For the first time in a long time, Darius learns to love himself no matter what external forces attempt to squash his confidence. Sohrab teaches Darius what friendship is really about: loyalty, honesty, and someone who has your back in a football (soccer) match. But all that changes when Darius meets Sohrab, a Bahá’í boy, in Yazd. When he arrives in Iran, learning to play the Persian card game Rook, socializing, and celebrating Nowruz with a family he had never properly met before is all overwhelming and leaves Darius wondering if he’ll ever truly belong anywhere. He’s mocked for his name and nerdy interests at Chapel Hill High School in Portland, Oregon, and doesn’t speak enough Farsi to communicate with his Iranian relatives either. Iranian on his mother’s side and white American on his father’s side, Darius never quite fits in. When Darius’ grandfather becomes terminally ill, Darius, along with his parents and younger sister, travels to Iran for the first time in his life.
Warmly drawn a valuable conversation-starter for families like Ysabel and Justin's.ĭarius Kellner suffers from depression, bullying by high school jocks, and a father who seems to always be disappointed in him. The story's focus on an African-American family makes it particularly notable in LGBTQ-themed teen literature. The twins' move from suspicion to acceptance comes quickly but believably, and action-oriented scenes-a harrowing moment rafting, a search for a missing twin-keep the pace brisk. Exposition is handled gracefully both dialogue and narrative inform readers about what it means to be transgender while still staying true to the characters involved. Both the tension and the deep caring among Ysabel, Justin and Christine are palpable as the family (reluctantly, on the twins' part) attends daily therapy sessions, eats extravagant takeout meals and embarks on a guided rafting trip with other transgender parents and their children. Will the twins' parents get a divorce? Is Christine still the same person as the dad they knew? Why did everything have to change? For spring break, Ysabel and Justin's parents arrange for the twins to stay with their father for the first time after the big news.
After, their father has moved to the other side of the state, and everything has become uncertain. In a compassionate family drama, twins Ysabel and Justin struggle with the revelation that their father has begun living as a woman.īefore, Ysabel was a talented glassblower and Justin a champion debate-team member, and the pair lived with both parents.
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