Swapna Haddow: 1947, Torn Apart

Swapna Haddow trained as a doctor, but after discovering she didn't like blood, decided on a career change and wrote her first book Dave Pigeon: How to Deal With Bad Cats and Keep (most of) Your Feathers, which won the Greenhouse Funny Prize. Dave Pigeon was also the winner of the North Somerset Teachers’ Book Award, Read Aloud category 2016, winner of Surrey Libraries’ Children’s Book Award 2017, winner of the Fantastic Book Awards 2018 and selected as part of the Tom Fletcher Book Club 2, in association with WHSmith. Dave Pigeon was also shortlisted for the Sainsbury’s Children’s Book Awards 2016, the Leicester Libraries Our Best Book Award 2017 and the Sheffield Children’s Book Award 2017. The second book in the series, Dave Pigeon (Nuggets!), was shortlisted for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Crystal Kite Award 2018 and the third book in the series, Dave Pigeon (Racer!), was shortlisted for the Alligator’s Mouth Award 2019. In this episode, Swapna talks to Nikki Gamble about her book 1947: Torn Apart, which tells the story of two boys at the time of the partition of India. The story is set in Delhi. About 1847 Torn Apart A thrilling and moving account of the largest movement of people in history, telling both sides of the story through the voices of children at the heart of Partition. It's October 1947 and two young boys find themselves thrown together during the dramatic changes of Partition. As the new India and Pakistan are born, can the friendship between these two children rise above the tensions between the two countries? When the British announced they would be leaving India, a feeling of hope bubbled up in towns and villages across the country - they would be free to rule themselves at last! But deciding to split the country in two - Partition - would soon mean so much more. Support the show Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this podcast, please support us by subscribing to our channel. and by purchasing books from our online bookshop, Bestbooksforschools.com In the Reading Corner is presented by Nikki Gamble, Director of Just Imagine. Follow us on Youtube for more author events YouTube.com/@nikkigamble1 For general news and updates: follow us on X @imaginecentre Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/justimaginecentre.bsky.social Instagram https://www.instagram.com/justimagine_books/ Full details about the range of services we provide can be found on our website www.justimagine.co.uk