By Janeen Hayat (author)
"Another rich, rewarding read that links present and past in an absorbing story."
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Friendship, family and above all identity are the subject of Evie and Maryam’s Little Lies , the absorbing follow up to Janeen Hayat’s award-winning debut Evie and Maryam’s Family Tree .
Friends Evie and Maryam are going slightly separate ways: Maryam has been offered a scholarship place at a prestigious private boarding school, meanwhile the play the two wrote about their great-grandmothers has won them a place on a top theatre fellowship programme for young writers and Evie is 100% focused on that.
The experiences prove difficult for both: Evie feels that the programme director doesn’t like their play, and worse, she’s already misled her family and friends, telling them it will be performed on the West End. Maryam makes no friends at her new school and feels excluded because of her background.
It gets so bad that when Evie comes to visit, Maryam decides to run back home with her. Hayat brings the two stories together and through another satisfying coincidence links the events of today to things that happened decades earlier. It turns out that the girls are not the only ones to have been telling lies about themselves in a thoughtful plotline that also links past and present.
The girls’ friendship is one of the many pleasures of the book but its treatment of themes of family and history also make this a standout read.
Evie and Maryam are back in their second adventure!
Maryam is thrilled to be awarded a scholarship to an esteemed boarding school but when she arrives, the other pupils are unwelcoming and she feels totally isolated. Evie is also struggling back at home, as the play she and Maryam wrote about their shared family history is being judged by an award-winning theatre director who takes an immediate dislike to the subject of India and partition.
She and Maryam decide that they need to do something drastic - but before long the two girls have created a web of lies which get out of control... will they ever find their way back to the truth?
Evie and Maryam’s Little Lies is a fantastic follow up to Janeen Hayat’s brilliant debut novel, Evie and Maryam’s Family Tree . Since it published in May 2025 it has gone on to win the Younger Readers Category at the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2026, and has been shortlisted for the UKLA and Branford Boase Book Awards 2026. As Evie and Maryam’s friendship evolves and changes, readers will be entranced by this beautiful story which, at its heart, champions the message that we should stay true to our beliefs, and fight for what we believe in.
Janeen Hayat grew up in Florida, a place she loves and hates in equal measure, and now lives in London with her partner and three chaotic, incredible children. She's half-Pakistani, half-New Yorker, a lapsed lawyer, teacher, Muslim and Catholic. She's passionate about creating characters that are many things at once -- because she knows she's not alone in being a tangled mass of identities, always changing.
Evie and Maryam’s Family Tree , Janeen’s debut novel, was named as winner of the Younger Readers Category at the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize in 2026. It has also been shortlisted for the UKLA Book Awards and the Branford Boase.
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Evie and Maryam are back in their second adventure! Maryam is thrilled to be awarded a scholarship to an esteemed boarding school but when she arrives, the other pupils are unwelcoming and she feels totally isolated.
The LoveReading4Kids Editorial Team have read and reviewed Evie and Maryam's Little Lies and determined it is suitable for children aged 9-12 years old
Evie and Maryam's Little Lies features in the following genres: Featured Books for 9+ readers, Featured Books for 11+ readers, Recommendations, Stories about Family and Friends, Historical Fiction, School Stories, People / Places, Children’s / Teenage fiction: General, modern and contemporary fiction, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Countries, cultures and national identity, Children's and Young Adult Fiction, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Children’s / Teenage: General interest
Paperback. £7.19, down from the £7.99 cover price. In Stock.
Evie and Maryam's Little Lies was written by Janeen Hayat and published by Guppy Books an imprint of Guppy Publishing Ltd
Evie and Maryam's Little Lies has 326 pages
£7.19, reduced from £7.99. In Stock.
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