Chapters 1-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “Marvel: Two Saturdays in March”
Content Warning: This section of the guide refers to chronic illness, violence, death, racism, and Islamophobia.
Fourteen-year-old Adam Chen visits the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar’s capital city of Doha. He studies a sketch of a tree titled The Marvels of Creation and the Oddities of Existence. He likes the idea of the image and title. He then buys a Marvels and Oddities journal, which he uses for the next four years. At 18, Adam has decided to drop out of college and live instead.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Zayneb Malik works on a project for the Islamic History Fair at her mosque. She discovers “an ancient book” called The Marvels of Creation and the Oddities of Existence in her research (2). She soon starts a journal with the same name, which she uses for the next two years.
Chapter 2 Summary: “A Note to Understanding the Story About to Unfold”
The narrator introduces Adam and Zayneb’s journals, excerpts of which are included in the novel. Readers are invited to read them without guilt.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Zayneb, Wednesday, March 6, Oddity: Haters”
Zayneb boards the plane to Doha to see her Auntie Nandy. The woman next to her seems bothered by Zayneb’s
