204 Teen Reads
  • Home
  • Read
  • Learn
  • Ask
  • Blog
  • Abe Lincoln 2022

Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

20/9/2020

 
Picture
Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran.

Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He's about to take his first-ever trip to Iran, and it's pretty overwhelming--especially when he's also dealing with clinical depression, a disapproving dad, and a chronically anemic social life. In Iran, he gets to know his ailing but still formidable grandfather, his loving grandmother, and the rest of his mom's family for the first time. And he meets Sohrab, the boy next door who changes everything.

Sohrab makes sure people speak English so Darius can understand what's going on. He gets Darius an Iranian National Football Team jersey that makes him feel like a True Persian for the first time. And he understands that sometimes, best friends don't have to talk. Darius has never had a true friend before, but now he's spending his days with Sohrab playing soccer, eating rosewater ice cream, and sitting together for hours in their special place, a rooftop overlooking the Yazdi skyline.

Sohrab calls him Darioush--the original Persian version of his name--and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he's Darioush to Sohrab. When it's time to go home to America, he'll have to find a way to be Darioush on his own. (Goodreads.com)

Lexile: HL710L


Comments are closed.

    Categories

    All
    African American
    Antiracist
    Asian American
    Disability
    Dystopian
    Fantasy
    Graphic Novel
    Historical Fiction
    History
    Iranian American
    Latinx
    LGBTQIA+
    Lincoln Award
    Memoir
    Mental Health
    Muslim American
    Mystery
    Narrative Nonfiction
    Native American
    Poetry
    Realistic Fiction
    Romance
    Science Fiction
    Short Stories
    Sports
    Supernatural
    Thriller
    We Are 204
    World Literature

    Archives

    August 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020

    RSS Feed

About this Site
Picture
  • Home
  • Read
  • Learn
  • Ask
  • Blog
  • Abe Lincoln 2022