Narrator

The narrator is the unnamed protagonist of The Coin. At the start of the novel, the narrator has “just moved to America” and is “working as a teacher at a middle school” in Manhattan, New York (3). She is from Palestine and left her home with the help of her friend and sometimes-boyfriend Sasha. She is now living in Fort Greene, a neighborhood “in the heart of Brooklyn” (12). While the narrator never imagined herself teaching, she enjoys the job because it gives her a sense of power. She pretends that she is her students’ general but also treats the classroom in a more free-thinking way. She likes the middle school boys she teaches and often challenges them to write their own stories, encouraging them to embellish where they need to.

The narrator’s approach to the classroom mimics her approach to life. The classroom often feels limited, particularly in...