The Red Pencil

Part 1 takes place between September 2003 and March 2004. This section covers Chapter 1: “Wheat,” Chapter 2: “Dando’s Delight,” Chapter 3: “Lost Tooth,” Chapter 4: “Dizzy Donkey,” Chapter 5: “Opportunity,” Chapter 6: “School,” Chapter 7: “Pinched,” Chapter 8: “The Wager,” Chapter 9: “Fruitless,” Chapter 10: “Contest,” Chapter 11: “War,” Chapter 12: “As I See It,” Chapter 13: “Chores,” Chapter 14: “Birth Story,” Chapter 15: “Heartbeat,” and Chapter 16: “Okra.”

It is Amira’s 12th birthday, and she is finally old enough to wear a toob (a sash). Her mother, “Muma,” greets her with birthday blessings. Amira reflects on the beauty of the ripened wheat that sways in the sun on the morning of her birthday; the novel includes an accompanying illustration of wheat rows. “Dando,” her father, runs up behind her and scoops her up, saying that “Amira Bright” is never too old to greet the sky. In his arms, Amira feels she can truly fly.

Amira remembers helping her best friend, Halima, yank out a stubborn tooth when they were both six. The girls play “dizzy donkey” together—lacing their fingers and spinning in circles; the novel includes crookedly aligned verse and an illustration of the girls to capture this spinning.