October 1947
Unwilling to join either India or Pakistan, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir hopes to keep his kingdom independent. But when a wave of attacks from the northwest frontier—supported by Pakistan—ravages city after city, chaos descends upon the valley.
As fear grips every neighborhood and friends flee Baramulla in panic, young Zooni faces a moment of reckoning. Where should her loyalties lie?
A band of determined youngsters, led by her courageous cousin Maqbool Sherwani, vows to defend Kashmir and its people. But how can they stand against truckloads of tribesmen armed with grenades and guns? As Zooni searches for safety, she uncovers a dark secret that makes an already dangerous world even more perilous.
Part of the Songs of Freedom series, this gripping story captures the courage and confusion of children caught in the storm of India’s independence and partition.
