53 pages • 1 hour read
Saadia FaruqiYusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2021A 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 1-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
Content Warning: As the novel centers on 9/11, it features trauma related to the attacks. The story also depicts anti-Muslim prejudice, bullying, and child abuse and includes a reference to antisemitism and the Holocaust.
Yusuf Azeem is 11 years old. He’s starting the sixth grade in the fall of 2021, and on his first day at Frey Middle School in Frey, Texas, he opens his locker to find a note that says, “You suck.” Yusuf thinks the note is a mistake. Trying to stay excited about middle school, Yusuf reminds himself that he already has a school email account. He also plans to participate in the Texas Robotics Competition (TRC).
The enthusiastic Principal Williamson leads the first-day assembly, and Yusuf sits next to his best friend, Danial Kahn. Danial’s parents are computer engineers for Exxon, so his mom can afford to buy new cars, and her most recent is a Jeep. Yusuf’s abba (father) is Mohammad Azeem, and he owns and operates the A to Z Dollar Store. Yusuf and Danial are Muslim, and LEGO robots and coding are their primary concerns.
Chapter 2 Summary
Danial and Yusuf stand under a banner that welcomes new students. Another banner reads “NEVER FORGET—TWENTY YEARS” (17). Yusuf and Danial have been close since kindergarten. This year, they don’t share any classes, which makes Danial sad. Yusuf stays positive, telling Danial they’ll be together for lunch, the library, and the gym. Yusuf’s optimism annoys Danial.
Yusuf recalls the summer, when Danial and Yusuf hung out at Abba’s store and watched the Texas News Network (TNN). Danial doesn’t understand why Abba watches a news network that perpetuates hate. Yusuf says that Abba thinks it helps them know what’s happening in the world.
Yusuf’s science teacher, Mr. Parker, the seven-time Teacher of the Year, reviews lab safety. Cameron (previously, Kamran) Abdullah rolls his eyes, and Yusuf thinks about a lab explosion in Uncle Rahman’s hospital. Mr. Parker calls on Yusuf, and Yusuf thinks about using the American version of his name, Joseph, but then he remembers Abba’s advice about staying proud, so he tells Mr. Parker his full Muslim name.
Chapter 3 Summary
Yusuf’s amma (mother), Farrah Azeem, is cleaning the garage, which she has been working all summer to turn it into an office for her writing work. Yusuf spent most of his summer helping her. Amma regularly calls Yusuf “darling”—a name he dislikes but tolerates.
After chicken pulao and raita, Yusuf builds his little sister, Aleena, a unicorn, using the block-coding website Scratch. Abba comes home and complains about his new assistant, Nick, a senior in high school. Yusuf starts to watch a documentary about a robot that can build cars much quicker than humans, and Yusuf dreams of creating a robot that behaves like a genius.
Uncle Rahman arrives with plenty of Chinese food. Rahman is a research scientist at a university hospital in Houston, and every six months he teaches a course on genetic mutation in Dallas. On his way back, he stops in Frey and visits his family. Rahman is Amma’s younger brother, and Sarah is their sister.
Rahman notes the 20th anniversary of 9/11, and he’s unsettled when Amma tells him that Yusuf hasn’t learned much about the attacks. Rahman emphasizes the importance of history and its impact on the present. Rahman was Yusuf’s age during 9/11, and for English class, he had to keep a journal, which he shares with Yusuf.
Rahman’s first entry is dated August 28, 2001. Eleven-year-old Rahman likes the Harry Potter franchise. His best friend, Jonathan O’Reilly, plays football and is “weird” but not off-putting. Rahman and his family spent the summer in Pakistan, which has unrivaled mangoes. Rahman predicts that 2001 will be the greatest year of his life.
Chapter 4 Summary
Another note appears in Yusuf’s locker, reading, “Go home.” Yusuf wonders if someone is “stalking” him. In science class, someone calls Yusuf a nerd when Yusuf tells Mr. Parker that step one of the scientific method entails articulating an observation. Mr. Parker leads the robotics club, and if he can find six students, he’ll lead meetings for the TRC on Saturdays. Since third grade, Yusuf and Danial have been preparing for the TRC, using products like LEGO Mindstorms.
For lunch, Danial brings halal food, but Yusuf eats a chicken sandwich from the cafeteria, which makes him feel cool. Danial worries that they won’t be able to attend the Saturday TRC meetings because, due to the construction of a new mosque, they must go to Sunday school on Saturday.
Danial notes the harshness of middle school and the popularity of football. Yusuf notices Cameron hanging out with bullies. Danial wonders why Cameron acts “white,” and Danial concludes that the boys in Cameron’s friend group make fun of him behind his back.
Chapter 5 Summary
Frey is a little town with a population under 13,000. When Yusuf was a baby, his family lived next to a Hindu family, but the family left, believing that Frey could only tolerate one type of person. Now, there are 11 Muslim families in Frey, and their mosque is a trailer behind Abba’s dollar store.
Sometimes, the mosque gets overcrowded, and the worshipers pray in the parking lot, irritating Mayor Taylor Frey Chesterton, who wants to brand Frey as “modern.” To counter the prejudiced “heathen” perception of them, the Muslim community builds a new center. The mayor approved the plans and respects Abba. Cameron’s father is a construction supervisor, and his crew laid the foundation and put in the plumbing.
Sunday school is led by two teachers, Amma and Sameena Aunty. Amma passes out candy and is kind, but Sameena Aunty is a “dragon” and punitive. In Sunday school, Yusuf learns about Prophet Moses standing up to the Pharaoh.
Chapter 6 Summary
On April 18, 2011, Abba uses a cricket bat to neutralize a person trying to rob his store, earning him a plaque for “courageous bravery.” Abba cleans the plaque daily and calls the robber a “blessing.” People praise Abba as a hero.
Yusuf plays with the store cat, Rusty, and helps clean up the paper aisle and the storeroom. Mrs. Raymond comes in, needing potting soil for her flowers. Her roses will be in the 9/11 parade, and she still remembers what she was doing when the airplanes crashed into the Twin Towers. Abba assures her that the soil will arrive next week. Mrs. Raymond is Jared Tobias’s grandmother, and Jared is in Yusuf’s science class.
Rahman’s second journal entry is on September 4, 2001. His parents want him to be a doctor, but he wants to paint, and his sister, Farrah baji (Yusuf’s mother), wants to study literature. Jonathan likes to read, but he reads privately to protect his “reputation.” Some people think it’s “weird” that a “popular white kid with muscles” and a “Pakistani kid who wears glasses” are friends (62).
Chapter 7 Summary
Instead of helping build the mosque, Danial strategizes with Yusuf about attending the TRC meetings and attracting enough kids to sustain them. Cameron makes fun of their interest in LEGOs, but before they stopped being friends, Cameron built intricate LEGO structures in minutes. Danial and Yusuf convince him to join TRC by mentioning prizes—cash, a laptop, and video games.
The new Islamic Center of Frey is being built near the train tracks and the New Horizons Church. As the church service ends, the Muslim community waves at the parishioners, but they look at their feet, though Jared offers a fleeting smile.
Chapters 1-7 Analysis
The fact that the narrative centers on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 suggests that The Personal Impact of 9/11 will be a critical theme. Uncle Rahman tells Yusuf that “[h]istory informs the present, my dear nephew, and so it affects the future” (33). Indeed, the past influences Yusuf from the very beginning of the novel, since the first two words in the book—“You suck”—relate to the attacks on September 11, 2001. The memory of 9/11 hasn’t completely faded, and neither has the anti-Muslim bigotry. For this reason, the banner that reads “NEVER FORGET—TWENTY YEARS” carries a double meaning (17). The first meaning is positive, prompting students to reflect on the meaning of that day. The second meaning is negative, as it catalyzes the anti-Muslim behavior of Ethan and the other bullies. In subsequent chapters, Rahman’s journal entries from 2001 will offer a different perspective on the theme, showing the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
Rahman’s journal entry adds another point of view and timeline to the narrative, turning it into a diary and a work of historical fiction. The journal also creates a parallel narrative, with Rahman’s story mirroring Yusuf’s experiences. Sometimes, the similarities aren’t immediately apparent. In Chapter 3, Rahman’s first journal entry introduces his white best friend, Jonathan O’Reilly. Yusuf doesn’t have a close white friend, but soon he will make friends with Jared. The journal often foreshadows or previews what will happen to Yusuf.
Another central theme is Countering Monolithic Representation. The first chapters introduce three Muslim boys, all of whom are different from each other. The diversity of Muslim characters implicitly shows that one Muslim person can’t stand in for all Muslim people. While Danial and Yusuf like coding and building robots, they’re not the same. Yusuf is optimistic, with Danial telling him, “Ugh, you’re so positive, it’s disgusting” (19). Danial is gloomy and uses melodramatic diction, like “sorrows.” Cameron used to be friends with Danial and Yusuf, but now he’s friends with white kids and has an earring and baggy pants. Danial and Yusuf see Cameron as a stereotype, with Danial saying, “He acts so…white” (45), but in the coming chapters, Cameron emerges as a complex, multilayered individual.
The notes and Yusuf’s robots both introduce the theme of Linking Language to Action. The notes are just words, but they nonetheless cause Yusuf mental and physical suffering: The note on the first day of school dampens his excitement, and the second note makes his stomach lurch. Moreover, Yusuf senses how hateful words can turn into violent action, and he anticipates the physical harassment when he wonders if the note writer is “stalking” him. The robots show the real-world consequences of language in a different way. The robots need language, computer code, to function. When Yusuf and Danial use LEGO Mindstorms, they create a language that spurs specific movements.
The Texas News Network (TNN) introduces the motif of the media, which the novel uses to develop the three themes. Danial labels TNN “messed-up news […]. People hating on anybody who’s different” (19). The sensationalistic news outlet perpetuates 9/11-fueled prejudice, illustrating how the past continues to affect the present, and the polarizing reporting reduces people to stereotypes, requiring people like Yusuf to “prove” their individuality. As Danial’s quote suggests, TNN links language and action, with its vitriolic words creating toxic behavior.
Arguably, TNN alludes to real-world conservative media organizations that profit from divisive content. Yet Abba’s dad subverts the common claim that such platforms are out of touch with reality. Yusuf explains why Abba watches TNN: “He says we should know what’s going on around us. Learn about the worst and hope for the best” (19). Abba’s reasoning implies TNN accurately reflects the hate and prejudice in the world. By watching it, Abba and others can develop strategies to curb it.
