Evie and Maryam’s Family Tree – at a glance
The School Reading Lists’ five word review: Family, changes, generations, bullying, honesty.
Children’s book title: Evie and Maryam’s Family Tree.
Children’s author: Janeen Hayat.
Genre: Children’s fiction.
Published by: Guppy Books.
ISBN: 9781916558410.
Recommended for children aged: 9-12 year-olds.
First published: Paperback May 2025.
This children’s book is ideal for: looking at how a family’s history affects not only close relatives but also a wider circle of friends and how our ancestors experiences can be both amazing and commonplace at the same time.
To see the latest price or order, click on the book cover image. As an Amazon Associate schoolreadinglist.co.uk earns from qualifying purchases.
Our review:
Evie and Maryam don’t know each other, but they’ve just started at the same secondary school, are in the same class, and even sit at the same table! Being paired up for a class project on family history isn’t ideal for either of them, but as they begin their work, the girls make an amazing discovery: their great-grandmothers knew each other in Delhi before the Second World War. Letters both girls have recently found, written in a strange language, fascinate Evie and Maryam. After a trip to Evie’s grandma, they finally decipher what was written decades earlier.
With Maryam’s parents facing an uncertain future as they struggle to keep their family business afloat, and Evie realising her junior school friends aren’t who she thought they were, life isn’t easy for either girl. When Evie notices Maryam being targeted by the class bully, who happens to be one of her closest friends, she faces a difficult decision.
Both girls know Safia and Kathy wanted nothing more than for their families to have the chance to live in a safer, fairer world. As their message travels across the decades, could their wishes influence their future families in ways they never imagined?
Our verdict:
Written from the perspectives of all four main characters across two time frames, Janeen Hayat’s novel seamlessly weaves relatable modern-day issues into the historical narratives of two seemingly unconnected families. Maryam is a quiet, studious girl, whose junior school friends haven’t moved with her into Year 7, leaving her isolated and lonely. Evie, however, still has her two best friends from primary school, but is discovering that at least one of them isn’t someone she wants to associate with anymore.
The family history project brings Evie and Maryam together, and they uncover as much about themselves as they do about their great-grandmothers through the coded letters discovered among their grandmothers’ possessions. These letters contain insights into the unrest in India in the late 1920s and early 1930s, viewed from both sides, as well as Kathy’s experiences during the early years of the Second World War in England and Safia’s displacement due to the Partition of India. As the girls finally break the code and read about Kathy and Safia’s hopes and dreams, they gain a deeper understanding of their own lives.
Evie and Maryam’s Family Tree ends more positively than similar adult novels might, with past wishes finally realised. Rather than sanitising history, it enables both Maryam’s and Evie’s families to learn important lessons about how they are perceived by others. It also highlights that, although accepting differences can sometimes be challenging, it remains a positive and rewarding endeavour.
Teaching points and book club discussion ideas:
- Starting a new school can be challenging, and both Maryam and Evie understand this. What do you think is the hardest part about moving to a new school?
- Bullying occurs for many reasons. Evie knows it’s wrong but struggles to act correctly. How might Evie have behaved differently to support Maryam and help her feel less isolated?
- Write a letter to a friend, using a simple code, and exchange it with them. How difficult was it to decode each other’s letters?
- Both Maryam’s and Evie’s grandmothers discovered things about their mothers that they hadn’t previously known. How would you feel if a relative of yours had been as brave as Kathy or Safia? Can you understand why Kathy, in particular, kept everything secret? How challenging would it have been?
- What personality traits do you think Evie and Maryam inherited from their great-grandmothers? Has anyone ever told you that you resemble an older family member? If so, how did that make you feel?
- Many of Safia and Kathy’s experiences actually occurred. Do you find it easier to remember important historical facts through fiction or factual accounts?
Many thanks to Guppy Books for the review copy.
To order a class set of this book, please click below to order via uk.bookshop.org, an organisation that supports local bookshops, or Amazon.co.uk.
Buy from UK.Bookshop.Org Buy from Amazon.co.uk
Disclosure: If you buy books using the buttons above: we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops; as an Amazon Associate schoolreadinglist.co.uk earns from qualifying purchases.
Browse our Year 6 reading list.
