A Moment Comes Hardcover - 2013

Before India was divided, three teens, each from wildly different backgrounds, cross paths. And then, in one moment, their futures become irrevocably intertwined.

Tariq. Anupreet. Margaret. As different as their Muslim, Sikh, and British names. But in one moment, their futures become entirely dependent on one another's.

While the rest of India anxiously awaits the upcoming partition that will divide the country into two separate religious states, eighteen-year-old Tariq focuses on his own goal: to study at Oxford. But for a Muslim born and raised in India, there is no obvious path to EnglandâÈ'until Tariq is offered a job translating for one of the British cartographers stationed in India, tasked with establishing the new borders.

Margaret, the cartographerâÈçs daughter, has only just arrived in India. But already she has discovered it to be hot, loud, and dull. She canâÈçt go anywhere alone for fear of the riots and violence. Eager for a distraction, she finds one in Tariq.

But itâÈçs Anupreet, another member of the staff, who has truly captured TariqâÈçs eye. SheâÈçs strikingly beautifulâÈ'but sheâÈçs a Sikh, so not someone Tariq should even be caught looking at. And yet heâÈçs compelled toâÈö

Against the backdrop of the nearly forgotten history of the partition of India, Jennifer Bradbury, as if with strands of silk, weaves together the heart-pounding tale of three teenagers on wildly different paths, on the verge of changing each otherâÈçs lives forever.

Details

• Title A Moment Comes
• Author Jennifer Bradbury
• Binding Hardcover
• Pages 288
• Volumes 1
• Language ENG
• Publisher Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New York, New York
• Date 2013-06-25
• Illustrated Yes
• Features Dust Cover, Glossary, Illustrated, Price on Product - Canadian
• ISBN 9781416978763 / 1416978763
• Weight 0.8 lbs (0.36 kg)
• Dimensions 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 in (21.08 x 14.73 x 2.79 cm)
• Ages 13 to 17 years
• Grade levels 8 - 12
• Reading level 770
• Themes
  • Chronological Period: 1940's
  • Cultural Region: Asian - General
  • Cultural Region: Indian
  • Ethnic Orientation: Multicultural
  • Religious Orientation: Islamic
• Library of Congress subjects Muslims, Interpersonal relations
• Library of Congress Catalog Number 2012028331
• Dewey Decimal Code FIC

*"India, 1947: As Britain prepares to divide the country before leaving, three lives unexpectedly intersect.
The partition of India and Pakistan, based on a border drawn by British civil servants, rarely appears in Western literature, much less fiction for teens. Bradbury pens a careful, respectfulâÈ'but fictionalizedâÈ'account of the final days before the line between the countries was announced, recounting it in the voices of three teens. Impulsive, spoiled English Margaret may not be entirely likable, but her love for the strange country she finds herself in is wholly believable and makes her the perfect stand-in for the reader; through Margaret, India in this specific time comes to life, and hard questions about British culpability are asked. Much of MargaretâÈçs complex relationship with India plays out through her growing friendship with Sikh Anupreet, who has been caught in the violence between Sikhs and Muslims already, and Muslim Tariq, who hopes MargaretâÈçs father will be his ticket to Oxford since âÈê[e]veryone listens to the men who have the right education from the right places.âÈë Through TariqâÈçs and AnuâÈçs voices additional complexities and context are provided. BradburyâÈçs research (detailed in an authorâÈçs note) infuses but never overwhelms the narrative; the lack of solid resolution for the characters suits a book about a violent and confusing time.
Historical fiction that brings its history to bloody, poignant life: rare and notable."