Ahimsa

Reading level

Level four: Advanced children’s literature
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Curriculum details

About

This middle-grade novel relates the experiences of the daughter of a freedom fighter during India's independence movement. Anjali's high-caste Hindu family faces ostracism and the threat of violence due to their efforts to integrate Dalit children into the local school. Meanwhile, Anjali's relationship with a Muslim friend is affected by the religious riots that erupt in the leadup to India's partition. The book has strong themes of activism to achieve social justice that has parallels with the American civil rights movement.