Razia

Razia is the main character and first person narrator of the novel. At the novel’s start, she has just finished the fifth grade and is on the verge of entering the sixth grade. Razia lives in the Corona neighborhood of Queens, New York with her mother and father, both of whom remain unnamed throughout the novel. Her life in this community dictates the majority of Razia’s understanding of herself and the world around her.

As a Pakistani and a Muslim, Razia knows that she is different from her peers. In the novel’s opening chapter “Corona,” after describing the other boys and girls in her neighborhood, she remarks, “But I was not one of them” (4). She is not only not allowed to dress like her peers, she is not allowed to cut her hair or play with boys. She is also expected to marry a Pakistani...