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Kareem Between - Shifa Saltagi Safadi

By Shifa Saltagi Safadi

Release Date: 2024-09-10

Genre: Poetry for Kids

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This award-winning, heartfelt coming-of-age novel in verse tells the powerful story of a seventh-grade Syrian American boy and his struggles, big and small, as he navigates middle school.

"The exact type of book I would've loved, and needed, as a kid." ā€”Jasmine Warga, New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Honor recipient for Other Words for Home

Seventh grade begins, and Kareemā€™s already fumbled it.  

His best friend moved away, he messed up his tryout for the football team, and because of his heritage, he was voluntold to show the new kidā€”a Syrian refugee with a thick and embarrassing accentā€”around school. Just when Kareem thinks his middle school life has imploded, the hotshot QB promises to get Kareem another tryout for the squad. Thereā€™s a catch: to secure that chance, Kareem must do something he knows is wrong.

Then, like a surprise blitz, Kareemā€™s mom returns to Syria to help her family but canā€™t make it back home. If Kareem could throw a penalty flag on the fouls of his school and home life, it would be for unnecessary roughness.

Kareem is stuck between. Between countries. Between friends, between football, between parentsā€”and between right and wrong. Itā€™s up to him to step up, find his confidence, and navigate the beauty and hope found somewhere in the middle.

** Winner of the 2024 National Book Award for Young Peopleā€™s Literature** Global Read Aloud Selection ** School Library Journal Best Middle Grade Book ** Chicago Public Library Best Fiction for Older Readers ** PEOPLE Magazine Best Kids Book ** Junior Library Guild Selection** Texas Lone Star Reading List selection ** Common Sense Media Selection for Families** Cybils Novel in Verse Award Winner** Jane Addams Children Book Award Finalist** ILA Notable Book for a Global Society** Bank Street's Best Children's Books of the Year**

Kareem Between - Shifa Saltagi Safadi

By Shifa Saltagi Safadi

Release Date: 2024-09-10

Genre: Poetry for Kids

(0 ratings)
Read Download
This award-winning, heartfelt coming-of-age novel in verse tells the powerful story of a seventh-grade Syrian American boy and his struggles, big and small, as he navigates middle school.

"The exact type of book I would've loved, and needed, as a kid." ā€”Jasmine Warga, New York Times bestselling author and Newbery Honor recipient for Other Words for Home

Seventh grade begins, and Kareemā€™s already fumbled it.  

His best friend moved away, he messed up his tryout for the football team, and because of his heritage, he was voluntold to show the new kidā€”a Syrian refugee with a thick and embarrassing accentā€”around school. Just when Kareem thinks his middle school life has imploded, the hotshot QB promises to get Kareem another tryout for the squad. Thereā€™s a catch: to secure that chance, Kareem must do something he knows is wrong.

Then, like a surprise blitz, Kareemā€™s mom returns to Syria to help her family but canā€™t make it back home. If Kareem could throw a penalty flag on the fouls of his school and home life, it would be for unnecessary roughness.

Kareem is stuck between. Between countries. Between friends, between football, between parentsā€”and between right and wrong. Itā€™s up to him to step up, find his confidence, and navigate the beauty and hope found somewhere in the middle.

** Winner of the 2024 National Book Award for Young Peopleā€™s Literature** Global Read Aloud Selection ** School Library Journal Best Middle Grade Book ** Chicago Public Library Best Fiction for Older Readers ** PEOPLE Magazine Best Kids Book ** Junior Library Guild Selection** Texas Lone Star Reading List selection ** Common Sense Media Selection for Families** Cybils Novel in Verse Award Winner** Jane Addams Children Book Award Finalist** ILA Notable Book for a Global Society** Bank Street's Best Children's Books of the Year**

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