Chapter 3 and 4 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 3, "Playing Tag in Allah's Palace" starts with the family moving to Saudi Arabia where Ayaan's father is working for a government ministry in 1978. When Ayaan arrives with her mother, brother and sister in Jeddah, her father is not there. They are stranded in the airport, until they are discovered by a distant relative who took them to his house to stay. Her father has rushed off to join a coup against the Somali government.

With the help of other clan members, the family moves to a small apartment in Mecca. Her mother is upset and beat them, but also finds comfort at the Grand Mosque. One evening, her father, Abeh, arrived and for the first time Ayaan met him and got to get to know him. She compares her parents, her father more gentle and believing in the...