Reading list: Eight novels that celebrate the role of children in the Indian independence movement

The struggle for independence was when the idea of India was shaped, and where we the people truly determined the future we wanted. Even today, we the people deserve to shape our future. It is important for children to learn about acts of resistance and about their power to make changes to bring about the country they want to live in. The history of the freedom movement, as taught in textbooks, is primarily about leaders and policies, whereas the movement itself was a popular one, and worked differently in different parts of the country according to local challenges and concerns. The idea behind Duckbill’s Songs of Freedom series is to showcase how the events of the movement played out in different parts of the country, through the experiences of children.

Here are short excerpts from each book in the series:

Postcard from the Lushai Brigade, Hannah Lalhlanpuii

1942

Picking up one of the coins, I had looked at it closely. “It’s strange – I’d never really paid much attention to details of coins. I didn’t know there would be this much design and so many carvings and letters.”

Perhaps my brother was able to see all the questions running through my head. “The face on the surface of the coin is...

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