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Oh my goodness, if you’re looking for a new title to fit with a WW2 topic, or for an atmospheric ghostly class read, then this is absolutely the book for you!
Review: Nisha’s War – Book Craic
The novel is richly written and there are many descriptive passages worth lingering over and sharing. Although the story would make an excellent class story, some of the passages about the war are quite graphic and so the audience would need careful consideration- Year 6 and above- before reading. A ‘Did You Know?’ section and glossary of terms further enrich the reader’s experience. I'm going to be extremely greedy here and say I would love to illustrate The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, The Borrowers by Mary Norton and I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. A great deal of my inspiration comes from classic stories and a duvet-cacoon of nostalgia. Do you have time to sketch for pleasure? Set in 1942 Nisha has escaped the terror of the Japanese invasion of Singapore. Missing the heat of home in Malaya, her grandmother’s house in the North of England seems especially cold and grey. Even the villagers are suspicious of a girl with brown skin who they can see is only half English.I do try to make time, although there are periods in the year where my job in a bookshop does demand more of my attention. However, sometimes having a little break helps to recharge my enthusiasm for sketching, it gives me time to mull the ideas over in my head whilst looking forward to being able to get them on to paper. You are so incredibly talented at character observation, do you find yourself spotting real life characters and tranforming them into illustrations? Prepare to be chilled by the latest gorgeously evocative wartime ghost story by Dan Smith with stunning atmospheric cover illustration by Matthew Land.
Nisha’s War / Young Quills reviews 2023 / Historical Association Nisha’s War / Young Quills reviews 2023 / Historical Association
Nisha’s War is a stunning, hauntingly atmospheric wartime adventure which swept me into a ghostly tale of loss, forgiveness and hope; a powerful depiction of the trauma caused by war and of healing within a family.There’s also a stark and honest exploration of racism and what it means to be a refugee – sadly still very relevant today. Nisha and her mother face prejudice and judgement in England. Some of the locals do nothing to hide their dislike and distrust of refugees, and Nisha’s grandmother does not hide her disapproval of Amma as a daughter-in-law, making it very clear that she would have preferred her son to marry a nice English girl. An atmospheric ghostly mystery with a twist. This would be an excellent choice for any reader aged 9+ When I started writing the story, I didn’t have any particular themes in mind. But when I think about it now, there are so many! Loss, grief, displacement from home, friendship, love, empathy, understanding, hope, courage, race, kindness, acceptance … I could go on! For me, the stand-out themes are empathy, hope, and inclusivity, but hopefully readers will take from Nisha’s War whatever they need to take from it. And finally, adventure seems to be at the heart of all your books, what’s the most adventurous thing you have done or would like to do?? I liked how the book depicted aspects of the Second World War that were less familiar to me: the Japanese invasion of Malaya and the fall of Singapore. These events will certainly be unfamiliar to most primary-aged children too. Dan Smith’s portrayal of how war affects the mental health of young people also provides another fresh angle on a wartime story.
Nisha’s War by Dan Smith – Get Kids into Books Nisha’s War by Dan Smith – Get Kids into Books
Location is hugely important to the story; it’s a metaphor for Nisha’s mental well-being. Most of her memories of her home in Malaya are happy, warm, and full of love. She remembers Malaya in bright colours, which reflects her state of mind. In her journal, she writes about the evacuation from the plantation where she lives, and during that journey things change for her. When she reaches England, all the colour has gone from her world. Nisha has lost all hope and the setting reflects that. Barrow island is cold, grey, and harsh. The weather is dull. The nearby village is bland and confusing. The story is about Nisha learning to see the colours once more.This is definitely a brilliant historical fiction book which I would recommend to many people aged 10-13 as I think they would enjoy the mix of historical and fantasy features. This is a perfect melding of the historical and the otherworldly which kept me utterly gripped throughout as danger creeps ever closer, time runs out, and secrets are uncovered. The evocation of wartime, of a sense of eeriness and of an isolated island are brilliantly portrayed. The loss of colour, warmth and hope in Nisha’s life following the invasion of her once-happy home is powerfully portrayed in the descriptions of the island, but hope has the chance of returning through her quest and her relationships with those she meets. I found the book interesting with the different scenes and plot twists. I liked Nisha because she never gave up. I learnt from Nisha that its best to never give up even when something is hard or uncomfortable. I found the book cool and interesting. I would definitely recommend the book since I love mystery and know other who do too. Thrust into a new and alien world, Nisha shows great determination and resilience in the face of hostility. The fact that she is ‘different’, coming from Indian/ English parentage, being an ‘outsider’ and having partially lost her hearing due to a bomb blast all add to the wave of prejudice she encounters from many villagers. The contrast between scenes of the stark landscape of Barrow Island and the vibrancy and colour of Malaya, the threat of the Weeping tree and the safety of the banyan tree even with its ghosts, the sense of life before and life after skilfully emphasis her vulnerability and deepen the reader’s empathy for her situation. She would be a wonderful character to explore with a class. I am a primary school teacher who is a voracious reader. I love reading children's books, talking to them about books, engaging them in reading for pleasure and recommending books to them.
Nisha’s War,’ by Dan Smith. – Library Girl and Blog tour: ‘Nisha’s War,’ by Dan Smith. – Library Girl and
year-old Nisha and her mother have escaped the horrors of the Japanese invasion of Malaya to live in her father’s ancestral home on Barrow Island on the North West coast of England. When they arrive at the imposing Barrow House, they are made to feel less than welcome by Nisha’s grandmother, the formidable Mrs Barrow who informs them that there are a set of rules which she expects to be followed, rules which are shared with them by the kind-hearted housekeeper, Mrs Foster.
This is a thrilling, engrossing wartime adventure: a story of family and friendship, of belonging and acceptance, and of loss and hope. I cannot wait to share this one with my class, and can highly recommend it to anyone of 9+. In Nisha, Dan has created a sympathetic and engaging female lead whom I rooted for from the start. There’s a fantastic cast of fully realised supporting characters too. Local lad Jamie, Land Girl Joy, kindly cook and housekeeper Mrs Foster and her husband Mr Foster and, of course, the formidable Mrs Barrow. We asked Matthew about his creative process and working on Nisha's War. Tell us a bit about the process of creating the cover for Nisha's War from brief to publication? Malaya, 1942.Nisha’s home is destroyed by war and she and her mother, Amma, flee to her father’s ancestral house in England, perched on a cliff top on the cold Northern coast.
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