Summary

Chapter 7 is titled "Valid and Taraa," and is written in past-tense narration. Valid was a government worker in Afghanistan in the years immediately following 9/11. Taraa was his joyful wife. They had three children, two of whom were killed in a car accident that was caused by the anti-government Taliban sabotaging their car. Taraa and the family’s youngest child were seriously injured, and spent years both recovering and helping Valid continue to evade persecution. Two more children were added to the family. Eventually, the threats of the Taliban forced them to leave, and they made their way to Moria. There, the family made friends with a school-teacher named Hajira, even while the oldest child – Pooya, the one who had survived the car accident – fell in with a gang of Afghan thugs.

In Chapter 8, writing in present-tense, the author continues to describe her exploration...