I was fortunate enough to pick up four Levine Querido arcs at ALA in January.
Like Scheherazade in a hostile classroom, author Daniel Nayeri weaves a tale of Khosrou trying to save his own life: to stake his claim to the truth. We bounce between a school bus of kids armed with paper clip missiles and spitballs, to the heroines and heroes of Kosrou's family's past, who ate pastries that made them weep, and touched carpets woven with precious gems. 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.īut Khosrou's stories, stretching back years, and decades, and centuries, are beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment he, his mother, and sister fled Iran in the middle of the night, stretching all the way back to family tales set in the jasmine-scented city of Isfahan, the palaces of semi-ancient kings, and even the land of stories. "Supple, sparkling and original.At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls "Daniel") stands, trying to tell a story. "A modern masterpiece - as epic as the "Iliad" and "Shahnameh," and as heartwarming as "Charlotte's Web." It's for the kids at the lunch table the heroes of tomorrow, just looking to survive the battle of adolescence." - NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW "At once beautiful and painful, this timely story is highly recommended for middle grade readers."- SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (starred review) A remarkable work that raises the literary bar in children's lit."- BOOKLIST (starred review) "One of the most extraordinary books of the year."- BOOKPAGE ( starred review) A story of heartbreak and resilience." - FOREWORD REVIEWS (starred review)
A rare treasure of a book." - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review) Readers will be transported."- BCCB (starred review) "A modern epic." - KIRKUS REVIEWS ( starred review) "Like nothing else you've read or ever will read."-Newbery Medalist, Linda Sue Park
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