Genre
Realistic fiction; children's fiction.
Setting and Context
The book is set in Montreal in 1990 and Lebanon in 1989, during the last year of the Lebanese Civil War.
Narrator and Point of View
Parts I and III are alternately narrated in the first-person by an unnamed classmate of Karim Nakad and by Karim himself (through his diary entries); an unnamed third-person narrator narrates the entirety of Part II.
Tone and Mood
The tone of the novel is matter-of-fact; the mood oscillates between tragic and optimistic.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Karim is the protagonist; the antagonists include Dave, most of Karim's Montreal classmates, and Maha
Major Conflict
The novel's major conflict is that Karim must reconcile the trauma of his last days in Lebanon with his new and peaceful life, overcoming his survivor's guilt and embracing existence.
Climax
The novel reaches its climax when Karim discovers Maha's body after she has been raped and killed in the mountains near Chlifa.
