Winner of the Michael L. Printz AwardChristopher Award WinnerMiddle East Book Award
WinnerNational Indie BestsellerNPR Best Book of the YearNew York Times Best of the YearAmazon
Best of the YearBooklist Editors' ChoiceBookPage Best of the YearNECBA Windows & Mirrors
SelectionPublishers Weekly Best of the YearWall Street Journal Best of the YearToday.com Best
of the YearWalter Awards Honor Book 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.
