly. I’d like to think that something like the partition will never happen again, but unfortunately, we, as humans, keep finding ways to divide ourselves and attack marginalized communities. We may not all be the same, but we are all connected by our humanity. When we do harm to each other, we harm to ourselves. Conversely, when we support and help each other, we make our own lives better.”
Similar to how The Night Diary is told through letters written by 12-year-old Nisha, who is more confident in communicating her thoughts through her words, AMIL AND THE AFTER is told in part through Amil’s drawings. Several of Amil’s black and white illustrations appear throughout the book, showcasing Amil's growing artistic skills and revealing his emotional state as the story moves forward.
As she did with The Night Diary, in AMIL AND THE AFTER Hiranandani once again shines a light on a piece of global history rarely discussed in American classrooms. Powerfully told through both prose and illustrations, readers will be moved by the hope, courage, and determination reflected in Amil’s story.
AMIL AND THE AFTER
By Veera Hiranandani
On sale January 23, 2024 ISBN: 9780525555063
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Veera Hiranandani, author of the Newbery Honor–winning The Night Diary, earned her MFA in creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College. She is the author of The Whole Story of Half a Girl, a Sydney Taylor Notable Book and a South Asia Book Award finalist, and How to Find What You're Not Looking For, winner of the Sydney Taylor Book Award and the New York Historical Society Children's History Book Prize. A former editor at Simon & Schuster, she now teaches in the Writing for Children and Young Adults MFA Program.
