Summary

Chapter 1

Rooftops of Tehran opens in the summer of 1973 with 17-year-old Pasha Shahed watching the stars on the rooftop with his best friend, Ahmed. Pasha thinks back to his past detailing a few important events. He talks about how his father raised him to understand advanced vocabulary and has been preparing him for a life as an engineer. Pasha isn’t interested in becoming an engineer though and wants to do something more meaningful with his life. Pasha also talks about how his mother is obsessed with natural remedies, and despite having no formal training believes she can whip up a cure for anything. She’s constantly making him take strange concoctions, for both physical and social issues.

Pasha also reflects on how he and Ahmed first met. Pasha was new to the school and being bullied. Ahmed immediately jumped to his defense...