Darius the Great Is Not Okay

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I mean, it was inevitable that Laleh would acquire a taste for Star Trek—eventually. She was my sister, after all. And Stephen Kellner’s daughter. It was in her genetic makeup.

Darius the Great Is Not Okay | Penguin Random House Secondary Darius the Great Is Not Okay | Penguin Random House Secondary

It was true. The largest fish, a leviathan nearly the size of Laleh’s hand, only had its right eye. The left side of its head— face—(do fish have faces?)—was all smooth, unbroken orange scales. This is an incredible story of friendship, family, and identity that you absolutely won’t regret reading.” Some profanity ("bulls--t," "a--hole," "crap," "d--k"). A character uses some unusual homophobic slurs: "Dairy Queen." Darius the Great is Not Okay is, in many ways, the story of how its titular teenage character learns to be part of his family. Family, Darius learns, isn’t just about being related to someone by blood. Rather, it’s about the support that family members show each other that makes a family. Darius begins the novel feeling cut off from most of his family members. He and Dad have a fraught relationship, while Darius’s only interactions with his Iranian maternal grandparents, Mamou and Babou, have been over Skype. As such, Darius doesn’t feel particularly connected to Dad, Mamou, or Babou. When it comes to his relationship with Dad, Darius also feels like he’ll never be able to please his seemingly perfect, exacting father for various reasons. This leads Darius to feel generally alone and unsupported.I love this story, and the way it combines the bitter of adolescence with the sweet of friendship and family. Brewed together they make a beautiful, memorable book.” How was it?' 'It was...' I didn't know what to say. How could I explain Mamou and Babou and Sohrab and football and the rooftop to someone who had never experienced them? How could I talk about them when I still felt the ache?” Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide. Get started Close Adib Khorram lives in Kansas City, Missouri. When he isn’t writing (or at his day job as a graphic designer), you can probably find him trying to get his hundred-yard freestyle under a minute, learning to a Lutz jump, or steeping a cup of oolong. Darius doesn’t think he’ll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this unforgettable debut introduces a brilliant new voice in contemporary YA.

DARIUS THE GREAT IS NOT OKAY | Kirkus Reviews DARIUS THE GREAT IS NOT OKAY | Kirkus Reviews

Trudon, Taylor (October 12, 2018). "Young Adult Books That Plunge Into the Ecstasies, and Agonies, of Teenage Life". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved January 1, 2022. I hope non-Iranian readers will come away with an understanding of the humanity of Iranians. So much of the news coming out of Iran these days, especially what’s filtered through American media, tends to vilify them. Darius the Great Is Not Okay brings Iran alive, with sounds and smells and imagery, and you'll tearfully be rooting for Darius as he struggles with this mental health, identity, and his place in the world.”Is your heart still full from reading Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda? Well, do we have the perfect book for you. Adib Khorram’s Darius the Great Is Not Okay is a tender look into the life of Darius Kellner, a nerdy half-Persian teenager who’s having difficulty finding his place in the world.” A love letter to anyone who has felt uncomfortable in their own skin and wondered where exactly they belonged. A big-hearted and marvelous debut."

Darius the Great Deserves Better - Common Sense Media Darius the Great Deserves Better - Common Sense Media

Darius becomes frustrated when Laleh begins watching Star Trek with Stephen—the only thing that Darius and Stephen had together—and started without him, because he's already seen the episodes. Darius feels that Laleh is his better replacement. Darius receives an Iranian national football team jersey as a present from Sohrab, which he loves as it makes him feel like a true Persian and feel like he fits in. His family visits multiple sights of Yazd and Iran throughout the book, including Persopolis, Tower of Silence, Jameh Mosque, and the Fire Temple of Yazd. I lost myself for a long time, Darius. I didn’t like who I became on those pills, but they saved my life. They kept me here. For you. And your mom. And by the time I was doing better and Dr. Howell tapered me off, your sister was born and I just...things were different. She was a baby, and she needed me. And I didn’t know if you even wanted stories anymore. If you were ever going to forgive me.” Oh.” I had never met Babou in person, only over a computer screen. And he never really talked to me. He spoke English well enough, and what few words I could extract from him were accented but articulate.My grandfather seemed so small and defeated then, bowed under the weight of history and the burdens of the future. Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide. Get started Close Sometimes I can’t help crying. Okay? Sometimes bad shit happens. Sometimes people are mean to me and I cry. Sorry for being such a target. Sorry for disappointing you. Again.” Dad and I knelt on the floor to squeeze our faces into the camera shot, while Laleh sat on Mom’s lap in her rolling office chair.