Disappointed Read: EVERYTHING SAID IS UNTRUE

 A. Bibliographic Data

          Nayeri, Daniel. 2020. EVERYTHING SAD IS UNTRUE. Levine Querido Publishing.

B. Summary

 A tale of what life is like for an Iranian refugee living in Oklahoma and explains his family and history to a class of people who find his tales to appear exaggerated. You learn of his life before becoming a refugee, living in a refugee camp, and life in America.

C. Critical Analysis

 After reading this book I was very shocked to find that this book received so many awards because even though parts of it were entertaining, I simply found the writing and flow of the story to be like the online summary states a patchwork story. I believe the summary provided by the publishers meant more of a patchwork of his life, but I feel it is more of a patchwork of writing form. It doesn’t seem to flow well and at times it is very hard to continue reading. I think the story could be amazing if written differently. I am a person who starts a book and must finish it, but I can honestly say this is the first book that was a true struggle for me to finish. After analyzing the cover of the book I feel that it's a great image to use as this story was a chaotic tornado of words that had no real plot. I think the author was trying very hard to write as a 10-year-old and in the process, it became a rambled, and incohesive story. It was not my cup of tea, and I wouldn’t recommend this book to others.

D.  Book Reviews

“A journey as intimate as it is epic. A remarkable work that raises the literary bar in children’s lit.”- BOOKLIST (starred review)

“At once beautiful and painful, this timely story is highly recommended for middle-grade readers.”- SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (starred review)

“A modern masterpiece – as epic as the “Iliad” and “Shahnameh,” and as heartwarming as “Charlotte’s Web.” It’s for the kids at the lunch table; the heroes of tomorrow, just looking to survive the battle of adolescence.” – NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

E. Connections

-          My 10^th grade nephew read this book with me, and he had a similar evaluation of the story. He felt that the book was hard to follow, and had some funny parts but that overall, it just didn’t flow that well. (His words)