The memoir examines what life was like for Dumas’s family upon emigrating to the US, both prior to and after the Iranian Revolution of 1979. The challenges faced by the family and the ways they try to adapt to their new life form the dominant theme in the book. Significantly, while there are many aspects of their experience, such as the language barrier, that can be common challenges for immigrants from many countries of origin, the family’s Iranian heritage distinguishes its experience from others. This is particularly evident when the family returns to the US following the Iranian Revolution. This political, economic, and human rights crisis serves as a pivotal moment that changes the nature of their experience and adds overt discrimination to the already difficult series of adjustments inherent in navigating a new culture.

Dumas describes her first day at elementary school, a day when her mother joins her. This is in 1972, prior to the Iranian Revolution and ensuing hostage crisis. After school is over, she and her mother leave the school and proceed to get lost. A woman, presumably the mother of a student at the school, notices them and invites them inside.