Reader Meet Writer: Everything Sad is Untrue with Daniel Nayeri (Virtual Event)

Join us Thursday, September 3rd from 7-8 pm for an exciting discussion about EVERYTHING SAD IS UNTRUE by Daniel Nayeri!

• “A modern epic.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
• “A distinctive voice. A rare treasure of a book.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
• “A story that soars. Readers will be transported.”—The Bulletin, starred review

At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls “Daniel”) stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But no one believes a word he says. To them he is a dark-skinned, hairy-armed boy with a big butt whose lunch smells funny; who makes things up and talks about poop too much.

But Khosrou’s stories, stretching back years, and decades, and centuries, are beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment his family fled Iran in the middle of the night with the secret police moments behind them, back to the sad, cement refugee camps of Italy.and further back to the fields near the river Aras, where rain-soaked flowers bled red like the yolk of sunset burst over everything, and further back still to the Jasmine-scented city of Isfahan.

We bounce between a school bus of kids armed with paper clip missiles and spitballs to the heroines and heroes of Khosrou’s family’s past, who ate pastries that made people weep and cry “Akh, Tamar!” and touched carpets woven with precious gems.

Like Scheherazade in a hostile classroom, Daniel weaves a tale to save his own life: to stake his claim to the truth. And it is (a true story).

It is Daniel’s.

Daniel Nayeri is the publisher of Odd Dot, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, where he oversees a team of designers, editors, and inventors creating joyful books for curious minds. Daniel was born in Iran and spent several years as a refugee before immigrating to Oklahoma at age eight with his family. He is the author of several books for young readers, including Straw House, Wood House, Brick House Blow: Four Novellas and Everything Sad Is Untrue (a true story). He is a former professional pastry chef, and if he’s not writing or baking, he’s likely playing board games, or riding motorcycles. He lives with his family in New Jersey.