Everything Sad is Untrue (Daniel Nayeri)

A middle school student in Oklahoma, the refugee Daniel (former Khosrou) tells his story (and snapshots from that of his family's, stretching back generations) to a bored, disgusted, skeptical, and occasionally-interested audience. Khosrou was from Iran, but had to flee when his mom became a Christian. They went to the UAE, then Italy, then Oklahoma. Her Persian husband divorced her; she married a man in America who beats her. They were (and are) ignored, hated, loved . . . it can be complicated. They were once rich, but now are poor—all because of Jesus. Why would his mother give up riches, a good career, family, home, even her life? ". . . she'll tell you—it's worth it. Jesus is better."

"I don't know how my mom was so unstoppable despite all that stuff happening. I dunno. Maybe it's anticipation. Hope. The anticipation that the God who listens in love will one day speak justice. The hope that some final fantasy will come to pass that will make everything sad untrue." "Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. This whole story hinges on it."

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This book is a powerful memoir, looking at what really matters, the pain of the refugee, our ultimate hope, and the power of stories. On that note, Daniel tells his tale through stories—part fact, part fiction—now indistinguishable in his mind through the muddling of years. And he frequently references Scheherazade and her stories in 1,001 Nights: "dear reader, you have to understand the point of all these stories Scheherazade was trying to make the king human again. She made him love life by showing him all of it . . . [so that] little by little, he began to feel the joy and sadness of others. He became less immune, less numb, because of the stories. And what about you?" "The point of the Nights is that if you spend time with each other—if we really listen in the parlors of our minds and look at each other as we were meant to be seen—then we would fall in love. We would marvel at how beautifully we were made."

"The truth is that everything has a hundred thousand flaws." "But what you believe about the future will change how you live in the present." "I knew we would be whole one day. Maybe it would take a thousand years. But we'd get there, little by little."

Rating: A