Veera Hiranandani’s (writing) identity

Modern Minorities

“What happens after we've survived? What's our responsibility to somebody suffering more than I am? For kids it’s like, ‘Let's just go over and help them — like, why wouldn't we?’ “

Veera Hiranandani is an award-winning author of several books for young people - one of the most recent of which is THE NIGHT DIARY - a must read. While the novel is a historical fiction geared for adolescents and young adults, it’s a a heart-warming read that will pull you into a singular story through the eyes of a young girl experiencing one of history’s greatest traumas.. Veera went on to win the prestigious Newbery Award for the book, as well as the 2019 Walter Dean Myers Honor Award, the 2018 Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children's Literature, and several other honors and state reading list awards. Veera’s work speaks to the power of stories to spark conversations. Veera’s written a number of other award-winning books - including “How to Find What You're Not Looking For,” and “The Whole Story of Half a Girl. ”Her latest novel - AMIL & THE AFTER, is a follow-up to The Night Diary and it does what not many other books do - it examines the immediate AFTERMATH of a generational - and historical trauma. Again, through the eyes of a child. Veera’s journey - and story is a one that crosses cultures and generations - and it’s interesting to see how she pulls at the threads of her life to inform her work, and ask lots of hard whys - and why nots.

LEARN MORE

• veerahiranandani.com
• instagram.com/veerawrites
• BOOK: The Night Diary (2018): goodreads.com/book/show/35464020-the-night-diary
• BOOK: How to Find What You're Not Looking For (2021) goodreads.com/book/show/56912931-how-to-find-what-you-re-not-looking-for
• BOOK The Whole Story of Half a Girl (2012) goodreads.com/book/show/11164727-the-whole-story-of-half-a-girl
• BOOK: Amil & the After (2024): goodreads.com/book/show/139400607-amil-and-the-after

MENTIONS:

• BOOKS: All-of-a-Kind Family Series (Sydney Taylor): goodreads.com/series/49417-all-of-a-kind-family
• BOOK: the Namesake (Jhumpa Lahiri) - goodreads.com/book/show/33917.The_Namesake
• ACTOR: Irfan Khan - imdb.com/name/nm0451234/
• BOOK: Moon Palace (Paul Auster): goodreads.com/book/show/447.Moon_Palace

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices