Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

Everything sad is untrue : (a true story) / Daniel Nayeri.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Levine Querido, 2020Description: 356 pages ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781646140008
  • 1646140001
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Summary: "At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls "Daniel") stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But no one believes a word he says. To them he is a dark-skinned, hairy-armed boy with a big butt whose lunch smells funny; who makes things up and talks about poop too much. But Khosrou's stories, stretching back years, and decades, and centuries, are beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment his family fled Iran in the middle of the night with the secret police moments behind them, back to the sad, cement refugee camps of Italy.and further back to the fields near the river Aras, where rain-soaked flowers bled red like the yolk of sunset burst over everything, and further back still to the Jasmine-scented city of Isfahan."--Amazon.
List(s) this item appears in: Arab American Heritage Month Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Notes Date due Barcode Item holds
YA Book YA Book Dr. James Carlson Library YA Fiction NAYERI, DANIEL Available Printz Award Winner 33111009746450
YA Book YA Book Main Library YA Fiction NAYERI, DANIEL Available 33111010387484
YA Book YA Book Northport Library YA Fiction NAYERI, DANIEL Available 33111009014487
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award
Christopher Award Winner
Middle East Book Award Winner
National Indie Bestseller
NPR Best Book of the Year
New York Times Best of the Year
Amazon Best of the Year
Booklist Editors' Choice
BookPage Best of the Year
NECBA Windows & Mirrors Selection
Publishers Weekly Best of the Year
Wall Street Journal Best of the Year
Today.com Best of the Year
Walter Awards Honor Book

"A modern masterpiece."--The New York Times Book Review

"Supple, sparkling and original."--The Wall Street Journal

"Mesmerizing."--TODAY.com

"This book could change the world."--BookPage

"Like nothing else you've read or ever will read."--Linda Sue Park

"It hooks you right from the opening line."--NPR

SEVEN STARRED REVIEWS

* "A modern epic."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "A rare treasure of a book."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "A story that soars."--The Bulletin, starred review

* "At once beautiful and painful."--School Library Journal, starred review

* "Raises the literary bar in children's lit."--Booklist, starred review

* "Poignant and powerful."--Foreword Reviews, starred review

* "One of the most extraordinary books of the year."--BookPage, starred review

A sprawling, evocative, and groundbreaking autobiographical novel told in the unforgettable and hilarious voice of a young Iranian refugee. It is a powerfully layered novel that poses the questions: Who owns the truth? Who speaks it? Who believes it?

"A patchwork story is the shame of the refugee," Nayeri writes early in the novel. In an Oklahoman middle school, Khosrou (whom everyone calls Daniel) stands in front of a skeptical audience of classmates, telling the tales of his family's history, stretching back years, decades, and centuries. At the core is Daniel's story of how they became refugees--starting with his mother's vocal embrace of Christianity in a country that made such a thing a capital offense, and continuing through their midnight flight from the secret police, bribing their way onto a plane-to-anywhere. Anywhere becomes the sad, cement refugee camps of Italy, and then finally asylum in the U.S. Implementing a distinct literary style and challenging western narrative structures, Nayeri deftly weaves through stories of the long and beautiful history of his family in Iran, adding a richness of ancient tales and Persian folklore.

Like Scheherazade of One Thousand and One Nights in a hostile classroom, Daniel spins a tale to save his own life: to stake his claim to the truth. EVERYTHING SAD IS UNTRUE (a true story) is a tale of heartbreak and resilience and urges readers to speak their truth and be heard.

"At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls "Daniel") stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But no one believes a word he says. To them he is a dark-skinned, hairy-armed boy with a big butt whose lunch smells funny; who makes things up and talks about poop too much. But Khosrou's stories, stretching back years, and decades, and centuries, are beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment his family fled Iran in the middle of the night with the secret police moments behind them, back to the sad, cement refugee camps of Italy.and further back to the fields near the river Aras, where rain-soaked flowers bled red like the yolk of sunset burst over everything, and further back still to the Jasmine-scented city of Isfahan."--Amazon.

Powered by Koha