Zarina Divided

Zarina Divided by Reem Faruqi (Harper Collins Children, 2025) A much-needed book focusing on the Partition of India into India and Pakistan. Reem Faruqi’s story in verse is inspired by her grandmother’s life.  Zarina, an 11 year-old girl living in Poona in 1947, experiences the heartbreak of having to leave her home and her friends after the Partition because her family is Muslim. She experiences the division of religion and comes to an understanding about the British rule on India-as well as the effects of colonization on the newly established countries. Zarina tells the story of her family’s perilous travels to Karachi, Pakistan and ends with her studying at a boarding school in Murree, Pakistan. Zarina’s story emphasizes the struggle for a young South Asian woman to make decisions that may contradict cultural expectations-through a historically significant lens.