Eric G., South River High School
Darius Kellner is a high school sophomore in Portland. He is constantly bullied and harassed because of his half-Persian name and his interests. He has a distant relationship with his father and suffers from depression.
When Darius’ grandfather becomes terminally ill, Darius, along with his parents and younger sister, travels to Iran for the first time in his life. However, unlike his sister, he is unable to speak Farsi and once again feels isolated from the people around him. Darius soon meets and befriends a boy named Sohrab, and this leads him on a self-reflective journey that teaches him about friendship and identity.
In my opinion Darius the Great Is Not Okay is an extremely well written and inspiring story. Khorram does a great job in introducing readers to Persian culture in a way that is easy to understand and digest. Darius as a character is extremely well written and sympathetic and this allows you to easily relate to his struggles. Khorram does a great job exploring the themes of identity and depression that, as a child of immigrants myself, really resonated with me. I would highly recommend this book to any teenager who struggles with depression or their cultural identity.
Click here to check out Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram.