The beautiful true story of Tiny Dancer begins in 2001, in a tiny desert village in the middle of Afghanistan, when nine-year-old Zubaida ("Zu-BAY-dah") falls into a kerosene fire and sustains horrific injuries. She never loses consciousness, even throughout being stripped of her burned skin by impoverished doctors who lack medication. Every doctor that her father takes her to see advises him to pray for her to die. Still Zubaida hangs on for months, even as thick masses of scar tissue begin to take over her body and strangle her from within. Eight months after the fire, an American Special Forces Sergeant spots Zubaida and her father in the marketplace. When he learns that "nothing" can be done for her, he and a host of other American soldiers take a series of risks to get her into the military medical system. The Sergeant later comments, as do many others in this story, about the compelling nature of Zubaida's eyes and of the energy she projects, even though she cannot speak clearly or form an expression.

Eventually, a private network of Americans brings her to America for a year of restorative surgeries. She attends school for the first time --- and flourishes. Her natural leadership qualities instantly emerge, and a tight group of friends responds to her charisma. She learns functional English in twelve weeks, between her repeated surgical procedures.

A year later, Zubaida is restored by surgical miracles. She returns to her clan, eager to be home again. But her eyes have been opened. Her independent learning process has begun. If she is returned to the tribal system she will be nothing but marriage fodder: "a woman who must serve." She feels like a beautiful ship in a bottle, isolated back in her village. Finally, a long list of American and international donors fund moving Zubaida and her family into the city of Herat, where she and her sisters can go to school --- with the first Afghan girls to be able to attend school in two generations. She represents today's emerging Afghan women, and she is clearly the sort of spirit they will need to prevent the clouds of fundamentalist misogyny from enshrouding them once again.

Zubaida's individual story of restoration is also a clear and present portrait of the American Heart.