Content Warning: This section of the guide refers to chronic illness, violence, death, racism, and Islamophobia.

“He stood there thinking about this grand title for a long moment. Then something clicked in his mind: Maybe that’s what living is—recognizing the marvels and oddities around you. From that day, he vowed to record the marvels he knew to be true and the oddities he wished weren’t. Adam, being Adam, found himself marveling more than ruminating on the weird bits of existing.”

Adam Chen finds hope and inspiration when he discovers The Marvels of Creation and the Oddities of Existence manuscript shortly after his mom’s death. The manuscript helps Adam to see his world and himself in new ways. It also catalyzes his private journal practice and therefore gives him a healthy way to process his complex personal experiences. This passage in turn clarifies the narrative form and foreshadows Adam and Zayneb’s connection via the journals.

“Then, two years ago, when Mom and Dad had stopped this rudeness, I began not to care that they’d called me an angry baby. Because by then I’d discovered this about myself: I get angry for the right reasons. So I embraced my anger. I was the angry one. Though, Marvels and Oddities, the right reasons got me suspended from school yesterday.”

Zayneb Malik’s anger is a key facet of her character that allows her to fight for change and to combat injustice. She initially feels ashamed of her volatile personality but learns to regard this character trait as a strength. Her passion gives her the courage and power to stand up for what she believes in, despite the repercussions.

“What riles me is that people think Islamophobia is these little or big acts of violence. Someone getting their hijab ripped off, someone’s business getting vandalized, someone getting hurt or, yes, even killed. No, there’s the other kind too, and it’s a more prevalent kind: the slow, steady barrage of tiny acts of prejudice, these your-people-are-trash lightsaber cuts that tear and peel strips off your soul until you can’t feel your numbed heart any longer.”

Racism and Islamophobia define Zayneb’s coming-of-age experience. She constantly faces prejudice and microaggressions because she’s Muslim. Wherever she goes she feels like an outsider and is made to feel ashamed for what she believes and how she presents herself. She is determined to combat these injustices because she wants to be free to be herself.