Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero

Abba and Yusuf joke about Yusuf creating a robot that catches the rats in the store’s trash. Abba offers to buy donuts for all the TRC students, and Yusuf wonders why Abba cares so much about his public image. Abba believes good inevitably defeats bad, and it’s important to show generosity, but he admits it can become “too much.”

People gather outside Abba’s store because people vandalized it. Amma blames the Patriot Sons, and Strickland agrees: Since Mr. Grant arrived, the group has caused unrest. Strickland says the Patriot Sons are losing their place in society. The Frey Weekly covers the destruction, and Cameron jokes that Yusuf’s family is famous again.

Rahman’s eighth journal entry is dated October 26, 2001. Rahman hears terms like Taliban and the Patriot Act. The latter relates to surveillance, and Farrah says it allows the American government to treat Muslims like “scum.” Rahman and his abba go for a walk with their cat, Silky, and a police officer questions them.

Cameron begins building the robot with LEGO Mindstorms pieces, and Madison names the bot Miss Trashy. The anti-Muslim hate diminishes Yusuf’s excitement. He feels like the titular girl in Neil Gaiman’s novel Coraline (2002)—as if he’s entered an upside-down world.