45 pages • 1 hour read
Jennifer Zeynab JoukhadarA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Twelve-year-old Nour, the youngest of three sisters, lives in Manhattan, New York. Born and raised in Manhattan, she’s never been to her family’s home of Syria. She has limited proficiency in Arabic, while the rest of her family is fluent. Her mother was born Christian, while her father, Baba, was Muslim, and their daughters understand both religions’ traditions. After Nour’s beloved father dies of cancer, Nour’s mother, a mapmaker, decides they should return to Homs, Syria. Nour’s mother is excited for a reunion with Baba’s adopted brother Abu Sayeed, but Nour laments that her father lies abandoned in his Manhattan grave.
The family arrive in Homs in August 2011. Nour goes to the fig tree in the garden and tells it her father’s story of Rawiya, the mapmaker’s apprentice. Nour’s father would tell her bedtime stories, and the tale of Rawiya is her favorite. Nour completed the ending herself after her father lost his voice. Nour begins the story the way her father did, with the words: “Everybody knows the story of Rawiya […] they just don’t know they know it” (6).
Action & Adventure
View Collection
American Literature
View Collection
Books that Feature the Theme of...
View Collection
Coming-of-Age Journeys
View Collection
Grief
View Collection
Immigrants & Refugees
View Collection
Memorial Day Reads
View Collection
Middle Eastern Literature
View Collection
Military Reads
View Collection