【分裂的焦土破碎的心，徒步走出永不息滅的希望】The Night Diary, Veera Hiranandani

2019紐伯瑞銀獎小說

1947年印度被一分為二，巴基斯坦和印度。一邊是印度教佔多數的英屬印度，一邊是穆斯林占多數的巴基斯坦。印度教徒、穆斯林和錫克教徒之間的暴力衝突增加，這塊廣袤的大陸瞬間成為一片生死相危的焦土。

這一夜開始，一半是穆斯林，一半是印度教徒的12歲的Nisha不再知道自己所屬何地，Nisha 再也無法辨識她原本稱之為 ｢家｣ 的地方。父親決定離開戰亂頻仍的巴基斯坦，展開逃亡，流亡的Nisha開始寫信給母親。難民的生活艱辛，更糟的是家鄉的土地在血腥與暴力中被撕扯，遷徙到新家園的旅程危險重重，Nisha 一家人能安全抵達嗎？Nisha只能緊抓著殘存的希望，祈求回歸和平的可能。我們在Nisha寫給母親的信中，體會她思念母親的心與身分認同的障礙，如何讓破碎的人與地，重新找回完整的自己？

一段關於失去、重新定義愛、家園和自己聲音的成長之歌。

這是一段台灣學生不清楚的歷史，就算在歷史課本中被一語帶過，我們也未必真心了解或想像那樣的生活與景況。青少年歷史小說讓我們重回歷史現場，站在小人物而非史家的眼光感同身受，體會他人的人生。在全球仍有許多流離失所的難民問題未解的今天，我們需要持續關心地球各個角落發生的幸與不幸，想想我們還能做些什麼。

It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders.

Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home. The journey is long, difficult, and dangerous, and after losing her mother as a baby, Nisha can't imagine losing her homeland, too. But even if her country has been ripped apart, Nisha still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together.

Told through Nisha's letters to her mother, The Night Diary is a heartfelt story of one girl's search for home, for her own identity...and for a hopeful future.