Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Aug 2020
368 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
A sprawling, evocative, and groundbreaking autobiographical novel told in the unforgettable and hilarious voice of a young Iranian refugee. It is a powerfully layered novel that poses the questions: Who owns the truth? Who speaks it? Who believes it?
"A patchwork story is the shame of the refugee," Nayeri writes early in the novel. 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. At the core is Daniel's story of how they 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 U.S. 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.
Like Scheherazade of One Thousand and One Nights in a hostile classroom, Daniel spins a tale to save his own life: to stake his claim to the truth. Everything Sad Is Untrue (a true story) is a tale of heartbreak and resilience and urges readers to speak their truth and be heard.
Michael Printz Award, 2021
"A modern epic." - Kirkus Reviews ( starred review)
"A story that soars. Readers will be transported."- BCCB (starred review)
"A distinctive voice. A rare treasure of a book." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Poignant and powerful. A story of heartbreak and resilience." - Foreword Reviews (starred review)
"One of the most extraordinary books of the year."- Bookpage ( starred review)
"A journey as intimate as it is epic. A remarkable work that raises the literary bar in children's lit."- Booklist (starred review)
"At once beautiful and painful, this timely story is highly recommended for middle grade readers."- School Library Journal (starred review)
"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 Time Book Review
"Supple, sparkling and original." - The Wall Street Journal
This information about Everything Sad Is Untrue was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Daniel Nayeri was born in Iran and spent a couple of years as a refugee before immigrating to Oklahoma at age eight with his family. He is the publisher of Odd Dot, an imprint of Macmillan, making him one of the youngest publishers in the industry. He has served on the CBC diversity committee and the CBC panel committee.
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