​Nayeri is deeply versed in Iranian poets, myths and history, and he relates himself to Scheherazade as the storyteller in One Thousand and One Nights. Like Scheherazade, he uses storytelling as a lifeline—an act of survival.  His narrative moves fluidly between myth, history, memory, and immediate experience, mimicking the way the mind wanders. This nonlinear, fourth-wall-breaking style may disorient some readers, but for me—especially in the audiobook, wonderfully narrated by the author—it brought the story vividly to life. His authentic narration delighted me as he jumped from one fragmented memory to another. 

Central to the memoir is love: the unconditional love of his Babagi (paternal grandfather), his father’s complicated love, and most importantly, his mother’s unwavering devotion. ​

Despite these heavy themes—refugee trauma, domestic abuse, alienation—Nayeri’s voice is full of wonder, vulnerability, and humor. His poetic language is breathtaking. He has poignant phrases laid out like pomegranate seeds, each one asking for you to pause in shared wonder. In addition, he’s also laugh-out-loud funny, often sharing cringeworthy, self-deprecating stories that feel painfully real.
​
One of the most evocative parts of the memoir is the role of food and feeling of connectedness to Iranian culture. Nayeri’s memories are steeped in taste and family—his mom’s cooking, his grandmother’s dishes, his favorite Iranian candies (some reminiscent of Mounds bars). I found myself looking up recipes for the foods he described, eager to experience them myself. 

​Everything Sad Is Untrue is a rich, layered memoir that invites readers into a boy’s fragmented but deeply felt world—one shaped by exile, resilience, and the stories that help us survive.

​
​
​Dr. Audra Slocum is an Associate Professor of Secondary English Education and the Director of Teacher Education at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Prior to joining OU, she was an associate professor at West Virginia University and co-director of the National Writing Project at WVU for 10 years. She has presented at NCTE, AERA, and WVCTE and published in English Education, Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, and English Teaching: Practice and Critique. Her scholarship primarily focuses on how teenagers from linguistically marginalized communities navigate oppressive norms in secondary English classrooms. As a teacher educator, she prepares secondary English students to be actively anti-oppressive as they employ core teaching practices. ​

The novel follows fourteen Nisei teens—second-generation Japanese Americans—from San Francisco’s Japantown. Over 100,000 Japanese Americans were forced into interment camps, under Executive Order 9066, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942s. The majority of those interned were American citizens.  The novel brings to life many historical realities, including the No-No Boys, rebellions, the various characters’ voices. Each chapter is voiced by a different character, capturing the forced removal from their homes, the suffocating conditions of internment camps, and the devastating loss of agency and identity.

Each character is well developed with a distinct voice, shaped by their specific family dynamics, individual personalities and experiences, and their role within their community of friends. The characters are funny, sarcastic, bold, meek – Some are angry, others try to stay hopeful. 

As the years unfold, the characters reckon with typical teenage quandaries like navigating parental expectations, falling in love, and following personal passions, all within the context of imprisonment with limited food, inadequate housing, and cruel and inhumane treatment. ​On top of these complexities, the characters also had to wrestle with how they understood themselves as Japanese and as American, and their relationship with fellow prisoners, the guards, US government, the war, and white residents.  Yet she also gives us tenderness, solidarity, and joy, most often within their community of friends. Amongst the friends, they gave and received comfort, motivation to take on daunting challenges, and experienced true acceptance. The teens’ loyalty to one another is the emotional heart of the novel—a reminder that collective care is a radical act.  

We Are Not Free left me thinking about what freedom, friendship and solidarity means, and how fragile they are. It reminded me that survival isn’t just about endurance—it’s about refusing to let go of our humanity. Chee’s novel is a call to remember, and to resist.​

​
Daniel Summers is a high school Librarian and Coordinator of Student Assistance/Section 504 Compliance at University High School in Morgantown, WV. He has been an educator in various disciplines for over twelve years. He is an active member of the National Writing Project at WVU and a part-time poet.
​
He can be contacted at [email protected]

Our pick for this weekend is brought to us by Oakland University' s Audra Slocum who has historical fiction lined up for this hot holiday weekend - but may your reading happen in a cool, shaded spot! 

​Dr. Audra Slocum is an Associate Professor of Secondary English Education and the Director of Teacher Education at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Prior to joining OU, she was an associate professor at West Virginia University and co-director of the National Writing Project at WVU for 10 years. She has presented at NCTE, AERA, and WVCTE and published in English Education, Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, and English Teaching: Practice and Critique. Her scholarship primarily focuses on how teenagers from linguistically marginalized communities navigate oppressive norms in secondary English classrooms. As a teacher educator, she prepares secondary English students to be actively anti-oppressive as they employ core teaching practices.