The Partition Project
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When her grandmother comes off the airplane in Houston from Pakistan, Mahnoor knows that having Dadi move in is going to disrupt everything about her life. She doesnβt have time to be Dadiβs unofficial babysitterβher journalism teacher has announced that their big assignment will be to film a documentary, which feels more like storytelling than what Maha would call βjournalism.β
As Dadi starts to settle into life in Houston and Maha scrambles for a subject for her documentary, the two of them start talking. About Dadiβs childhood in northern Indiaβand about the Partition that forced her to leave her home and relocate to the newly created Pakistan.
As details of Dadiβs life are revealed, Dadiβs personal story feels a lot more like the breaking news that Maha loves so much. And before she knows it, she has the subject of her documentary.
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Saadia Faruqi is a Pakistani American writer and interfaith activist. She is the author of the Eisner-nominated graphic novel Saving Sunshine, the popular early-reader series Yasmin, and the middle grade novels The Strongest Heart, A Thousand Questions, Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero, and The Partition Project and the coauthor of the middle grade novel A Place at the Table as well as The Wonders We Seek: Thirty Incredible Muslims Who Helped Shape the World. She was profiled in O magazine as a woman making a difference in her community and serves as editor in chief of Blue Minaret, a magazine for Muslim art, poetry, and prose. She resides in Houston, Texas, with her family.
