Summary

Riad, at age two, enjoys the admiring attention he, and his blonde hair, receives from adults, and particularly being an only child who is “worshipped” by his parents—Clementine and Abdul-Razak (4). Riad’s parents met in the early 1970’s; his Syrian father received a scholarship to study at the Sorbonne in France. Panels taking place in France have blue as a primary accent color. After Riad’s mother’s friend offered Adbul-Razak a date that she is clearly not planning to attend, Clementine takes pity on him and goes out for coffee with him. She ends up helping him complete his thesis, and in 1978 Riad's father completes his doctorate and Riad is born. Riad’s father is offered a professorship at Oxford, but turns it down because they spelled his name wrong. Instead, he takes a position as an associate professor at a...