Darius the Great Is Not Okay Paperback – August 20, 2019

Prepare yourself for Darius the Great is Not Okay.You are about to fall in love with Dairouish, aka, Darius, a bullied, depressed, tea-making- obsessed, Lord-of-the-Rings and Star-Trek: The-Next-Generation-nerd who doesn't feel like he fits in at school, his family, or the world at large. He refers to himself as a Fractional Persian, his mother is Iranian and his father, Steven Kellner, is a blond-haired, blue-eyed white American. His adorable and precocious little sister, Laleh, is fluent in Farsi, and unlike him, converses easily with their Iranian grandparents over Skype.After a particularly humiliating bullying incident in which his bike seat was stolen and replaced with a pair of truck nuts, i.e., blue rubber testicles, Darius learns that the family is going to Iran to meet his grandparents in person. His grandfather is terminally ill.This story tackles chronic depression, body image, antidepressants, bullying, identity formation, cross-cultural issues, loneliness, and the emotional turmoil of growing up.This is not your average angsty, teenage dramedy with a Disney-esque ending.First time author, Adhib Khorram, captures Darisus's sensitivity, confusion, and self-doubt with honesty and humor. He reframes sudden mood swings as Mood Slingshot Maneuvers, crying as Containment Breaches, and bullies as Soulless Minions of Orthodoxy.On finding the right medication:"That was before Dr. Howell switched me off Prozac, which gave me mood swings so extreme, they were more like Mood Slingshot Maneuvers, powerful enough to fling me around the sun and accelerate me into a time warp." (33)Darius is surprised at the depth of his grandparents love for him and his love for them. He discovers the true motivation behind his father's "disappointment" in him.He experiences real friendship for the first time with a boy named Sohrab, a boy who laughs and loves as easily as Darius anguishes and controls. Although the relationship with Sohrab remains platonic, Darius has moments of allowing himself to examine his own sexual orientation.This is a stand alone book, but I would love to see how Darius continues to explore his romantic feelings as a college student and young adult.After reading the book, I knew that I had to hear the correct pronunciations, accents, and inflections. Michel Levi Harris's narration showcases the gorgeous Farsi language and captures the nuanced emotions of the characters.Darius the Great is Not Okay is rich, complex, authentic, and informative.Read it. Listen to it. Or both.

There are some big subjects discussed in this story—being overweight, interracial marriage, bullying, depression. But it wasn’t the big things that drew me in; it was the little things: the references to LOTR (Lord of the Rings) and TNG (Star Trek, The Next Generation—two of my favorites), the love of tea, the titles assigned to people and places and situations.Darius the Great Is Not Okay follows teenage Darius, a half-Persian on his mom’s side, on a trip to Iran to visit family. Used to not fitting in, Darius doesn’t expect any less in another country. Then he meets Sohrab, a boy his age, and everything changes.Adib Khorram delves into clinical depression and interracial marriage with deftness and humor and wry teenage wit. I laughed at the jokes even as I felt the tension and vulnerability in relationships. In Iran, you see the bleakness and the majesty of the area, the beauty of family and complexity of a different culture. Here, Darius explores a new friendship and the often terrifying boundaries that go with it.Darius the Great Is Not Okay might seem lighthearted at the beginning. The author is extremely clever with his portrayal of teenage boy shenagigans. But beneath the surface is the desire we all share to belong, to be accepted, to be recognized. The story is fun and light as well as deep and sensitive. And what touched me the most were the gentle moments, the unexpected demonstrations of love and understanding.

Reading Adib Khorram’s “Darius the Great Is Not Okay” reminded me of how my family used to travel to Vienna, Austria to visit my Tante Anni and other relatives—minus the interrogation. I love Persian people (not the regime) and I love Persian food (especially abgoosht), so this YA book was really fulfilling for me.For some reason, though, a high percentage of the population that contains testosterone is literally fascinated with their own genitalia. The book began with references to testicles and then graduated to penises, foreskins, and circumcision. While many of the references were indeed funny, I just can’t imagine why Khorram, who is a really creative writer, couldn’t come up with something else.The book, at first, was really clean. At first, there was just a single cuss word (sh%$), but near the end of the book, the author increased its usage. Either I’m just old school or the YA standards have changed. Either way, Khorram is a really good writer—so good, in fact, that he could have used other words. If he had chosen to.Overall, the book’s ending was satisfying, but there was one question that the author never answered and that really irked me. On page 287, Darius and his father were having a conversation after which,“…Dad looked at me for a long moment. Like he knew there was more. But he didn’t ask. Instead, he pushed the hair off my forehead, kissed me there, and rested his chin on top of my head again. Maybe he knew, without me saying it out loud, that I wasn’t ready to talk about more. Maybe he did…”I have an idea about what this so-called secret is, but the author never bothered to address it before the book ended. Adib Khorram is a really good writer and the story was interesting.

Summer required book read. Grandson said the story isn't great. But it is was a must. Sooooo.....