Darius the Great Is Not Okay

Starred review from June 4, 2018
First-time author Khorram’s coming-of-age novel brings to life the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of a culture steeped in tradition. After learning that her Iranian father is ailing, high school sophomore Darius’s mother decides to take the family to visit her father and relatives in Iran. Suffering from chronic depression and bullied at school in America, Darius isn’t sure how he’ll fare in a country he’s never seen. It doesn’t take him long to adjust as people welcome him with open arms, however, especially after he meets Sohrab, his grandparents’ teenaged neighbor, who invites him to play soccer and quickly becomes Darius’s first real friend ever. While the book doesn’t sugarcoat problems in the country (unjust imprisonment and an outdated view of mental illness are mentioned), it mainly stays focused on the positive—Iran’s impressive landscape and mouthwatering food, the warmth of its people—as it shows how a boy who feels like an outcast at home finds himself and true friendship overseas. Ages 12–up. Agent: Molly O’Neill, Waxman Leavell.

In this moving audiobook, narrator Michael Levi Harris takes us into high schooler Darius Kellner's head--he's half Persian, he loves tea, he sees life through STAR TREK and LORD OF THE RINGS references, and, just like his dad, he's clinically depressed. Darius and his family live in Oregon, but they travel to Iran to visit his ailing grandfather. There, a new world opens up for Darius--as he gets to know his grandparents and learns about his Persian ancestry, listeners hear some Farsi and the accented English of Darius's grandparents and his new friend, Sohrab. Harris brings out all of Sohrab's earnest sweetness, and his sensitive narration emphasizes the connection between the boys as well as Darius's yearning to recapture the relationship he had with his father when he was younger. J.M.D. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine