Mandira Shah

Children of the Hidden Land Mandira Shah

Description

Fifteen-year-old April lives in Imphal valley and has grown up learning to save

herself from tear-gas shells and hearing stories about children disappearing.

But when her best friend Henthoiba goes missing, she is determined to find

him. April finds an unlikely ally in Shalini Gupta, her new schoolmate and the

daughter of an army man recently posted in Imphal. With no real leads except

for a bag with some of Henthoiba's belongings and sharp deduction and

combat skills, the two set out to find him.

As they get sucked into the investigation, they stumble upon a dangerous,

unknown world-where children disappear and are trafficked and trained to

be soldiers. A world where drugs, arms and gold are peddled across borders.

Was Henthoiba abducted because he knew too much about this world? What

awaits Shalini and April at the floating island on Loktak Lake where Henthoiba

was last seen?

Unflinching, tender and action-packed, Children of the Hidden Land is a story

about two girls who overcome their prejudices to question their existing ideas

about nation, friendship and ambition. Above all, it is a story of hope and

courage.