Evie and Maryam's Family Tree

by Janeen Hayat

Evie and Maryam are in the same class at school, uneasily thrown together at the start of a new term as they start a project together looking into their family trees.

The two girls don't think they have much in common - Maryam feels like an outsider, and Evie thinks Maryam is a bit odd. But when the two girls each find the same mysterious folder containing documents in a secret language that belong to their grandmothers, they discover their ties go back two generations, all the way to India, to partition, and to two best friends who inspired each other more than they ever know.

A beautifully told historical family-based exploration of identity, inheritance, difference and friendship.

352 pages, Paperback

Published May 8, 2025

Reviews

[Rebecca R · Rating 5 out of 5]

When London school girls, Evie and Maryam are assigned to work together on a family tree project they make an incredible discovery - they each have a folder of letters written in code belonging to their great-grandmothers. As they work together to decipher the letters they reveal a story of a friendship across barriers between Kathy and Safia, starting in 1929 in Delhi and following the lead up to the independence and partition of India.

This is a wonderfully warm, inclusive and captivating story of friendship and reconciliation that explores historical events not often covered in British children’s fiction - highly recommended!

[Selma Stearns · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a great book for 9-12! The double narrative (one in pre-partition India and one in modern London) worked well. It would have been easy for the colonial story to be one-note and it could have made the modern problems seem trivial, but all 4 main characters were layered and their stresses were treated as valid.

The letters and mystery-solving element was a bit far fetched and didn’t grab me as much, but I’m sure it would help keep kids engaged.

[Cara Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! It's about two very different girls who discover an unexpected connection between them. It's also about friendship, bullying, prejudice and courage. There is a dual narrative woven throughout the book, alternating seamlessly between 1920s/30s India and the present day, with the historical thread enriching and impacting on the present. Highly recommended.

[Ruth Paszkiewicz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice school story of diversity, friendship and standing up for what's right even if its not popular, with an interesting secondary story of the end of colonialism in India and partition.

[Geckos Class · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how it helps teach you about how difficult life is for other people😞
I am so glad that their exhibit turns out great 👍 even though I did not understand at times

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. Nice insight to historical events. Lessons about not judging other people