[1] It is the only book of Abdel-Fattah's to contain a dedication, which is to his grandmother, who had died at the age of 98, and to his father, whom he hoped would see Palestine freed in his lifetime.

She lives in a small apartment with her family, who have been displaced from their home: her mother and brothers; her father, grieving the loss of his olive grove; her sister Jihan, who is planning a wedding; and her grandmother Zeynab, who spends her time telling stories from her past.

She and her best friend Samy, a Christian Palestinian and fan of football and The X Factor, begin the forbidden six-mile journey on a day they have no curfew.

[2] Hamoud Yahya Ahmed Mohsen of Hodeidah University and Ruzy Suliza Hashim of the National University of Malaysia note Fattah's use of the jar of soil, arguing via an ecocritical lens that she uses it to connect Palestinian displacement with ecological concerns.

[3] In 2017, Eva Di Cesare of Sydney's Monkey Baa Theatre Company adapted the book for stage.