Tariq is beset by danger on the streets and by conflict at home. Music is his only consolation. The only ally of his own age is Rachel, his Jewish classmate. She will not let Tariq's Islamic Iraqi background define how she-or the wider community-sees him. When he forms a new friendship with the volatile but intriguing record-store owner Jamal, Tariq discovers the world of jazz and the man he could become. The violence that has long threatened finally erupts, and things suddenly clarify for Tariq. He takes the ultimate risk-not on behalf of his friend but on behalf of his enemy-and the disparate worlds of modern America and traditional Islam come together in an unexpected and gripping resolution.