Section 3: Chapters 3 and 4 Summary

In Chapter 3, Nadira explains that her family is from Bangladesh, the northeast corner of India which is laced with river. Long ago, her family lived together, going with the water when it rose, but when 1943 brought a drought, her great-grandparents moved to Dhaka, driven by famine. A few years later, the British divided Bengal in half, an act called Partition, which caused many riots between the Hindus and the Muslims. "You're only little, but you know it's there: that feeling that you never know what terror will pulse from the ground" (p. 22).

In Chapter 4, Nadira assumes she and Aisha will have a lot to talk about on the road, but Aisha drives in angry silence. She notes how hard Aisha tries to fit in with the American children, but Aisha is oblivious to some things, like how sad Ma...