The structure of Hollow Fires explicitly highlights the effects of Islamophobia on individuals and communities in the United States. The novel has two named character narrators: Safiya Mirza, a Muslim American teenager whose family is from India, and the ghost of Jawad Ali, a Muslim American teenager from Iraq. Jawad was targeted for murder by two white supremacists because of the notoriety he gained as #BombBoy, the moniker the media gave to him after being falsely accused of bringing a fake bomb to school by his Islamophobic English teacher. Safiya was targeted by the same killers, first in a threatening letter to her mosque, and then directly as she pursued Jawad’s case. The novel depicts the direct violence experienced by its main characters, the media’s reaction to this violence, and the long-term effects of hate crimes on a community. 

Islamophobia motivates Nate and Richard to target Jawad, whom they identify because of his arrest and media attention—both of which also reflect overt Islamophobic bias. Jawad’s teacher, Patricia Jensen, sees his jet pack costume made of recycled materials and immediately calls 911: “frantically describing Ali as ‘an Arab student’ who [is] wearing ‘something like a suicide bomber vest’” (7) and saying, “An Arab kid has a bomb.