The Map of Salt and Stars

Twelve-year-old Nour, the youngest of three sisters, lives in Manhattan, New York. Born and raised in Manhattan, she’s never been to her family’s home of Syria. She has limited proficiency in Arabic, while the rest of her family is fluent. Her mother was born Christian, while her father, Baba, was Muslim, and their daughters understand both religions’ traditions. After Nour’s beloved father dies of cancer, Nour’s mother, a mapmaker, decides they should return to Homs, Syria. Nour’s mother is excited for a reunion with Baba’s adopted brother Abu Sayeed, but Nour laments that her father lies abandoned in his Manhattan grave.

The family arrive in Homs in August 2011. Nour goes to the fig tree in the garden and tells it her father’s story of Rawiya, the mapmaker’s apprentice. Nour’s father would tell her bedtime stories, and the tale of Rawiya is her favorite. Nour completed the ending herself after her father lost his voice. Nour begins the story the way her father did, with the words: “Everybody knows the story of Rawiya […] they just don’t know they know it” (6).