Amil and the After, Veera Hiranandani
Amil and the After, Veera Hiranandani
List: $18.00 | Sale: $12.60
Club: $9.00

Amil and the After

Author: Veera Hiranandani

Narrator: Sid Sagar, Veera Hiranandani

Unabridged: 6 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/23/2024

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

A hopeful and heartwarming story about finding joy after tragedy, Amil and the After is a companion to the beloved and award-winning Newbery Honor novel The Night Diary, by acclaimed author Veera Hiranandani

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.

* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF that contains the drawings and glossary from the book.

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 at The Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Lisa on July 15, 2024

Finding joy after tragedy. Amil and the After provides an age appropriate glimpse into some of the trauma that resulted from the migration, rising violence, and fears that resulted from the Partition of India and Pakistan.......more

Goodreads review by Reading_ on January 30, 2024

I just don’t want this sequel. I realised this when I started reading this book. There’s not much to it I feel that adds more to the first book. This one feels more forced and somewhat doesn’t really have much to tell rather than what we should do or feel as responsible people.......more

Goodreads review by Josiah on February 24, 2025

In case you weren't sure, Amil and the After serves as sequel to The Night Diary, which earned Veera Hiranandani a 2019 Newbery Honor. This time Amil Vaswani takes center stage instead of his twelve-year-old twin sister Nisha, as they settle into life in Bombay, India. Most violence of the partition......more

Goodreads review by BethFishReads on January 19, 2024

This followup to The Night Diary addresses many important topics as seen through the eyes of a sensitive 12-year-old boy. At the dawn of 1948, Amil and his family are settled in an apartment in Bombay, just months after they escaped Pakistan during the Partition. Despite the family's current relative......more

Goodreads review by Julie on September 03, 2024

Hopeful, hopeful, retelling in a child’s eyes of the suffering entailed during the partitioning of India, dividing more than just Muslims and Hindus. Hindu new to the cities of India or forced to be secondary laborers to folks who had lived there longer. There were resettlement camps and orphanages.......more

Quotes

Praise for Amil and The After

A Kirkus Best Middle Grade Book of 2024
A School Library Journal Top 10 Audiobook of 2024
A Shelf Awareness 2024 Best Children's Books
2025 Jane Addams Peace Association Children’s Book Award Finalist
Children's Book Council (CBC) 2025 Favorites Awards List (Children’s favorite, 6th-8th grade)
A Bank Street Best Book of 2025


★ “…a masterpiece of nuance, vulnerability, and emotional complexity. A quietly brilliant, deeply insightful story of living in uncertain times.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ “Searingly emotional… the fast-paced, multifaceted plot will keep readers engaged while bringing them to a satisfying resolution.”—Booklist, starred review

★ “A tender companion to [Hiranandani’s] 2019 Newbery Honor-winning The Night Diary… compelling.” – Shelf Awareness, starred review

★ “Veera Hiranandani masterfully presents a powerful, unvarnished examination of difficult subject matter while paving the way forward with hope and love.” – BookPage, starred review

★ “Hiranandani effortlessly incorporates the tastes, sights, sounds, and history of India in engaging prose…Accessible and engrossing, readers unfamiliar with the historic partition of India and Pakistan will nevertheless readily relate to a boy’s yearning for stability in tumultuous times. A first purchase for all middle grade collections.” – School Library Journal, starred review


“Masterly… a book about hope, about a boy and his father, both hurt and vulnerable, navigating their traumas and finally surviving — apart and then together.” – New York Times Book Review

"Fans of the previous title will appreciate this compassionate and thoughtful continuation of the family’s story, while new readers can experience Amil’s account of hope and survivor guilt as a standalone volume. " --- The Horn Book Magazine

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