Home Is Not a Country

Although not explicitly stated, it is widely believed that Nima and her family hail from Sudan because of the cultural references made throughout the text. These include tobes (outer garments worn by women), the Kushite pyramids, which are located in Sudan, and traditional music, dance, and film. Nima embraces her culture and particularly enjoys the music of Sayed Khalifa, whose music inspires her with its lyrics and melodies. Additionally, much of Nima’s story overlaps with jinn, a class of spirits in Muslim belief that inhabit a supernatural world bordering our own. Yasmeen is a manifestation of one of these spirits, and Elhillo utilizes magical realism to fuse the two worlds.

Despite celebrating her culture, Nima struggles to belong and faces microaggressions and overt incidents of racism because of her Muslim heritage. Like other immigrant children, she feels as if she does not belong in any world: at school, she is perceived as too foreign and viewed as a threat, whereas among teenagers of her own culture, she is viewed as too traditional. Although not stated explicitly, it is suggested that the day her mother stops wearing her headscarf is right after the events of 9/11 because Nima herself is attacked and called a terrorist by a classmate whose father is a pilot.