Does My Head Look Big In This?

Amal’s parents are celebrating their 26th wedding anniversary, with her father trying to surprise her mother by buying her Tiffany earrings and booking a fancy restaurant for dinner. Her mother makes Amal visit their neighbor, Mrs. Vaselli, as it is her birthday and she is lonely, with a gift of a turquoise shawl. 

Once there, Amal is on edge with Mrs. Vaselli’s complaining, but she realizes just how alone Mrs. Vaselli is when she sees her unused tea set, and she decides to be nicer to her.

The next morning her mother shows off her earrings and her parents tell Amal that they skipped the restaurant and went for a kebab.

While waiting for their teacher to show up for class, Tia asks Amal loudly about female circumcision, and whether she has had it done. Everyone is shocked, including Amal. Simone tells Tia to shut up, and Tia responds by body-shaming her. Josh reacts by protecting Simone and Tia finally stops, “with a mortified, angry pout” (121). After a few days, Amal is still shocked, but Adam approaches her, trying to explain that Tia must be “freaked out” (122), and lashing out. Amal berates him about his sexist attitude, but they end up joking about it.