-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
by Shifa Saltagi Safadi
This heartfelt coming-of-age novel in verse tells the powerful story of a seventh-grade Syrian American boy and his struggles, big and small, as he navigates middle school.
Seventh grade begins, and Kareem's already fumbled it.
His best friend moved away, he messed up his tryout for the football team, and because of his heritage, he was voluntold to show the new kid—a Syrian refugee with a thick and embarrassing accent—around school. Just when Kareem thinks his middle school life has imploded, the hotshot QB promises to get Kareem another tryout for the squad. There's a catch: to secure that chance, Kareem must do something he knows is wrong.
Then, like a surprise blitz, Kareem's mom returns to Syria to help her family but can't make it back home. If Kareem could throw a penalty flag on the fouls of his school and home life, it would be for unnecessary roughness.
Kareem is stuck between. Between countries. Between friends, between football, between parents—and between right and wrong. It's up to him to step up, find his confidence, and navigate the beauty and hope found somewhere in the middle.
National Book Awards, 2024
"A masterfully written, deeply resonant tale." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"The nonlinear text makes the story dynamic and engaging, drawing readers in from page one. Safadi weaves a story of identity, growing up, standing up for what's right, and boyhood. A first purchase for middle school libraries, especially where fresh approaches to sports fiction are in high demand." —Library Journal (starred review)
"Riveting, powerful, and soul-stirring, this is a beautifully written story of triumph amid tragedy that I know every young reader—and their adults—will love. Fresh, accessible, and compelling, middle grade at its very best!" —S. K. Ali, New York Times bestselling and award-winning author
"An immersive story that captures the nuances of middle school friendships, family challenges, and the difficult realities of being 'stuck' between two different worlds." —Maleeha Siddiqui, acclaimed author of Barakah Beats and Any Way You Look
This information about Kareem Between 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.
Shifa Saltagi Safadi is the author of Kareem Between and several picture books, including The Gift of Eid. She has a bachelor's degree in English literature, teaches ELA at a local middle school, and reviews Muslim books on her blog, Muslim Mommy Blog. Shifa was born in Syria and immigrated to the US with her parents as a young girl. She lives near Chicago with her husband and four children.
If you liked Kareem Between, try these:
by Ron Rindo
Published 2026
A remarkable child transforms a small, rural community―and soon the world.
by David Hopen
Published 2021
A commanding debut and a poignant coming-of-age story about a devout Jewish high school student whose plunge into the secularized world threatens everything he knows of himself.
by Trent Dalton
Published 2020
An utterly wonderful debut novel of love, crime, magic, fate and a boy's coming of age, set in 1980s Australia and infused with the originality, charm, pathos, and heart of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
