Everything Sad is Untrue

Each Friday that school is in session, I share the link to a read-aloud preview of a book from SRCSA library. The “First-chapter Friday” selection for Jan. 10, 2025 is Everything Sad is Untrue, by Daniel Nayeri.

In an Oklahoman middle school, Khosrou (whom everyone calls Daniel) stands in front of a skeptical audience of classmates, telling the tales of his family’s history, stretching back years, decades, and centuries. He begins with his earliest memory, that of his grandfather killing a bull.

At the core is Daniel’s story of how his family became refugees — starting with his mother’s vocal embrace of Christianity in a country that made such a thing a capital offense, and continuing through their midnight flight from the secret police, bribing their way onto a plane-to-anywhere. “Anywhere” becomes the sad, cement refugee camps of Italy, and then finally asylum in the United States.

Implementing a distinct literary style and challenging western narrative structures, Nayeri deftly weaves through stories of the long and beautiful history of his family in Iran, adding a richness of ancient tales and Persian folklore.

Everything Sad is Untrue was a winner, in 2021, of the Michael L. Printz Award, the Christopher Award for Young People, and the Middle East Book Award. It was an Honor Book for the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature.
https://youtu.be/cZxuoPMgvWo

First-chapter Friday playlist on YouTube:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6F1x26TGVFF4Clbqq18kcKCxfxnuDx4w