Call Me Adnan, page 1
Dedication
For my brothers, Osman, Talha, and Hamzah, and my uncle Jim, who are always there for me and who make the table tennis ball f l y . . .
and Nana for sharing Yusuf’s legacy
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Part 1: Thrust
The Beginning
Table Tennis
Magic Trick
My Trick Now That I’m Twelve
Why I Like Winning
Me
I’m Color-Blind
My Mistakes
It’s Not Just Me
Left-Handed
Famous Left-Handed People
Aviation Alphabet
My Name in Aviation Alphabet
My Name Is
Me
My Best Friend, Sufian
How It Started
Who I Usually Play Against
Summar
What I Like about Summar
When Sufian Smiles
When Summar Smiles
When I Grow Up
When Sufian Grows Up
When Summar Grows Up
When My Siblings Grow Up
Before: Playing Table Tennis When I Was Eight Years Old
After: Playing Table Tennis When I Was Eleven Years Old
Magic Trick (Now That I’m Twelve)
Why I Love Table Tennis
My Favorite Sound
How I Discovered Table Tennis
Talent
Coach Khalil Says
Game of Spin
Favorite Snack
Popcorn Feet
Rice Krispies
Snap! Crackle! Pop!
Abu’s Advice
Goals
My Family
If You Give a Ball . . .
Aaliyah’s Roses
Aaliyah’s Windowsill Bouquet
Sufian’s Mousse
When Sufian Bakes
Riz’s Favorite Rice Krispie Treats
Sufian’s Experiments
Sufian
What Sufian and I Google
Brothers
The Benefits of Four
Laundry
My Job at Bedtime
My Family’s Hair in Letters
My Family’s Smiles
Coach Says
Rally
Rizwan
Air Pwane!
Taking Riz to the Air Show
Riz’s Language
Riz’s Places
Imam Talha
If You Give a Ball . . .
Downtime
Little Shadow
Friday Jumuah Prayer
Sunday School
Summar’s Gifts
Bunny Poop
Gross
The Airport Cell Phone Lot
When I Soar
How Aaliyah Soars
Amma’s Rules
Rhythm
Amma’s Advice
What I Think About
Seventh-Grade First Day of School
Teacher Next Door
Seventh-Grade Language Arts
Gum
Ms. Morgan’s Lesson
Ms. Morgan’s Voice
Ms. Morgan’s Challenge
Ms. Darlene
Secret
Stories
Coach Khalil Gets It
Coach Khalil’s Advice
Tournaments
So Far
Table Tennis Tournament Stages
Calendar
Drills
Practice with Summar
Eid on the Horizon
Eid Rituals
Days I Used to Practice
Days I Practice Before the Ultimate Table Tennis Championship Playoffs
Tuesdays
New Gift
Steps I Take in a Day When I Play Table Tennis
Prepping for the Playoffs
Colors
My First Table Tennis Tournament Playoff Ever
Looking Around
A Question I Don’t Really Ask Myself . . .
Audience
Warm-Up Stretches
Four-Letter Word I Don’t Let Myself Say
Game Time
Uh-Oh
Another Try
Update
The Last Game That Decides Everything . . .
Celebration Time
Part 2: Weight
Cousin Vacation
Night Before
The Next Morning
Aaliyah’s Try
Ultimate Table Tennis Championship Tournament
Why I Like Fractions
Lunch Break
Finals
My New Plan
Runner-Up
What Abu Doesn’t Say
What Abu Does Say
Feeling Up Again
Pool House Counter
On the Way Home
High Off Family
Amma’s Camera
FaceTime
Eid
Day Before Eid
Snack Time
Kitchen
Frozen
Usually
CPR
CPR
While We Wait for Paramedics
Paramedics
Seconds
Ambulance
The Call
I Don’t Get It
Retest
Time
Drowning
All Riz Wanted
Aaliyah’s Three Words
Survival
The Problem with Floats
Dr. Olliver’s Sad Fact
The Ride Back to the Beach House
Sofa
Idrees’s Fort
A Word That Haunts My Mind
I Wish
Part 3: Drag
Janaza Prayer for Burial
The Florida Masjid
Muslim Rules
Janaza
Why
My Steps
Aaliyah’s Steps
Rules of Life and Death
The Next Day
Sunset
Before Sunset
Doorbell
The Old Lady
Thirty Minutes until Pizza
Riz’s Ocean
Balloon
Night
Road Trip Home
Sadness
Our Family
Did You Know?
In Our House
Three Days After
Amma Says
When Home Is Too Quiet
When Home Is Too Loud
Aaliyah’s Route
Aaliyah’s Question
Abu’s Delivery
Coconut Oil
Amma Wonders
My Parents Words
The Days After
It Gets Harder
At the Door
Reflection
Guests Come Every Single Day
What We Hear a Lot
What We Also Hear
Things I’m Tired of Hearing
Past Tense
Everything Aches
Cookies
The Table Tennis Table
Dadi
Eat
Condolences
Irony
One Good Thing
Sufian’s Route
Amma to Abu
Amma Moans
It’s Nothing Really
Another Ignored Text
Laundry
What We Have Too Much of
What We Don’t Have Enough of
Flowers
In My Room
Coach Khalil’s Route
Grief
Worst Condolence Gift Ever
You Know What’s Really Sad?
Condolences
Saved by the Bell
Sufian’s House
When I’m Home
Masjid Meeting
Little Shadow
Masjid
Airport Memories
A Prayer
Amma’s Speech
When I Overhear the Aunties
In the Masjid Lobby
In the Boys’ Restroom
Sufian
Part 4: Lift
Summar’s Suggestion
At Home
In My Mailbox
Social Media
Quran Class
In My Pocket
First Day Back at School
The Right Words
Sanitation Engineer
Now
Summar’s Gift
Sufian’s Gift
Aquarium Field Trip
Abu
Abu’s Words
1:07 a.m.
Hope
New Baby
Nusaybah
Nusaybah’s Looks
How My Family Calms Nusaybah
How I Calm Nusaybah
How Aaliyah Calms Nusaybah
When the Sunlight Is Bold
Postpartum
From the Window
Abu’s Solution
Before
Things I Love about Nusaybah
Things I Love about Riz
Muna Khala’s Hands
Keepsake Box
Treats
Legacy
Aqiqah Party
Tiny Shadow
Nusaybah’s Smile
Nusaybah’s Hair
A Tiny Basketball
Some Days
El Ranchero Restaurant
Abu’s Question
Air Show Again
Conversations of Cashiers
Leaving the Grocery Store
The ABCs of Water Safety
Swimmer Tots Academy
Water Survival
After Swim Class
Courage
Nusaybah’s Snuggles
Sufian + Summar + Aaliyah + Nusaybah
Photo Session
Easier Times
When There Is Sunlight
In the Mailbox
Coach Khalil
Abu’s Answer
Our Volleys
At the Table
Nusaybah’s Solids
Rule of Thirds
Hidden in the Pantry
Chocolate Frostys
My Favorite Thing
My Favorite Sound
A Letter for the Keepsake Box
Table Tennis Tournament
Author’s Note
The ABCs of Water Safety
Glossary
Sufian’s Mango Lassi Recipe
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Books by Reem Faruqi
Copyright
About the Publisher
Part 1
Thrust
Thrust is a force
that pushes an
airplane forward.
The Beginning
Rumor has it
when I was small,
if I would lose
I would hide under the table tennis table.
But now I’m not small.
And more importantly
I don’t lose.
Table Tennis
Something
I’m good at.
Really good at.
You would think
on a small table
I wouldn’t get tired,
but at the end of the game
my legs are wobbly
my arms stretchy
my face sweaty.
Magic Trick
When I was little,
maybe my brother Rizwan’s age
(he’s two and a half years old),
my father, Abu, showed me backspin.
He sliced the paddle under the ball,
added enough spin
so the ball would bounce bounce bounce toward me.
I’d reach my fingers out
but then
the ball would suddenly
u r
t n
and bounce right back to him.
Magic!
My Trick Now That I’m Twelve
When I serve,
I toss the ball up,
hold the paddle flat,
brush underneath the ball,
adding the perfect touch of spin.
So when the opponent
tries to get the ball,
it’ll spin
the
opposite
direction.
Success!
Why I Like Winning
My favorite part of Coca-Cola
is opening a fresh new can,
pulling the silver tab up.
The pop of success,
the sizzle of ice cubes
when Coke meets ice,
watching the fizz bubble up high.
I always drink the fizz right up.
The first time
I won,
I couldn’t wait to win
again.
I felt like Coca-Cola fizz.
Winning is like being thirsty for
Coca-Cola,
I’ll always want
more.
Me
I’m not really tall
for a twelve-year-old,
more on the small side.
So I look like a ten-year-old,
even though I eat a lot of
pasta, popcorn, pizza, Pringles, pretzels, parathas,
(Amma calls me Mr. P)
it doesn’t really do
much.
I’m okay
at basketball but
would never try out
for the team.
Something cool about table tennis
is that the players
are all different sizes
different shapes.
All that matters is
how you hit the ball.
I’m Color-Blind
It means that
for me—
Orange is green.
Green is brown.
Blue is purple.
Purple is blue.
I like the two sides of my paddle,
one red,
one black.
It makes it easy
not to get confused.
My Mistakes
At first I thought the table tennis table
was brown,
until my big sister, Aaliyah,
laughed at me,
said It’s green,
duh.
In kindergarten,
my parents realized I was color-blind.
When everyone painted self-portraits,
my face was green.
Everyone else’s:
peaches and browns.
Oops.
When you make a mistake
and you can’t even see the right answer,
it’s not fair,
but Aaliyah doesn’t care.
Now, Aaliyah likes to point at things
and asks me the colors,
laughs when I get them wrong.
I know that grass is green.
Duh.
But when she wears a shirt that’s purple
and I say blue,
and my little brother, Riz, says puw-pul,
she laughs the laugh
that makes my eyebrows zip together
my skin hot.
Aaliyah rolls her eyes,
pats me on the head,
and says,
Good try!
Then rumples Riz’s hair
and says,
Even though you’re ten years younger
than your brother,
you’re MUCH smarter.
I clench my fists tight,
like I’m holding my table tennis paddle,
and squeeze.
I don’t like making mistakes.
It’s Not Just Me
My uncle Zia is color-blind too,
but he paints
pieces of art.
Swirly calligraphy,
mixed-up colors everywhere
that people buy
for lots of money.
And whenever I tell Aaliyah that
and point to Zia Mamu’s art,
Aaliyah says,
That would help you
if you knew how
to hold a paintbrush.
But you can’t even hold a pencil properly!
Left-Handed
I am
left-handed
which Amma says
means I’m more creative.
But my teacher Ms. Morgan
says my writing is chicken scratch.
Zia Mamu is lucky he can paint.
But I’m lucky too:
in table tennis I’m ambidextrous—
I can play
and win
using both hands.
Whether the paddle is in my
left hand
or right
hand
I can smash the ball
D
O
W
N
on the very edge of the table,
getting the ball in.
Aaliyah’s too scared to try me!
Famous Left-Handed People
Barack Obama
Einstein
Pelé
Aristotle
Wasim Akram
Tom Cruise
Brad Pitt
Leonardo da Vinci
Bart Simpson too!
Aviation Alphabet
Even though
my big sister Aaliyah’s writing is better than mine
and she’s always reading,
and acts smarter than me,
there’s something I know
more than her,
way more:
every single letter in the aviation alphabet.
When Aaliyah tries,
she makes mistakes,
but I never do.
My Name in Aviation Alphabet
Alfa
Delta
November
Alfa
November
Zulu
Alfa
Kilo
India
Romeo
These words that
not everyone knows
make up my name,
making it special
to me.
Amma works in the aviation industry
She made a l o n g
road trip
short,
when she taught me the aviation alphabet.
It’s like our secret code.
My Name Is
Adnan Zakir
(no middle name!)
Sometimes
Amma and Abu
call me Dani,
but I tell them,
Call me Adnan!
I like my name
just the way it is.
Alfa Delta November Alfa November
Me
The coolest thing
about my name
is that when the teacher
goes in alphabetic order,
