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Omar/The Boy
Rashida is a 14-year-old girl Jamal and Bibi meet while on the smuggler’s boat. Though she too is traveling from Afghanistan, she wears shorts and a t-shirt, keeps her hair uncovered, and wears eyeliner and green lipstick. Jamal and Bibi meet her in line for soup as her blanket catches fire from the flame under the pot. The three of them—plus Omar—spend the rest of the trip together and Rashida eventually reveals she is originally from Australia but spent the last few years in Afghanistan taking care of her grandparents. When her grandparents died, the government refused to let her family leave, however, and her parents only had enough money to smuggle her out of the country. Accordingly, Rashida has a lot of love and respect for her parents, and they for her. The things they pack her for the trip come in useful while on the smuggler’s boat: Jamal makes bread out of the flour they gave her, and Rashida uses an expensive watch they gave her to buy off the smugglers, allowing Jamal, Bibi, and Omar to continue their trip to Australia. This highlights Rashida’s generosity, as well as the strength of the bond the four children share. Without parents to watch over them, they are forced to take care of one another, and as the oldest, Rashida plays an especially important role. Not only does she watch over all of them, but she also acts as a role model, especially to Bibi. From her, Bibi learns what a strong, confident young woman looks like, as well as how to be sympathetic even towards those who have caused harm.
Rashida/The Girl Quotes in Boy Overboard
The Boy Overboard quotes below are all either spoken by Rashida/The Girl or refer to Rashida/The Girl . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 24 Quotes
And freeze in shock myself. It’s a teenage girl. All she’s wearing is shorts and a T-shirt with a sparkly pattern on the front. Her arms are bare. Her legs are bare. Her hair is completely uncovered and sticking out in all directions. She’s wearing makeup. She’s got black stuff on her eyelashes and her lips are green. I’ve never seen anything like her in my life.
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A pirate stops right in front of us, studying the ball as it goes back and forward. I pray he doesn’t know how brilliant females can be at football. I pray he assumes anyone with knee skills like Bibi and Rashida must be male.
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Rashida/The Girl Character Timeline in Boy Overboard
The timeline below shows where the character Rashida/The Girl appears in Boy Overboard. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 24
...blanket back to the person. Jamal is shocked to see the person is a teenage girl in a shirt and t-shirt, wearing makeup and green lip-gloss. She thanks Jamal and takes...
(full context)
Unfortunately, the sailor serving the food—the sailor in the yellow overalls—refuses to give the girl soup because of the fire, and Bibi yells at him for being unfair. The sailor...
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Chapter 25
The girl asks Jamal and Bibi to sit with her. A woman nearby offers them her soup,...
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Rashida asks if they have food and they say no, explaining that their parents have all...
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Chapter 26
Jamal bakes bread using Rashida’s flour, draping the loaves on top of the ship’s diesel engine. Three sailors are watching...
(full context)
Chapter 27
...Still, everyone is enjoying the bread, including Omar and other small kids on the boat. Rashida says the seasickness should wear off in a day, but Omar says it will be...
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Chapter 28
...of bread to the sailor in the yellow overalls, but the sailor throws them overboard. Rashida pulls out a watch, however, and says it’s for four people. Jamal is nervous the...
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Chapter 29
...against his arm, and he notices she has a fever. He answers five days, but Rashida corrects him, saying it’s six. Jamal thinks Bibi is trying to figure out how much...
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...government comes to your house with cake and drinks on your birthday, and Omar and Rashida ask if they bring sardines and hamburgers too. Jamal says yes, but Bibi says she...
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Chapter 30
Jamal realizes Bibi and Rashida are in danger and helps them disguise as boys. To ward off suspicion, the three...
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Chapter 32
Jamal loses Omar and Rashida, but not Bibi. Their belts are tied together, and they are scooping water with vegetable...
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Chapter 33
...Jamal doesn’t want to see because he doesn’t want anything else bad to be happening. Rashida calls for him to come up and Jamal is thankful she is alive. He and...
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Chapter 34
...he attended night school. Jamal has lots of questions but decides to prioritize asking about Rashida. Andrew says she is fine, she’s just dehydrated.
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Chapter 35
...separate males from females, but Jamal says they’re all staying together: he, Bibi, Omar, and Rashida. Andrew allows it, and they all get a tent together. Bibi still looks sad, and...
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Chapter 38
Rashida brings dinner to Jamal and Bibi in the tent. Jamal does not want to answer,...
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Rashida gives Jamal his football, saying it got punctured earlier on a barbed wire fence. Rashida...
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Chapter 41
...and their mom calls the sailor in yellow overalls a “selfish camel-snot.” Bibi says that Rashida says some people are “camel snots” because of what has happened to them. They introduce...
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