50 pages • 1 hour read
Love From A to Z
A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “Marvel: Two Saturdays in March”
Content Warning: This section of the guide refers to chronic illness, violence, death, racism, and Islamophobia.
Fourteen-year-old Adam Chen visits the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar’s capital city of Doha. He studies a sketch of a tree titled The Marvels of Creation and the Oddities of Existence. He likes the idea of the image and title. He then buys a Marvels and Oddities journal, which he uses for the next four years. At 18, Adam has decided to drop out of college and live instead.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Zayneb Malik works on a project for the Islamic History Fair at her mosque. She discovers “an ancient book” called The Marvels of Creation and the Oddities of Existence in her research (2). She soon starts a journal with the same name, which she uses for the next two years.
Chapter 2 Summary: “A Note to Understanding the Story About to Unfold”
The narrator introduces Adam and Zayneb’s journals, excerpts of which are included in the novel. Readers are invited to read them without guilt.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Zayneb, Wednesday, March 6, Oddity: Haters”
Zayneb boards the plane to Doha to see her Auntie Nandy. The woman next to her seems bothered by Zayneb’s hijab, which upsets Zayneb. She’s always been angry compared to her siblings, Sadia and Mansoor Malik. She has started to embrace this character trait in school, particularly in Mr. Fencer’s social science class. He recently gave the class an article about a Muslim girl buried alive in an honor killing and told the class to analyze it. Zayneb spoke up. She and her friends Kavi Srinivasan and Ayaan Ahmed created #EatThemAlive, a social media hashtag to call attention to white supremacists and racists. In class, Zayneb drew a knife under the words #EatThemAlive. Fencer saw it and sent her to Principal Kerr’s office. Kerr suspended Zayneb, and Zayneb’s parents were upset.
Zayneb tried to explain to her parents that she wasn’t threatening Fencer. Fencer is an Islamophobe and has a history of treating Muslim students poorly. Zayneb’s parents didn’t listen, and she hid in her room to write in her journal.
On the plane, Zayneb writes in Arabic to upset the woman next to her.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Adam, Thursday, March 7, Marvel: Touch”
Two months after quitting college, Adam buys a blue stone for his little sister, Hanna, at the rock shop before flying home to Doha. He’s missed human touch as he hasn’t seen Hanna or his dad in months. He’s made friends in college but still wants someone to love and love him back. He befriended one Muslim girl earlier in the term, but she got engaged while in Lebanon for the holidays. Ever since, Adam has been trying to be okay with being alone.
On the plane, Adam notices a girl in a blue hijab writing in a Marvels and Oddities Journal. He can’t believe that she has the same one as him.
Adam has been recently diagnosed with an illness and has been keeping it a secret from his family since November. He’s been trying not to think about it since.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Zayneb, Thursday, March 7, Oddity: Rumors”
Zayneb started receiving threats and Islamophobic insults online after her knife drawing and suspension. More threats appear on her phone as the plane taxis at Heathrow. Shortly after, the woman next to Zayneb demands a new seat, insisting that Zayneb is writing about her in her journal. The flight attendant moves her to first class. Zayneb notices a little white girl drawing up ahead and starts crying. She’s sure the girl has troubles, but Zayneb guesses that people aren’t cruel to her because of how she looks.
Zayneb searches for a marvel to write about in her journal, deciding on the cute guy she saw at the airport who’s now seated ahead of her.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Adam, Thursday, March 7, Marvel: Smiles”
Adam notices Zayneb’s smile when they greet each other in Arabic. They start chatting, and Adam explains that he converted to Islam when he was 11. Adam wants to show her his journal, but she falls asleep, and they don’t get to talk for the rest of the flight.
Adam tries to catch up to Zayneb in baggage claim at the airport, but then he sees his fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Raymond, and changes his mind. He keeps thinking about Zayneb afterward, wishing he’d gotten her name.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Zayneb, Friday, March 8, Oddity: The Cold”
Zayneb’s Auntie Nandy greets Zayneb at the airport and takes her home. Zayneb unpacks in her room, organizing her stuffed animals, Binky and Squish. She lies in bed and thinks about her late grandmother, Daadi, wishing she knew the details behind her death.
Zayneb wakes up to find Auntie Nandy in the kitchen with a spread of various foods. All of it is cold. They chat about what they’ll do in the city after Zayneb finishes resting. Zayneb is disinterested in attending Auntie Nandy’s teacher party that night but eventually agrees.
Kavi messages Zayneb with updates from school. Fencer has been talking about her in class, which upsets Zayneb.
Zayneb and Auntie Nandy prepare for the party. On the way, Zayneb marvels at how the city looks at night. They listen to ’70s music and Auntie Nandy sings along. Zayneb feels happy. No one looks at her like she’s strange. At the party, the cute boy from the plane opens the door.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Adam, Friday, March 8, Marvel: Coincidences”
Adam is surprised to see the airplane girl at the door of his house with Ms. Raymond. Ms. Raymond introduces her as her niece Zayneb, who’s visiting from Indiana for spring break. Ms. Raymond joins the other adults and teachers, and Adam and Zayneb join Adam’s friends outside. Zayneb starts talking to Hanna while Adam chats with his friends about the guests. Adam keeps looking at and thinking about Zayneb. He introduces her to his friends, the three Emmas: Emma Domingo, Emma Phillips, and Emma Zhang. Throughout the evening, he waits for the right time to ask Zayneb if he can see her again.
Chapter 9 Summary: “Zayneb, Saturday, March 9, Oddity: Unpredictable Creatures”
Zayneb thinks about her time with the three Emmas the night before. Their behavior surprised her. She didn’t like some of the things they said and thought their comments were racist and offensive. She tried saying something, but they didn’t pay attention, and the night went on. However, Zayneb didn’t think Adam was the same as his friends.
Kavi sends Zayneb another message about what she missed in school. Ayaan got sent to the principal’s office for #EatThemAlive. Kavi and Zayneb exchange anxious messages about Ayaan’s future and their college applications.
In the morning, Zayneb finds Auntie Nandy singing and dancing around the apartment. Zayneb is delighted. Later, they visit Souq Waqif and all the various shops. Zayneb buys a new hijab to wear on Hanna’s field trip tomorrow. Adam invited her to accompany them. Auntie Nandy tells Zayneb that tomorrow is the anniversary of Adam’s mom’s death. She wants Zayneb to be aware if she’s spending time with him. She explains that Adam and his mom were close and that she had MS.
Zayneb feels sad thinking about Adam and his mom. She can’t sleep thinking about him that night. She compares him to another Muslim boy she liked for a while, but Adam is different. She writes in her journal about the next day, promising that she’ll be quieter and more careful than usual.
Chapters 1-9 Analysis
Chapters 1-9 introduce the narrative world, its primary characters and conflicts, stakes, and themes. These opening chapters also introduce the narrative structure and form. Chapters 1 and 2 are written from the third person point of view and introduce both of the protagonists, Zayneb Malik and Adam Chen. The narrator groups Zayneb’s and Adam’s storylines into the same chapters to show how their lives are connected. In Chapter 1, Zayneb and Adam’s primary link is their Marvels and Oddities journal. The characters live on opposite sides of the world when they discover The Marvels of Creation and the Oddities of Existence. However, this “thirteenth-century drawing of a tree” and its related “ancient book” emotionally impact both of them despite the separation between them (1, 2). The drawing and text inspire the characters to begin private journaling practices, which become the formal inspiration for the entirety of the novel. In Chapter 2, the narrator explains the story has been organized around excerpts from Zayneb’s and Adam’s respective journals. The journals therefore create the novel’s structure and foreshadow the ways in which the protagonists’ storylines will intersect.
Similarities and differences between Zayneb’s and Adam’s characters appear as their first-person narrations alternate throughout Chapters 3-9. Although both characters are Muslim, they have different ways of seeing the world. Their journal entries reveal these contrasts and introduce the novel’s explorations of the Muslim Identity in Contemporary Society and the Dynamics of Romance Amid Personal and Societal Challenges. The characters have the same faith and overlaps in their cultural practices. However, they don’t interact with or see the world in the same way. Their Muslim identities are therefore unique because of their distinct personal perspectives and challenges. For example, Zayneb’s first chapter in Chapter 3 opens with the line, “I hate hateful people” (4). Her journal entry goes on to explain why she feels this emotion and how anger has become a main part of her character. Although initially ashamed of her angry streak, Zayneb has begun embracing it “for the right reasons” (6). She gets angry at the injustice, unfairness, cruelty, and hatred she faces simply because she is a young Muslim woman. The tone of her chapters is therefore more volatile, questioning, and intense. In contrast, Adam’s opening chapter, Chapter 4, has a more peaceful and reflective tone. He muses on his time at college, his desire to reunite with his family, and his longing to meet someone he can love and be loved by. The differences between Zayneb’s and Adam’s alternating first-person narratives create an underlying narrative tension, which propels the narrative forward and maintains the narrative pacing.
Zayneb and Adam begin to dream about a romantic connection when they reunite at Adam’s house in Doha unexpectedly. The characters feel an immediate attraction to one another on the plane. In Chapter 5, Zayneb notices Adam’s angular face, perfect jawline, open expression, and lively eyes. She’s even more attracted to him when he greets her in Arabic. In Chapter 6, Adam is surprised and delighted when he notices that Zayneb has her own Marvels and Oddities journal. He’s also attracted to Zayneb’s blue hijab and attractive smile. These immediate forms of connection inspire the characters’ curiosity in one another. Therefore, when they meet back up at the party, they wonder if fate is involved in their meeting. These dynamics convey the power of romantic connection and the ways in which love helps individuals overcome their personal and societal challenges. Both Zayneb and Adam have complex lives and often feel isolated and alone because of who they are. Their budding connection foreshadows a release from their loneliness and a new form of redemption.
Unlock all 50 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
