Darius the Great Deserves Better
In this follow-up to Darius the Great Is Not Okay, teenage Darius, now back in Portland, is happily involved with his boyfriend, Landon, whom Darius met at the tea shop where he’s been interning. Biracial Darius is also enjoying the new closeness he and his dad forged on their family trip to Iran, but is less sure about how his dad’s two emotionally reserved white moms (one of who is transgender) feel about him. What he does know is that their visit has triggered a depressive episode in his dad. When Landon begins initiating greater physical intimacy, eventually making clear he wants to have sex, Darius isn’t sure he’s ready, or even wants to. His growing feelings for Chip, one of his soccer teammates, who seems to be sending romantic signals, further confuse him, as does the fact Chip is best friends with Trent, a blatantly homophobic bully. Worry about his ailing maternal grandfather in Iran, and about his best friend, Sohrab, who lives there too but hasn’t replied to recent emails, including one in which Darius came out, add to Darius’s concerns. Darius’s relationships—romantic, platonic, family—are at the heart of a story that explores these connections and their complications with warmth and refreshing honesty. Darius’s uncertainty about having sex is particularly welcome as he realizes that wanting different things and asserting boundaries is perfectly okay, even if it means the ends of a romance. ©2021 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 13 and older
Age Range:
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
Depression
Families
Fathers
Friendship
Grandmothers
Homophobia
Iranians and Iranian Americans
LGBTQ+ Persons
Love and Romance
Multiracial Characters/Families
Self-Esteem and Self-Worth
Sex and Sexuality
Transgender People
Diversity subjects:
Asian
Middle East
LGBTQ Character/Topic
Psychiatric Disability/Condition
Publishers:
Dial, Penguin Random House
Publish Year: 2020
Pages: 342
ISBN: 9780593108239
CCBC Location: Fiction, Khorram