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Darius the Great Is Not Okay

by Adib Khorram

A summer visit reshapes Darius’s sense of belonging

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AlbakiReads Editorial

A summer visit reshapes Darius’s sense of belonging

Darius Kellner arrives in Iran carrying the unease of someone caught between Persian and American identities, with clinical depression adding another strain to his efforts to connect with family. His friendship with Sohrab gives the visit a new shape: shared soccer, food, long conversations, and the name Darioush become part of how Darius experiences himself. The novel brings questions of identity, family, mental health, and friendship together through a teenager’s changing relationship to his heritage and to belonging.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Teens and young adults interested in stories about identity and belonging.
  • Readers seeking young adult fiction that addresses depression and family relationships.
  • Readers interested in Persian-American identity and a summer visit to Iran.

Themes

Identity and heritageBelongingClinical depressionFriendshipFamily relationships

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

ONE OF TIME'S BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME - A young teen--half Persian, half American--feels like he doesn't belong anywhere. But imagine his surprise when, on a summer visit to Iran, he makes a friend that changes everything.

"Layered with complexities of identity, body image, and mental illness that are so rarely articulated in the voice of a teenage boy of color."--The New York Times

"Heartfelt, tender, and so utterly real."--Becky Albertalli, award-winning author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, the inspiration for the movie Love, Simon


Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He's a Fractional Persian--half, his mom's side--and his first-ever trip to Iran is about to change his life.

Darius has never really fit in at home, and he's sure things are going to be the same in Iran. His clinical depression doesn't exactly help matters, and trying to explain his medication to his grandparents only makes things harder. Then Darius meets Sohrab, the boy next door, and everything changes. Soon, they're spending their days together, playing soccer, eating faludeh, and talking for hours on a secret rooftop overlooking the city's skyline. Sohrab calls him Darioush--the original Farsi version of his name--and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he's Darioush to Sohrab.

This book is for anyone who's ever felt not good enough--then met a friend who makes them feel so much better than okay.

WILLIAM C. MORRIS AWARD WINNER - A Best Book of the Year: Wall Street Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, BuzzFeed, Boston Globe, and New York Public Library
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