Nima

Nima is the main character of the novel, and the novel is told from her first person perspective. Nima is a 15-year-old muslim girl of color with a single mother, living in the United States. Her mother, Aisha, is a recent immigrant from Khartoum, Sudan, and they live in an apartment together alone, but the building includes others from Aisha’s homeland. Nima has one best friend through most of the novel - Haitham - who’s mother and grandmother also live in their apartment building. Nima attends American school in English during the week, and on the weekends goes to Arabic school with Haitham and others in the community. Nima, her mother, Haitham, and others experience severe racism, xenophobia, and islamophobia in America - resulting in both emotional and physical assault. The novel hints at taking place surrounding September 11th 2001, making the discrimination they experience even more...