-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Book Reviewed by:Two teen boys grapple with identity and accountability and set off a ripple effect within their community after a school assembly is disrupted by a shouted slur.
Freshmen Dayton and Farshid couldn't be more different―or so it seems.
When Dayton takes a dare and shouts the f-slur at a visiting author during a school event, it sets off a chain reaction that forces both boys to face parts of themselves they'd rather ignore.
Dayton, grappling with the fallout of his actions, faces rejection from his friends, disappointment from his parents, and a growing awareness of the harm he's caused. Meanwhile, Farshid is left to untangle his own feelings―about himself and about the quiet struggle of coming to terms with his queerness in a world steeped in heteronormativity.
As their lives unexpectedly intersect, Dayton and Farshid must reckon with what kind of men they want to become and whether they have the courage to defy toxic masculinity and societal expectations.
Timely, raw, and deeply thought-provoking, this novel is perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Nic Stone.
1
Dayton
You know you've messed up when you get marched into the principal's office.
Not the little waiting area outside, where the bad kids—the troublemakers and class clowns and bullies—sit while they wait for the hammer of judgment to fall on them.
No. You're standing in the doorway of the principal's actual office.
You thought a high school principal would have a fancy office, maybe with windows and a mahogany desk or something, but this is just like every other part of the main office: gray walls full of pushpins, heavy wooden doors, black office chairs, and a tan desk that isn't made of real wood.
Dr. Matthews's office faces out to the rest of the main office, but the windows are coated with some sort of cling film that makes them all blurry, so you can't see out and no one can see in. One corner is peeling away from the glass.
Mr. Clemens, your ELA teacher, frog-marched you in here. You're not 100 percent certain what a frog march is, or where you heard the term, but you're...
During an author visit at a school assembly, first-year student Dayton succumbs to peer pressure and takes a bet, shouting a homophobic slur for everyone to hear. Disciplined by the school, grounded by his parents, and shunned by his friends, Dayton is forced to reckon with the impact of his words, the truth of his beliefs, and how to make amends. The ripple effect of his actions extends farther yet. Dayton's classmate Farshid has been a proud ally to queer students, but he's quietly struggling to make sense of his own identity. When bullies are emboldened by Dayton's outburst, whispered slurs begin to follow Farshid through the hallways, making it harder to admit to others—and himself—who he truly wants to be. Written in second person, the story alternates between Dayton and Farshid's perspectives. With raw intensity, Khorram explores the power of responsibility, forgiveness, and honesty. Through the dual perspectives of his very different protagonists, he highlights the importance of allowing space for people to explore their identity, while also providing scope for people to learn and grow from their mistakes...continued
Full Review
(723 words)
(Reviewed by Callum McLaughlin).
In Adib Khorram's novel One Word, Six Letters, Farshid is struggling to come to terms with his identity. The pressure of being a closeted immigrant teenager in modern America manifests in anxiety and a fixation on diet and exercise.
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) can have a potentially devastating impact on a person's physical and mental wellbeing. The condition was first described by Italian psychiatrist Enrico Morselli in 1891. Other prominent figures such as psychiatrist Pierre Janet and neurologist Sigmund Freud also wrote case studies on people suffering from classic symptoms of the illness, known then as "dysmorphophobia." It received its first mention in the American Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) in ...
If you liked One Word, Six Letters, try these:
by C. Mallon
Published 2026
A singular, devastating debut novel, Dogs traces the fallout of one catastrophic night in the lives of five high school wrestlers, asking what can survive in the blast radius of latent trauma and violence.
by Zack Smedley
Published 2023
From the critically acclaimed author of Deposing Nathan comes an explosive examination of identity, voice, and the indelible ways our stories are rewritten by others.
by Amy Reed
Published 2019
Three misfits come together to avenge the rape of a fellow classmate and in the process trigger a change in the misogynist culture at their high school transforming the lives of everyone around them in this searing and timely story.
These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
