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Kareem Between

Kareem Between

By Shifa Saltagi Safadi

Hardcover

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**WINNER of the NATIONAL BOOK AWARD for Young People's Literature**

This 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." — Jasmine Warga, New York Times bestselling author of and Newbery Honor recipient for Other Words for Home

Seventh grade begins, and Kareem’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 kid—a Syrian refugee with a thick and embarrassing accent—around school. Just when Kareem thinks his middle school life has imploded, the hotshot QB promises to get Kareem another tryout for the squad. There’s a catch: to secure that chance, Kareem must do something he knows is wrong.

Then, like a surprise blitz, Kareem’s mom returns to Syria to help her family but can’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 parents—and between right and wrong. It’s up to him to step up, find his confidence, and navigate the beauty and hope found somewhere in the middle.

About the contributor(s)

Shifa Saltagi Safadi is the National Book Award winning author of Kareem Between, the Amina Banana series, and several picture books, including The Gift of Eid. She has a bachelor’s degree in English literature, is a former English teacher, and is passionate about spreading her love of reading and writing through school visits and story-times. Shifa was born in Syria and immigrated to the US with her parents as a young girl. She lives near Chicago with her husband and four children.  

Book details

ISBN: 9780593699263
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Date published:
Page count: 336
Categories, genres & themes: Juvenile Fiction / Stories In Verse, Juvenile Fiction / Religious / Muslim, and Juvenile Fiction / Sports & Recreation / Football
Ages: 8 to 12

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