Another Faust

The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams

Never After: The Thirteenth Fairy: The Chronicles of Never After

Refugee Boy

The Island

Secrets in the Fire

Kira-Kira

Grenade

At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls "Daniel") stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But no one believes a word he says. To them he is a dark-skinned, hairy-armed boy with a big butt whose lunch smells funny; who makes things up and talks about poop too much.

But Khosrou's stories, stretching back years, and decades, and centuries, are beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment he, his mother, and sister fled Iran in the middle of the night, stretching all the way back to family tales set in the jasmine-scented city of Isfahan, the palaces of semi-ancient kings, and even the land of stories.

We bounce between a school bus of kids armed with paper clip missiles and spitballs, to the heroines and heroes of Kosrou's family's past, who ate pastries that made them weep, and touched carpets woven with precious gems.

Like Scheherazade in a hostile classroom, author Daniel Nayeri weaves a tale of Khosrou trying to save his own life: to stake his claim to the truth. And it is (a true story).

It is Daniel's.

Discover Your Child's Next Read

Another Faust

Dina Nayeri, Daniel Nayeri, 2009

The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams

Daniel Nayeri, Daniel Miyares, 2023

Never After: The Thirteenth Fairy: The Chronicles of Never After

Melissa De La Cruz, 2020

Refugee Boy

Benjamin Zephaniah, 2001

The Island

John R Bigonette, 2005

Secrets in the Fire

Henning Mankell, Anne Connie Stuksrud, 1995

Kira-Kira

Cynthia Kadohata, 2005

Grenade

Alan Gratz, 2018