Notableworks: | The Night Diary |
Occupation: | Writer |
Alma Mater: | George Washington University Sarah Lawrence College |
Awards: | John Newbery Honor 2019 |
Veera Hiranandani is an American writer of children's books. Her 2018 novel, The Night Diary, received a Newbery Honor in 2019. Her novel How to Find What You're Not Looking For won the 2022 Jane Addams Children's Book Award.
Hiranandani, the daughter of a Jewish mother and a father who was originally from India, was raised in Connecticut. She attended George Washington University, and later studied fiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College. Her first book, The Whole Story of Half a Girl, was published in 2012. It would become a Sydney Taylor Notable Book and a South Asian Book Award Finalist
Hiranandani's next novel, The Night Diary, is set against the background of the 1947 Partition of India. She stated that this book was partly inspired by the experiences of her father, who was nine at the time of the Partition, and fled his home with his family. The book was named one of two Newbery Honor titles in 2019.
Hiranandani lives and works in New York state.