A National Indie Bestseller An NPR Best Book of the Year A New York Times Best Book of the Year An Amazon Best Book of the Year A Booklist Editors' Choice A BookPage Best Book of the Year A NECBA Windows & Mirrors Selection A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year A Wall Street Journal Best Book of the Year A Today.com Best of the Year PRAISE A modern masterpiece.-- The New York Times Book Review Supple, sparkling and original. -- The Wall Street Journal Mesmerizing.--TODAY.com This book could change the world.--BookPage Like nothing else you've read or ever will read.--Linda Sue Park It hooks you right from the opening line.
--NPR SEVEN STARRED REVIEWS A modern epic.-- Kirkus Reviews , starred review A rare treasure of a book. -- Publishers Weekly , starred review A story that soars. -- The Bulletin , starred review At once beautiful and painful.-- School Library Journal , starred review Raises the literary bar in children's lit. -- Booklist , starred review Poignant and powerful. -- Foreword Reviews , starred review One of the most extraordinary books of the year. --BookPage, starred review A sprawling, evocative, and groundbreaking autobiographical novel told in the unforgettable and hilarious voice of a young Iranian refugee.
It is a powerfully layered novel that poses the questions: Who owns the truth? Who speaks it? Who believes it? A patchwork story is the shame of the refugee, Nayeri writes early in the novel. In an Oklahoman middle school, Khosrou (whom everyone calls Daniel) stands in front of a skeptical audience of classmates, telling the tales of his family's history, stretching back years, decades, and centuries. At the core is Daniel's story of how they became refugees--starting with his mother's vocal embrace of Christianity in a country that made such a thing a capital offense, and continuing through their midnight flight from the secret police, bribing their way onto a plane-to-anywhere. Anywhere becomes the sad, cement refugee camps of Italy, and then finally asylum in the U.S. Implementing a distinct literary style and challenging western narrative structures, Nayeri deftly weaves through stories of the long and beautiful history of his family in Iran, adding a richness of ancient tales and Persian folklore. Like Scheherazade of One Thousand and One Nights in a hostile classroom, Daniel spins a tale to save his own life: to stake his claim to the truth. EVERYTHING SAD IS UNTRUE (a true story) is a tale of heartbreak and resilience and urges readers to speak their truth and be heard.