Darius the Great Is Not Okay

ONE OF TIME’S BEST YA BOOKS OF ALL TIME • A young teen—half Persian, half American—feels like he doesn’t belong anywhere. But imagine his surprise when, on a summer visit to Iran, he makes a friend that changes everything.

“Layered with complexities of identity, body image, and mental illness that are so rarely articulated in the voice of a teenage boy of color.”—The New York Times

“Heartfelt, tender, and so utterly real.”—Becky Albertalli, award-winning author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, the inspiration for the movie Love, Simon

Darius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He’s a Fractional Persian—half, his mom’s side—and his first-ever trip to Iran is about to change his life.

Darius has never really fit in at home, and he’s sure things are going to be the same in Iran. His clinical depression doesn’t exactly help matters, and trying to explain his medication to his grandparents only makes things harder. Then Darius meets Sohrab, the boy next door, and everything changes. Soon, they’re spending their days together, playing soccer, eating faludeh, and talking for hours on a secret rooftop overlooking the city’s skyline. Sohrab calls him Darioush—the original Farsi version of his name—and Darius has never felt more like himself than he does now that he’s Darioush to Sohrab.

This book is for anyone who’s ever felt not good enough—then met a friend who makes them feel so much better than okay.

WILLIAM C. MORRIS AWARD WINNER • A Best Book of the Year: Wall Street Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, BuzzFeed, Boston Globe, and New York Public Library