Darius the Great Deserves Better

Kiss & Tell

Faith, Hope, and Ivy June

Forget Me Not

How It All Blew Up

The Pearl Thief: Code Name Verity

Claudia and the Worlds Cutest Baby

Story of a Girl

Darius the Great

Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran.

Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He's about to take his first-ever trip to Iran, and it's pretty overwhelming—especially when he's also dealing with clinical depression, a disapproving dad, and a chronically anemic social life. In Iran, he gets to know his ailing but still formidable grandfather, his loving grandmother, and the rest of his mom's family for the first time. And he meets Sohrab, the boy next door who changes everything.

Sohrab makes sure people speak English so Darius can understand what's going on. He gets Darius an Iranian National Football Team jersey that makes him feel like a True Persian for the first time. And he understands that sometimes, best friends don't have to talk. Darius has never had a true friend before, but now he's spending his days with Sohrab playing soccer, eating rosewater ice cream, and sitting together for hours in their special place, a rooftop overlooking the Yazdi skyline.

Sohrab calls him Darioush—the original Persian version of his name—and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he's Darioush to Sohrab. When it's time to go home to America, he'll have to find a way to be Darioush on his own.

Discover Your Child's Next Read

Darius the Great Deserves Better

Adib Khorram, 2020

Kiss & Tell

Adib Khorram, 2022

Faith, Hope, and Ivy June

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, 2009

Forget Me Not

Carolee Dean, 2012

How It All Blew Up

Arvin Ahmadi, 2020

The Pearl Thief: Code Name Verity

Elizabeth Wein, 2017

Claudia and the Worlds Cutest Baby

Ann M. Martin, 1996

Story of a Girl

Sara Zarr, 2007