Book about family, belonging, & growing up. Follows Gharib's summers in Egypt with her dad as she grows from a kid, to an angsty grumpy teen, to a grown-ass adult. Retells a lot of cultural misunderstandings. While Hala gives no credit to tiny Malaka for being into the Avalanches circa 2003, I will acknowlege that her musical taste marks her as a way cooler middle schooler than I was. Gharib's eventual feeling of never belonging in the place which she found family and her identity reminds me of The Beginning Place. Title can read both sadly and happily.