Summary

Chapter Three,“Values,” begins with a series of descriptions of seriously wounded Palestinians in Gaza. The chapter then turns to the year 2000 in Abbotsford, Canada. Akkad and his parents attempt to cross the border into the United States to visit a friend of Akkad’s father, but they are refused entry at a border checkpoint. Akkad and his mother are told to return home while Akkad’s father is held for questioning. Akkad speculates that it may have happened because of a previous issue his father had experienced while trying to enter Libya. His father discovered that he had the same name as someone on a terrorist watch list. Akkad also wonders whether an Arab man who had tried to cross the border with explosives a few months earlier had made the guards more cautious. Either way, he feels angry...