45 pages • 1 hour read
Zanib MianPlanet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Prologue-Chapter 5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Prologue Summary
Omar introduces himself and his family members on separate pages, each featuring an illustration and Omar’s comments. Omar has tousled dark hair and tells readers he has an active imagination. Omar’s brother, Esa, is three. Though he looks innocent, he cries loudly, always has food stuck in his hair, and gets Omar’s things sticky—but Omar loves him a lot. Maryam is Omar’s 13- going on 16-year-old sister. She likes peanut butter cups, enjoys teasing Omar, and has memorized 28 chapters of the Qur’an. Omar’s parents are both scientists. His mom loves coffee and wears a hijab outside the home. His dad has a beard and “poofy” hair and rides a motorcycle, which Omar’s grandmother thinks is too dangerous.
Chapter 1 Summary
Omar has a nightmare of being chased by a monster-like teacher with fingernails made of slugs. Omar wakes, and following Mom’s advice, spits over his shoulder to banish Shaytan, the bringer of bad dreams. Omar’s spit wad lands on Esa, who starts crying loudly. Mom and Dad are frustrated at being woken again, and tired of Omar waking Esa with his “shenanigans.” Maryam is also grumpy at being woken up so early—but it is almost time for Fajr, the dawn prayer, anyway. An illustration lists the five Muslim daily prayers.
Chapter 2 Summary
Omar has nightmares because he worries about going to a new school. The family recently moved to a new home because Mom got her “dream job.” The move was hard for Omar, who does not like change—he does not even want to get rid of his very old pajamas. It was also hard for Omar to downsize his possessions and give the rest to charity. Omar did follow Dad’s directions to whittle down his stuff and was glad to make Dad proud. Omar, Esa, and Maryam like their new house, especially its huge backyard, which has room for Esa’s swing set, Maryam’s cartwheels, and Omar’s soccer net. Omar notices, however, that their old lady neighbor seems critical of them.
Chapter 3 Summary
On Saturday, Mom, Omar, Maryam, and Esa attend different mosques in the neighborhood for Dhuhr, or noon prayer, while Dad works. Omar knows that Esa uses his cuteness to manipulate Mom, who buys Esa a toy whistle and gives him a “gooey kiss” before they go to mosque. There, an imam leads the prayers, and everyone must be very quiet.
Esa moves to the back of the mosque, away from Omar, Mom, and Maryam. The people praying shift into different positions: Rukhu, in which one is bent over with hands on knees, and then Sujood, with knees on the floor, and head and nose touching the ground. While everyone is in Sujood, Esa blows his whistle loudly and begins counting to five. Omar cracks up. Mom and Maryam are hugely embarrassed. The others in the mosque ignore the interruption and are kind to Omar’s family and Esa. An older woman praises Esa’s counting.
Chapter 4 Summary
On “Science Sundays” the family does fun science projects together. This Sunday, they make tornadoes in a bottle, which Omar thinks is cool. Mom is meticulous. She has a hard time watching the kids’ imprecision, but tries not to take charge. This amuses Dad, who expresses his affection for Mom, which she returns with a smile and kiss on the hand. Maryam always drops something critical, and Esa, fidgety, always steps on it. Omar invents a new word—“bipes”—for bottles and pipes. Mom and Dad laugh because there is no “p” sound in Arabic, and the word would become “bibes.” Maryam discovers that a bipe is a lizard-like animal. Maryam drops the glitter on the floor, making Mom and Dad laugh. Mom hugs Maryam, who pulls away and stalks grumpily upstairs.
Chapter 5 Summary
Monday is Omar’s first day at his new school. He wakes up feeling sick to his stomach with nervousness. He worries that no one will like him, that he will not make friends, that his schoolwork will be harder, and that his teacher will be an alien. He does not want to get out of bed. Maryam teases him, and Dad carries him downstairs to eat his porridge, which he enjoys. Mom reassures Omar school will be fine. Omar dresses in his favorite sweatshirt and jeans, which he digs up from piles in his room. The jeans are stained, but Omar does not mind. Mom does mind and gets very angry. Dad helps Omar find some clean clothes, and Omar rushes to the car where mom waits irritably.
Prologue-Chapter 5 Analysis
These opening chapters introduce the irrepressible, imaginative Omar and his close-knit family. Zanib Mian illustrates how the family’s Muslim faith is an intrinsic part of their life. Nasaya Mafaridik’s illustrations become part of the story.
Omar opens his narration with onomatopoeia, where a word’s sound illustrates its meaning. “Khaatooo!” is the sound of Omar spitting onto his little brother. In this way, the book establishes its informal, lighthearted tone, and provides immediate insight into Omar’s playful personality. Omar is positive and enthusiastic about everything from Science Sunday projects to porridge. He loves his family, as he shows when secretly admitting that he loves Esa despite his irritating habits. Omar is good-natured and has a lively sense of humor. This is illustrated when Omar is unable to contain his laughter at Esa’s antics in the mosque, and when he exhibits boyish disgust “(Super Yuck!)” with Mom and Dad’s affection.
Omar’s buoyant first-person narration also reveals his truly “HUGE imagination.” Omar shares his dreams, fears, and creativity with words. Omar admits that most of his dreams are about “fun stuff” like rollercoasters that change into flying pigs. His imagination is also evident in his flowing, stream-of-consciousness-like narration. For example, Omar’s creative brain runs too fast for the rest of him. While making bottle tornadoes, he explains that his “mouth hadn’t caught up with [his] brain yet and got things muddled up” (26), resulting in the word “bipes.” Omar uses idioms, like describing Esa as having “ants in his pants” and changing the word “legs” to “logs” to describe the heaviness he feels before starting school (25). Each example reflects Omar’s inventiveness. As the book will show, Omar’s imagination will be key in empowering him when Daniel bullies him.
Omar’s family is intelligent, loving, and well-adjusted. The family’s togetherness on Science Sundays reveals their affection and understanding. Mom and Dad show their love and commitment for each other, and that they understand what their children think and feel. Dad knows Maryam’s grumpiness stems from “teenage hormones.” Similarly, Dad is patient when Omar tries to wear his favorite—dirty—clothes on the first day of school. Omar worries about little Esa. The family supports one another.
The Muslim faith Is a fundamental part of Omar and his family’s identity. The book illustrates this with Omar’s matter-of-fact description of going to mosque, following daily prayers, and adhering to Islamic beliefs. Maryam knows 28 surahs of the Qur’an. Mom wears a hijab, traditionally an expression of modesty and faith. Omar briefly explains the Muslim belief that unrelated men should not view a woman without a hijab. Males in a woman’s immediate family, who are called mahram, can see her without a hijab, and Omar includes a picture of Mom with her hair uncovered. Dad has a beard, emulating the Prophet Muhammad, founder of Islam. To Omar, following the Muslim faith is his normal way of life. The next-door neighbor’s critical huff at Omar and his siblings foreshadows upcoming conflict and prejudice against Omar’s family.
Mafaridik’s cartoon-style illustrations reflect Omar’s narration. Mafaridik uses simple, black-and white line drawings to visually express Omar’s imaginings in a comical and surreal way, like the “ants” in Esa’s pants that parade across two pages toward a pair of undershorts and socks. Mafaridik also turns words into illustrations. She often creates calligrams: words or pieces of text where the design or layout of the letters visually represents the meaning of the words. The word “rollercoaster,” for instance, is shaped like a wave. Like a rollercoaster, the letters ascend, peak, and descend on the page, while the letter “o’s” are bubble letters, resembling wheels. The letters in the word “trampoline” are bold, rounded, and appear at varying heights, while short lines beside the letters suggest motion: All contribute to a bouncing feeling. The story’s visual elements both create and illustrate meaning.
