Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri

On the inside, the boy is named Khosrou, from a prominent Iranian family with a tradition of poetry, on the outside, the hairy, dark skinned boy standing in the front of the class named Daniel tells weird stories that often involve poop and eats funny smelling food for lunch. Like Scherazade who tells the king stories to save her life, Daniel tales about his family's Persian traditions, his escape from Iran, life as a refugee in Italy, and coming to Oklahoma in order to preserve his own sense of himself. While telling the story of his own life, the author draws on truths that all good storytellers know about the relationship between "facts" and "truth." Even the heroic tales from Persian tradition seem tragic, but take on a humorous edge in the telling. Like all good storytellers, I suspect Nayeri had no specific audience in mind when composing these tales. The passages on middle school life can easily be enjoyed by pre-teen readers. The harrowing tales of escape and mistreatment of refugees will be appreciated by teens. But the mixture of the two is there for the appreciation of readers of all ages on multiple readings. There are many stand alone passages begging to be read aloud. The 2021 Printz Award Winner for outstanding Young Adult Literature.