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Book Reviewed by:Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this unforgettable debut introduces a brilliant new voice in contemporary YA.
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 Persian version of his name - and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he's Darioush to Sohrab.
Adib Khorram's brilliant debut is for anyone who's ever felt not good enough - then met a friend who makes them feel so much better than okay.
Adib Khorram's debut novel crosses cultural boundaries to tug at heartstrings and remind us of the importance of kindness. It transports the reader into the doubts and insecurities of being a teenager, and provides a lesson on how friendship and family act as a guide toward shaping one's identity...continued
Full Review
(755 words)
(Reviewed by Adrienne Pisch).
In Darius the Great Is Not Okay, Darius has two main concerns about his name: it starts with "D" (which provides ample opportunity for bullies to give him horrible nicknames), and it has connotations of an unattainable legacy. His namesake is Darius the Great, king of Persia from 522-486 BCE.
Darius I was born circa 550 BCE to a provincial governor. How he became king is historically controversial. The kinder version of the story says that Darius was serving the heir to the Persian throne, Cambyses, in Egypt when word arrived that Cambyses' younger brother Bardiya had stolen the throne from their father. However, Cambyses had secretly assassinated Bardiya months before, and the usurper was a pretender, a man named Gaumata. Cambyses set ...
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