Evie and Maryam are in the same class at school, uneasily thrown together at the start of a new term as they start a project together looking into their family trees. The two girls don't think they have much in common - Maryam feels like an outsider, and Evie thinks Maryam is a bit odd. But when the two girls each find the same mysterious folder containing documents in a secret language that belong to their grandmothers, they discover their ties go back two generations, all the way to India, to partition, and to two best friends who inspired each other more than they ever know. A beautifully told historical family-based exploration of identity, inheritance, difference and friendship.

A wonderfully original, dual narrative story set both in the present day and in India in the years leading up to independence from the British. As an emerging friendship finds its parallel in the distant past, many similarities become obvious, such as the prejudice experienced by people with brown skin. Absorbing and insightful * Book Trust *
This heartfelt historical story offers a glimpse into colonial India and shows how the past shapes the present. Highly recommended for UKS2 classes * School Reading List *

Janeen grew up in Florida, a place she loves and hates in equal measure, and now lives in London with her partner and three chaotic, incredible children. She's half-Pakistani, half-New Yorker, a lapsed lawyer, teacher, Muslim and Catholic. She's passionate about creating characters that are many things at once -- because she knows she's not alone in being a tangled mass of identities, always changing. When she's not writing, she's advocating for an education system that gives every kid a fair chance.