Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
Fractionally Persian, Darius has his spirit crushed on a daily basis by the Soulless Minions of Orthodoxy at Chapel Hill High School. When he’s dragged to Iran to be with his sick grandfather, he expects to be a misfit in a whole other culture. And he is—but at the same time he isn’t. Darius is so painfully lovable that I couldn’t wait for the other characters in this story to discover his lovableness too. When a genuine breakthrough comes, it is undeniably earned, and it gave me an afterglow of warmth for all humans. Ages 13 and up. - Tera
