Jawad's English teacher calls the police after mistaking his homemade jet pack costume for a bomb at school.

Jawad is suspended and the media and classmates label him Bomb Boy following his arrest.

Jawad begins receiving threatening text messages containing Nietzschean quotes and direct threats using his Bomb Boy nickname.

A hacker posts a racist white supremacist manifesto on Safiya's school newspaper column under the name Ghost Skin.

During a fire alarm evacuation at DuSable Prep, someone paints a swastika on the side of the school building.

Safiya publishes a column challenging the school administration's inaction on white supremacy, knowing she will be suspended for it.

An Amber Alert is issued for missing fourteen-year-old Jawad Ali, alerting Safiya to his disappearance.

Safiya follows a ghostly voice to Jackson Park and discovers Jawad's body hidden in a culvert.

Police reclassify Jawad Ali's case from a kidnapping to a murder investigation after his body is discovered.

Safiya and Asma launch the #JusticeforJawad social media campaign and Reddit thread to solicit anonymous tips.

An anonymous Reddit user privately messages the #JusticeforJawad page with information about a rental car connected to the murder.

A car rental shop employee confirms to Safiya that Richard Reynolds was one of the men who rented the car.

Richard Reynolds grabs Safiya outside Medici's Bakery and attacks her; Asma crashes her car into Nate's to free Safiya.

Police arrest Nate Chase and Richard Reynolds at their homes for the murder of Jawad Ali.

A jury unanimously finds Nate Chase and Richard Reynolds guilty of first-degree murder and designates the killing a hate crime.

The novel begins with Jawad Ali, a fourteen-year-old Muslim American, falsely arrested after a teacher mistakes his Halloween jet pack costume for a bomb. Labeled Bomb Boy by the media and classmates, Jawad begins receiving anonymous threats that escalate until he vanishes in January 2022. Safiya Mirza, a high school journalist, connects Jawad's disappearance to a series of white supremacist incidents at her own school, including a hacked manifesto and a painted swastika. After following ghostly whispers to Jackson Park, Safiya discovers Jawad's body and refuses to let the investigation stall, launching the viral #JusticeforJawad campaign. The campaign delivers the critical tip that exposes Jawad's killers as two wealthy white classmates, Richard Reynolds and Nate Chase. A jury ultimately convicts them of first-degree murder and a hate crime, bringing a hard-won measure of accountability.

The murder of Jawad Ali and Safiya's fight for justice.

A threatening letter referencing the Christchurch terrorist attack arrives at Safiya's mosque over winter break.

Asma rushes to warn Safiya that the DuSable Spectator website has been hacked before Safiya can enter school.

Safiya researches the term ghost skin and learns it refers to a white supremacist who hides beliefs to blend in.

Principal Dr. Hardy orders Safiya to submit all future articles for his approval or risk having the paper shut down.

The Spectator staff discovers that Ghost Skin's manifesto contains Nietzschean quotes tied to Nazi and neo-Nazi ideology.

Jawad's father receives a ransom voicemail from the killer demanding $30,000 for Jawad's safe return.

Richard visits Safiya at her family's store during her suspension, bringing her favorite cookies and adding his number to her phone.

Safiya's current events teacher uses her column as a class discussion prompt, during which Nate Chase openly defends Ghost Skin's ideas.

Usman's interview with Jawad's parents reveals they have also received threatening messages with Nietzschean quotes since Jawad's disappearance.

Police hold a press conference announcing they are reclassifying Jawad's case from a kidnapping to a runaway situation.

Safiya sneaks out of a school assembly and breaks into Nate's locker, finding the missing page from the library's Nietzsche book.

Safiya sends a deceptive email to a London eyewear shop to confirm that glasses found near Jawad's body belong to Nate.

Nate corners and verbally threatens Safiya outside the school building; Richard intervenes and stops Nate from hitting her.

Nate and Richard separately betray each other in police interrogations, each claiming the other masterminded the murder.

Safiya delivers her victim impact statement at sentencing, addressing Richard directly and vowing to keep speaking the truth.

A separate wave of white supremacist activity targets Safiya's mosque and school community in the weeks before and after Jawad's death, providing the connective tissue of the investigation. Ghost Skin's hacked manifesto, a ransom voicemail to Jawad's father, and the discovery of Nietzschean quotes linking multiple hate incidents force Safiya to investigate even as her principal attempts to censor her. Richard Reynolds strategically cultivates Safiya's trust during her suspension while Nate Chase positions himself as her open antagonist, disguising their partnership from everyone around them. Safiya's methodical work — breaking into Nate's locker, tracing his London glasses to the crime scene, and pressing Jawad's parents for information — builds the evidence chain that eventually identifies the killers. Police repeatedly dismiss or ignore Safiya's leads, and even after the arrests, Nate and Richard attempt to blame each other during interrogation. The trial concludes with Safiya's defiant victim impact statement, a final act of journalism in the service of truth.

The investigation's key players, clues, and failing institutions.

Jawad chooses not to tell his parents about the threatening texts he receives, hoping to protect them from worry.

Jawad gets into a car with Nate and Richard, assuming that wealthy white men have no reason to harm him.

Safiya hears an unexplained ghostly whisper for the first time after seeing Jawad's Amber Alert on her phone.

Safiya's mother shares ghost stories about sensing a dying relative's presence, deepening Safiya's belief that the voice she hears is real.

Richard asks Safiya to the Winter Ball and she accepts, fully trusting him as a caring and sympathetic friend.

Safiya checks out the school library's only Nietzsche book and discovers Nate is the only other person to have borrowed it.

Rachel reveals to the Spectator staff that Nate Chase was in London over winter break, making him a prime suspect.

Mirza Emporium, Safiya's family store, is vandalized overnight with white supremacist symbols and a racial slur targeting her family.

Dakota reveals that Richard secretly traveled to London over winter break, the same city where the threatening mosque letter was mailed.

Usman overhears Nate telling someone not to have second thoughts because of her, suggesting Nate has a co-conspirator.

Safiya recognizes the hand of Fatima keychain on Jawad's body as the one she gave him when they were young children.

Asma convinces Safiya to file an anonymous tip with the police about Nate's Nietzschean connections, but the police fail to act.

Richard reveals his motive during his attack on Safiya, blaming affirmative action for his Harvard rejection and calling her a racial slur.

Nate's personal journal entries confessing to the vandalism and murder are entered as trial evidence and prove the killings were hate crimes.

Jawad's ghost finds peace and moves on after he is finally buried and his killers are convicted at trial.

Jawad's murder is enabled by two critical silences: his own decision to hide threatening texts from his parents, and his fatal trust in the white strangers who offer him a ride. Safiya is drawn into his story through a supernatural connection — she begins hearing Jawad's ghostly voice — which her mother's ghost stories help her interpret rather than dismiss. As Safiya falls for Richard's careful performance of kindness and accepts his Winter Ball invitation, small cracks appear: the library's Nietzsche book traces back to Nate, and a careless comment from Richard's ex-girlfriend exposes his secret London trip. The vandalism of Safiya's family store and the discovery of Jawad's hand of Fatima keychain — one she gave him as a child — transform the case from academic to deeply personal. A chain of revelations, from Usman's overheard conversation to Richard's confession of motive during his attack on Safiya, exposes the full scope of the conspiracy. Nate's incriminating journal entries and the killers' mutual betrayal in interrogation ultimately seal their convictions and bring Jawad's ghost peace.