Book Review: Children of the Hidden Land

 When you think YA, you think of a quick read. The best among them are perceptive, extremely well written, and draw attention to important issues. They linger long after you finish the book, but can normally be read in a couple of sittings. I started reading Mandira Shah's "Children of the Hidden Land" expecting to finish it fast, but after a single chapter, I realised it was a book that needed to be savoured.

In the first few pages, you meet Henthoiba, a tech whizz, who has built a drone that resembles an eagle to be used in wildlife conservation. While doing a test flight, he stumbles upon something so unexpected, he rushes to investigate… and disappears.

The story begins with his best friend April going through the contents of his bag hoping to find a clue that will lead her to him. April, who is from Manipur meets and befriends Shalini, the daughter of an army officer. Despite the ideological difference between the communities they come from, they form an strong partnership and complement the skills of each other as they gradually unravel the clues and make intuitive guesses in their investigation.

The book moves at a fast pace, with the two girls getting out of one situation only to fall into another. You are amazed at the tech skills of the teenagers, and how well they are able to leverage the internet to get what it takes to move ahead.

The book is set in Manipur, a state I know almost nothing about. By the end of the book, I learn a lot about the insurgency, of how the state falls in the route for smuggling drugs, of children kidnapped and trafficked, of how children forced to join the insurgents and the perception of the Indian Army among the locals. You realise how little of the situation in North-East is covered by mainstream media, and you are determined to read more about the place.

Perhaps what I loved about the book was the strong characterisation of the two girls. They come from very different backgrounds, have different attributes and skills, but they are essentially very similar people. Without saying so in as many words, the author draws attention to the intrinsic inequity of life- some people have to struggle to attain even a fraction of what others take as their due.

“Children of the Hidden Land” is a stunning debut, and I look forward to reading more from the author.