In this powerful and fascinating story about the Partition of India and Pakistan, readers follow young teen Zarina, who loves her life in Poona, India, and spending time with her friends Geeta and Jahana. However, Zarina and her family are Muslim and expected to move to Pakistan, leaving everything they know and love behind and braving a dangerous journey to their new home. When an accident leaves Zarina wracked with guilt, she chooses to attend a boarding school far from home and make a new start but leaving her family behind. As she embarks on this powerful journey with her family and then on her own, Zarina must grow up and figure out who she is in this new world. Powerful, emotional, and fascinating, readers of all ages will love this beautiful coming-of-age story and Zarina’s narrative journey. She is a relatable and endearing protagonist, and her character growth is particularly rewarding and relatable to follow. Her relationships with her friends and family are central to her character development and deeply relatable, and readers will love seeing her grow and change. Reem Faruqi has done a fantastic job bringing this historical period and the complex adjustments and emotional struggles to life in this new historical fiction novel in prose.

A lovely, surprisingly (given the topic) sweet story about the partition of India and Pakistan. While the author does not flinch away from addressing the incredible violence of the partition, she does in a way that does not require trigger warnings and is in no way graphic. The story is primarily about the MC (who is actually the author's real grandmother) and her move to Pakistan and, once there, her transition to a girl's boarding school where she thrives and blooms.

Middle grade books regarding the partition of India have been hitting the shelves all of a sudden and I’m glad for it. I learned nothing about this up until this point in my life and Zarina Divided has added to my knowledge base. This is another lovely novel in verse by an authentic author who deserves a spot on library shelves! Quick read but with emotional depth.

The story of a family being greatly affected by the British leaving India. So much information that I didn’t know and I loved the fact that it was written in verse. Well written and heart warming!