Everything Sad is Untrue (A True Story)

Billed as YA lit, don’t let that stop you. It is an auto-fictional account of a young boy refugee from Iran who suddenly finds himself in the middle of Oklahoma: malls and milkshakes. I was in fits of laughter throughout because the narrator's voice is so unique and charming, a much more optimistic Holden Caulfield. But the themes can also be hard, and therein lies the magic.

I loved the unique story structure of telling his stories in the format of 1001 Nights. This validated my own choice to structure my book in the format of The Little Match… show more.

Daniel's story is reflective and circular in an ingenious and charming way and, overall, utterly enchanting.

Daniel makes himself so vulnerable here—to the seventh graders he is purportedly attempting to convince about the truth of his stories and to us, the reader. The choice to tell his story (true to his own memories) from the perspective of his childhood self makes that vulnerability all the more acute.

I could not put the book down, and when it was over, I found myself touched, a little shaken, and left with that magical feeling (often hard to find today) of being more… show more.

Okay, as a middle grade novel, this one may seem a little strange to have on this list, but bear with me.

The protagonist, Khosrou, tells the story of his Iranian family stretching back decades. Woven throughout the story are descriptions of the foods they enjoyed, many of which, as refugees to America, they cannot find anymore. Several times throughout this book I turned to the internet to tell me how to make something Daniel Naveri described.

A beautiful book that also contained more about using the bathroom than I ever expected!

My writing mentor recommended this middle-grade book, and I devoured it! 

All respect to Daniel Nayeri for page after page of quotable quotes and gems from the treasure chests of Rumi, Hafez, and the Shahnameh. Here's my favorite line: "Every story is the sound of a storyteller begging to stay alive." (p. 59)

Nayeri weaves together Khosrou’s middle school experience as an immigrant in Oklahoma with memories of the past. He is a storyteller, but no one believes him. But Khosrou's (Daniel’s) stories trace his arrival to America from Iran with much humor to mitigate the terror, credibly told through… show more.

Perhaps what I most admire about this novelized memoir is the way Daniel Nayeri, through the voice of Khosrou, expertly weaves together family stories, Persian history and mythology, and the trials and tribulations of being a kid from Iran in an Oklahoma middle school.

The author does all this while staying true to the perspective of a twelve-year-old boy. Khosrou tells stories he knows from his home country through a series of class assignments, prompting reactions from classmates that let Khosrou know just how wide the gulf can be between his understanding of the world and theirs.

The sometimes fantastical,… show more.

It was the title that first attracted me. How can this be so? Nayeri’s 12-year-old self proves the truth of his title as he narrates his story, first as a coddled little prince in Iran, then as a refugee as his mother fled death threats because of her conversion to Christianity. His father stayed behind in Iran and was seldom heard from. He became the father who rarely engaged with or demonstrated love for his son. After surviving refugee camps, Nayeri, his mother and sister finally arrived as immigrants to a small white community in Oklahoma where they struggled to… show more.

Like the tornado on the book’s cover, Khosrou, the 12-year-old narrator of this autobiographical novel, storms in and sweeps you away with his stories. Khosrou (known as Daniel at his American middle school) spins tales for his classmates of Persian culture and history, his childhood in Iran, and most significantly why his family fled Iran and become refugees in Oklahoma. Khosrou tells stories to woo his middle school detractors — and to survive being the refugee kid in the back of the class. Nayeri offers an unforgettable character in Khosrou. His “patchwork story” shouldn’t be missed. 

This book floored me. As an immigrant, as a public school teacher, as a human. This is a story of self-preservation by storytelling. Nayeri and his mother and sister flee Iran in the middle of the night, and - via Italy - end up in Oklahoma. To protect himself from relentless bullying in the classroom, a boy named Khosrou (Nayeri!) spins tales like Scheherezade. True tales, featuring the secret police, blood-soaked fields, complicated and loving relatives, and the scent of jasmine. Fitting in is hard. Telling one's story is vital. Nayeri's manage to be beautiful, terrifying, and hilarious, all at… show more.

Just as Scheherazade wove stories to entertain a king to keep herself alive, young Khosrou-who-became-Daniel tells stories, weaving Persian myths with his own wildly outrageous family stories to tell his Oklahoma elementary school classmates and earn acceptance. Like a Great Plains tornado picking up fences and small animals, Nayeri picks up strands drawing on Iranian terrain, Persian food, how he and his mother evaded Iranian secret police, sought refuge first in Italy, then landed in the center of Oklahoma. Through middle school and high school he wants to be accepted—but accepted as who he is which includes his Persian culture.… show more.