Publisher: Levine Querido
NonFiction
Honors and Awards:
Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature (2021)
Summary:
The author of this book wrote the story based on his experience of fleeing Iran with his family. The family first arrive in Abu Dhabi, they were then sent to a refugee camp in Italy before gaining asylum in the US where an elderly couple in Oklahoma sponsored them. The character’s name is Khosrou, but this name proves to be difficult to pronounce in America, so his mother, Sima, decided to call him Daniel. Daniel is born into a rich family – his mother is a doctor and his father is a dentist.
The story of how they fled their country is when the mother was caught helping the underground church in Iran after converting to Christianity. She was forced to fee with her two young children, while the husband stayed behind. In American, Sima was not able to find a job as a doctor, so she ends up working at menial jobs and gets married to an Iranian immigrant, who is abusive. Daniel is bullied mercilessly at middle school, he endures physical abuse such as spitballs shoved in his ear, paperclips shot at his neck) and having racial slurs directed at him. It is difficult for Daniel to adjust being a refugee, away from everything he knew and loved.
Reading Level:
Lexile Measure: 800L
Page count: 368
Vocabulary
Mantel - a beam, stone, or arch used as a support to the masonry above a fireplace.
Hooligan - a violent young troublemaker, typically involved in a gang.
Kaleidoscope - a toy that reflects images of tiny mirrors to create dazzling patterns.
Galleon - a sailing ship, typically used by Spain, from the 15th through 17th centuries, used initially as a warship and later for trade.
Samovar - a highly decorated tea urn used in Russia.
Alchemy - the process of taking something ordinary and turning it into something extraordinary, in a way that it cannot be explained.
Relish - great enjoyment.
Straddle - sit or stand with one leg on either side of.
Loathsome - hatred or disgust; repulsive.
Ransack - go hurriedly through a place, stealing things and causing damage.
Blasphemy - profane talk; speaking offensively, sacrilegiously about God or sacred things.
Rigor mortis -stiffening of the joints and muscles of a body few hours after death.
Begrudge - envy of someone's possession or enjoyment of something.
Discreet - careful in how one speaks, especially in order to avoid causing offense.
Notarize - acknowledge or attest as a notary public.
Terra cotta - brownish-red earthenware.
Rivet - a short metal pin or bolt for holding together two plates of metal.
Pulpit - religious teachings as expressed in sermons.
Renounce - formally declare or abandon a claim, right or possession.
Resources to Support Text
The narrator Daniel is from the Country of Iran. Click on the link to learn more about the history and overview in a kid-friendly format to help students who are unfamiliar with the country and its history.
Oklahoma becomes the main setting of the text. It is not one of the most popular states however it is the 46th state, and the website may prove useful to support the text contextually. Click on link to read a brief synopsis on Oklahoma.
Building / activating schema
Daniel takes us on a journey similar to Scheherazade of the 1,001 Nights so the King would spare her life. The links below may prove useful in helping provide further guidance. Iranian Culture: Understanding the 1,001 Nights:
Lesson Activity
This activity is called Text Reformulation Purpose. Find four key sections of the text, either individual texts or a chunked set of text, and create a comic strip board that provides a visual representation of Daniel's journey and experiences.
Reread the text to find main ideas, sequencing events, and making inferences. The purpose of this activity is to help synthesize ideas from the text and encourage the reader to think critically about the text while completing a create task.
Recommended grade level:
8th - 11th grade
Common Core State Standard
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
Phrases / quotes
"Suddenly evil isn't punching people or even hating them. Suddenly it's all that stuff you've left undone. All the kindness you could have given. All the excuses you gave instead."
"A God who listens is love. A God who speaks is law. At their worst, the people who want a God who listens are self-centered...And the ones who want a God who speaks cruel. They just want laws and justice to crush everything...Love is empty without justice. Justice to crush everything...Love is empty without justice. Justice is cruel without love...God should be both. If a God isn't, that is no God."
"What you believe about the future will change how you live in the present."
Before reading activity
Refer to the Tea Party - pre-reading strategy outlined in 'resources to support text' section. Teacher to distribute index cards to each student with three phrases from the text written on it. Students move around the room to begin the tea party - listen to other students' phrases, and have discussions about what may be happening in the story. Afterwards, write in your digital notebook a brief "I/We Think" statements about your prediction of what the text will be about.
Examples of statements:
"...Then my mom got caught helping the underground church and got a qfatwa on her head, which means the government wanted her dead..."
"...In Oklahoma we are the opposite of kings. Everything we own is inside a hard gray suitcase. It is mostly coats and papers. There is one squished shoebox full of photos that my mom guards, and cries over when she thinks we're asleep."
"...from the United States Consulate (office of someone who is in another country protecting the interests of citizens living in a foreign land)'."
During reading activity
Reflect on the tea party discussions in the pre-reading activity. Refer to your digital notebook - what would you change so far during the reading? Are your predictions correct? Make some additions on what you think is happening in the novel so far.
After reading activity
Read each of the quotes listed below. In as much detail as possible, interpret the meaning of these quotes in your own words using canva to create an informational brochure.
"Suddenly evil isn't punching people or even hating them. Suddenly it's all that stuff you've left undone. All the kindness you could have given. All the excuses you gave instead."
"A God who listens is love. A God who speaks is law. At their worst, the people who want a God who listens are self-centered...And the ones who want a God who speaks cruel. They just want laws and justice to crush everything...Love is empty without justice. Justice to crush everything...Love is empty without justice. Justice is cruel without love...God should be both. If a God isn't, that is no God."
"What you believe about the future will change how you live in the present."
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