Minoui introduces Nujood as a modern-day heroine, a little girl who fights for her freedom and childhood against daunting odds. Born to and raised by a large family in a rural village in northern Yemen, Nujood grows up in relative isolation from the outside world. Her large family includes her mother and a number of siblings, her father, and her father’s second wife and children. Among this large family, Nujood barely knows her exact age, and she spends her youth playing with her siblings and helping her mother.

Her life changes suddenly when her family is forced to flee her village and move to Yemen’s capital city, Sana’a. Although Nujood’s initial transition to urban life is rough and she chafes at the noise, pollution, and poverty in which they live, she shows resilience and makes new friends, attends school, and enjoys window-shopping with her sister. This childhood comes to an abrupt end when her father commits Nujood to a marriage with a man three times her age. The shock and uncertainty that comes with her sudden marriage and return to her old village with her new husband is compounded when her husband begins to sexually and physically assault her.