Nadira Hossain

Nadira Hossain is the main character of this novel as well as the narrator. She is a fourteen-year-old Bangladeshi girl and an illegal immigrant who lives in Queens, NY. After the Hossains are denied asylum in Canada, Abba is arrested for violating his visa upon their return to America, so he sends Nadira and Aisha back to school in Queens, NY. Aisha tells her younger sister that they are alone now and must work together, but Nadira refuses because she has always been jealous of her perfect sister. Uncle scares Nadira by telling her that becoming legal will not make people look at them differently, so when Aisha tells Nadira she is a candidate for valedictorian, Nadira tells her it does not matter since they will not be able to stay in America anyway. Nadira feels guilty for making her sister cry when she learns Abba is...