Grade: 5-8

Summary:  Eleven-year-old Malika aspires to travel when her father journeys to faraway markets. She too yearns to travel to distant cities, and longs to learn to read like her younger brother. But nearly 12 years old, and soon to be of marriagable age, Malika knows that—like all Muslim women—she must be content with a more secluded, more limited life.

After her father's departure, Malika's life is complicated when Bilkisu, her father's second wife, boldly rescues a wounded man, Abdelkarim, who entered the city to preach rivals' religious beliefs. Enraged citizens attacked him for not conforming. Malika's mother, Meriem, reluctantly agrees to hide Abdelkarim in their rooftop pantry. They nurse his wounds, while worrying others will find and hurt him. While Abdelkarim is hidden, he teaches Malika to read and write. She gains a greater awareness of ideas and customs foreign to her community.