Luma lived at a comfortable distance from Amman’s problems, which included poverty and the tensions brought on by the arrival of Palestinian and, later, Iraqi refugees.
-- Narrator (chapter 1 paragraph 6)

Importance: While attending ACS, Luma was isolated from the real Jordan where people lived in poverty and in over-crowded conditions.

The citizens of many communities might have organized, or protested, or somehow pushed back, but Clarkston wasn’t a protesting kind of place. The town’s quiet, conservative southern character didn’t go for rallies and bullhorns. Rather than making noise, during the first decade of resettlement the older residents of Clarkston simply retreated into their homes.
-- Narrator (chapter 3 paragraph 10)

Importance: The influx of refugees into Clarkston changed the demographics of the small town. The people of the city didn’t hold protests but they stayed away from the new arrivals.

During those early practices, Luma made a point not to ask her players about their pasts. The...
-- Narrator (chapter 5 paragraph 26)