44 pages • 1 hour read
Marina BudhosAsk Me No Questions
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2006A 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 8-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 8 Summary
Aisha and Nadira decide to visit Mr. Rashid, a lawyer they believe can help them. After seeing Mr. Rashid on a television show, Aisha contacted him and persuaded him to take their case.
In Mr. Rashid’s office, the sisters explain their situation: Their father’s detention is not only a personal crisis but also a barrier to Aisha’s college education. They describe the risk Abba took applying for asylum in Canada, which nullified his US application. Abba’s subsequent arrest while attempting to re-enter America with an expired visa complicates their situation further. Mr. Rashid listens but warns them that resolving their situation will be a lengthy and complex process. The reality of their legal situation overwhelms Aisha. She reacts with anger and frustration, running out of the office. Outside, Aisha confesses her fears to Nadira, particularly for their father’s well-being, and Nadira sits close to her on the train home.
Chapter 9 Summary
After school, Nadira and Aisha visit Dunkin’ Donuts, where Aisha uses her friend Risa’s phone to call the detention center in an attempt to speak with an INS officer. However, she encounters bureaucratic delays and evasions, leaving them without clear answers. Aisha then decides to call Ma, and the sisters learn that their father is being interrogated about financial matters, having entrusted some of their savings to Ali-Uncle—a revelation that perplexes the sisters. Tareq unexpectedly arrives and offers to help get Abba out of jail using fake documentation. The girls reject Tareq’s offer and head to the mosque to talk to Ali-Uncle.
At the mosque, Ali-Uncle shares a troubling development: The mosque director gave investigators a list of names of those who contributed to a community fund. Aisha inquiries about this fund, and Ali-Uncle explains that it is a communal account Bangladeshi Americans maintain for mutual aid, allowing members to borrow money for important needs. Their father was contributing to this fund to save for their college education.
That night, Aisha and Nadira strategize their next steps. They decide to write directly to the director of immigration and to their congressman, pleading their case under special circumstances. Taslima is skeptical, calling such efforts a waste of time on “stupid bureaucrats.” Despite this cynicism, Nadira feels a renewed sense of purpose and unity with Aisha. They envision their efforts as planting a garden with their words and draw strength and guidance from their faith.
Chapter 10 Summary
Immigration officers unexpectedly arrive at the family’s apartment, demanding to see their documentation. They deliver a directive that sends shockwaves through the household: The family must accompany them to the police station for questioning.
The family urgently contacts Tim, who has been providing them with legal advice. Tim joins them at the police station; the wait is tense and protracted, filled with apprehension about what might happen next. The family’s worst fears are confirmed when they learn that Uncle has been taken to a jail facility in Manhattan. This news is devastating, particularly for Auntie, who is overcome with grief.
Aisha confronts the police officers, and her frustration and helplessness escalate into a heated argument. Aisha’s distress is compounded by guilt and self-blame as she wonders if there was something she could have done to prevent Uncle’s detention, perhaps through negotiation or some other means.
Chapters 8-10 Analysis
The narrative style of these chapters captures the family’s escalating desperation and the mounting challenges they confront. The tone shifts between hope and despair, reflecting the emotional turmoil experienced by the characters as they grapple with their uncertain situation. The sisters’ determination to help their family creates a sense of optimism underpinned by The Resilience and Adaptability of Young Immigrants. Though Aisha is only a teenager, she has the foresight and courage to contact a lawyer about their situation; that she and Nadira persuade Mr. Rashid to take their case also testifies to their strength. Aisha again takes the initiative when she confronts the police officers. Despite the rivalry that Nadira often feels with her sister, even she recognizes Aisha’s spirit, explaining, “I know this look in Aisha: it’s the girl who knows how to please everybody to get what she wants” (84).
However, Aisha’s mood shifts when Mr. Rashid presents a bleak view of Abbas’s detainment and then again when her attempts to help Uncle fail. The end of Chapter 10 marks a turning point for Aisha. Her despair highlights the emotional toll of the immigration process, encapsulating The Impact of Immigration Policies on Families. The family is slowly being torn apart: Abba is gone, Ma is away, and Uncle is now detained. The contrast between Aisha’s vulnerability in this moment and her typical composure makes the former all the more striking. The scene indicts a system that forces children to assume responsibilities—for their family’s safety, future, etc.—that typically belong to adults.
That the family’s situation demands this also drives Nadira’s character development, which unfolds in parallel with Aisha’s. In these chapters, she evolves from a relatively passive observer to an active participant in the efforts to secure her father’s release. Her decision to accompany Aisha to Mr. Rashid’s office reflects this growth, as do her efforts to comfort Aisha afterward. The latter is something Nadira has previously struggled to do, even when Auntie urged her to. Now, she overcomes her lack of self-confidence, jealousy of her sister, and status as the younger sibling to provide Aisha with emotional support.
Meanwhile, Tareq reappears, offering the family illegal solutions to their problems. While his offer illustrates the desperation of their situation, it also foreshadows that the family may resort to risky methods to cope with their circumstances. These methods are all the more dangerous given the heightened surveillance of the Muslim American community, which the investigation into Abba’s financial ties dramatizes. In trying to secure a better future for his children, Abba is simply pursuing the American Dream, but his ethnicity and religion make him automatically suspect in the eyes of the government. The fact that accepting the basic tenets of American ideology does not guarantee one’s safety further contextualizes Tareq’s willingness to act outside of official channels. Even Taslima, one of the more assimilated characters, is skeptical of Nadira and Aisha’s efforts to secure their father’s release by following established procedure.
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By Marina Budhos
