In a few days before Darius and his family must leave Iran, Darius decides to buy Sohrab a pair of cleats as a gift. He visits the house to find their family in grief. Sohrab lashes out at Darius before revealing his father has just died (who was previously revealed to be jailed by the Iranian government for unknown reasons). Sohrab complains that Darius is always crying but has nothing to be sad for, and tells him to leave. Darius runs to the rooftop and cries.

Darius the Great Deserves Better - Common Sense Media Darius the Great Deserves Better - Common Sense Media

I do think so. At first it seemed like there was a surge in books about suicide, but lately there have been books that look at mental illness as a part of a person rather than a crisis. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speaks eloquently about the dangers of a single story. For a long time, suicide was the single story for mental illness, but we’re finally seeing multiple stories, and I’m hopeful that trajectory will continue. Darius takes the self-confidence he built while in Iran and continues to build on it throughout the story -- at his job, on the soccer field, with a new group of friends. When the Kellner family face financial hard times, they work together, supporting and encouraging one another. Darius' soccer coach offers a lesson in how to counter "toxic masculinity" on a sports team. Before games and practices, she has them circle up, hold hands, go around the circle saying something kind or helpful a teammate has done for them. Babou insists on taking everyone to the Atashkadeh, the Zoroastrian fire temple, the next day. But when the family arrives, Babou isn’t feeling well, so he and Mamou stay in the car. It’s a sobering experience for Darius, as he thinks about Babou’s mortality while staring at the ceremonial flames that have been burning for about 1,500 years. When the family gets home, Darius finds Mom looking at photo albums. She shows him a photo of Dad holding baby Darius, which makes them both sad: if only Dad and Darius could act like father and son, and if only it was easy like it seems in the photo. Khorram’s debut novel is an affectionate portrait of Iran: the food and aromas, the rich traditions and eclectic culture. . . . Readers will understand that home can be more than the physical place you live, and that people who make you feel at home can come into your life unexpectedly.” I had a very sharp memory of Dad yelling at me to stop crying so he could examine my hand, and how I wouldn’t let him hold it because I was afraid he was going to make it worse.Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards Acceptance Speeches Roundup". The Horn Book. January 10, 2020 . Retrieved January 1, 2022. Is your heart still full from reading Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda? Well, do we have the perfect book for you. Adib Khorram’s Darius the Great Is Not Okay is a tender look into the life of Darius Kellner, a nerdy half-Persian teenager who’s having difficulty finding his place in the world.” Over the next week, Sohrab joins Darius’s family to visit Dowlatabad, a palace and gardens, and invites Darius to play soccer again with Ali-Reza and Hossein. Though the boys continue to call Darius “Ayatollah,” Sohrab tells the younger boys they’re playing with that this is because Darius is in charge—and Sohrab and Darius shower after the other boys are finished and have already left. They play daily for the rest of the week, and then Sohrab and his mom join Darius and his family for chelo kabob, a huge treat, at the end of the week. After the meal is over, Sohrab and two of Darius’s older cousins, Parviz and Navid, teach Darius to play Rook. Darius is terrible at it, but he has fun. Darius the Great Is Not Okay | Awards & Grants". American Library Association. January 11, 2019 . Retrieved January 1, 2022.

Darius the Great Is Not Okay Dad Character Analysis in Darius the Great Is Not Okay

Some profanity ("bulls--t," "a--hole," "crap," "d--k"). A character uses some unusual homophobic slurs: "Dairy Queen."

Most Haft-Seens have vinegar and sumac and sprouts and apples and pudding and dried olives and garlic on them—all things that start with the sound of Sin Farsi. Some people add other things that don’t begin with Sto theirs too: symbols of renewal and prosperity, like mirrors and bowls of coins. And some families—like ours—have goldfish too. Mom said it had something to do with the zodiac and Pisces, but then she admitted that if it weren’t for Laleh, who loved taking care of the goldfish, she wouldn’t include them at all. Trudon, Taylor (October 12, 2018). "Young Adult Books That Plunge Into the Ecstasies, and Agonies, of Teenage Life". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved January 1, 2022.

Darius the Great Is Not Okay (Darius the Great, 1) : Khorram

No,” I said. “I promise. Ahab is a good name. And I’m proud of you for knowing it. It’s from a very famous book.” I wish I knew! My process tends to be haphazard and organic. Imagination? Memory? I think if you develop the character well enough, their relationships tend to form through simple gravity. I was used to being a disappointment to Dad, and being a disappointment to Babou didn’t seem that different. But I hated that he was disappointed in Laleh too, for something she couldn’t change. Adib Khorram lives in Kansas City, Missouri. When he isn’t writing (or at his day job as a graphic designer), you can probably find him trying to get his hundred-yard freestyle under a minute, learning to a Lutz jump, or steeping a cup of oolong. Darius and his father have very frank discussions about sex and relationships. Would you be embarrassed to talk that openly with your parents?

My grandfather seemed so small and defeated then, bowed under the weight of history and the burdens of the future. Penn, Farrah (December 11, 2019). "The 24 Best YA Books Of 2018". BuzzFeed . Retrieved January 1, 2022.