Evie and Maryam's Family Tree – Winner of the Waterstones Best Book for Younger Readers 2026

Janeen grew up in Florida, a place she loves and hates in equal measure, and now lives in London with her partner and three chaotic, incredible children. She's half-Pakistani, half-New Yorker, a lapsed lawyer, teacher, Muslim and Catholic. She's passionate about creating characters that are many things at once -- because she knows she's not alone in being a tangled mass of identities, always changing. When she's not writing, she's advocating for an education system that gives every kid a fair chance.

A wonderfully original, dual narrative story set both in the present day and in India in the years leading up to independence from the British. As an emerging friendship finds its parallel in the distant past, many similarities become obvious, such as the prejudice experienced by people with brown skin. Absorbing and insightful