Darius the Great Is Not Okay

Adib Khorram

Half-Persian teenager Darius Kellner doesn’t have much confidence in himself. Shy, geeky, and clinically depressed, he feels like an outsider among his peers, a disappointment to his father, and a total stranger to his Persian family. But when Darius visits his maternal grandparents in Iran for the first time, his attitude starts to shift. After meeting a local boy his age named Sohrab, Darius feels he finally has a true friend. With Sohrab’s help, Darius grows closer to his Persian roots, and in the process, begins to accept himself.

The Distance Between Us

Reyna Grande

When she was a child, Reyna Grande’s father journeyed to the United States, promising he’d return with a fortune for the family. A few years later, her mother joins him, leaving Reyna and her siblings in Mexico in the care of their impoverished grandmother. The Distance Between Us chronicles Reyna’s childhood experiences longing for her parents, then her struggles to reconnect with them after she makes her own journey to El Otro Lado, “The Other Side.” Poignant and raw, this memoir will give students better insight into the immigrant experience from a child’s perspective, a viewpoint that’s often overlooked in many conversations about the issue.

Pride: A Pride and Prejudice Remix

Ibi Zoboi

Like Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary and Uzma Jalaluddin’s Ayesha at Last, Ibi Zoboi’s Pride reimagines Jane Austen’s classic novel with a contemporary twist. Set in present-day Brooklyn, this retelling introduces readers to Zuri Benitez, a Haitian-Dominican young woman with strong ties to her working-class neighborhood. But Zuri knows things on her block are changing when the wealthy Darcy family buys the house across the street. Zoboi’s exploration of the tense relationship between Zuri and Darius Darcy opens broader conversations on social class, gentrification, and identity that older readers, Jane Austen aficionados or not, will find enlightening.

Girl in Translation

Jean Kwok

Drawn from her own experiences as the daughter of a working-class immigrant family, Jean Kwok’s Girl in Translation is a fictional account of one girl’s struggle to survive in an unfamiliar world. Kimberly Chang and her mother arrive in New York City from Hong Kong, only to find themselves stuck in a roach-infested apartment and working for pennies in a Chinatown sweatshop. Knowing she wants more from life, Kimberly sets out to gain an education, trying to balance her schoolwork with her factory job.

As they watch Kimberly navigate everything from language barriers to first love, students will love her determination to succeed, despite the odds. Like other books on this list, Girl in Translation sheds light on pressing issues the average American might not experience, giving marginalized voices a chance to be heard.

We Are Not Free

Traci Chee

A finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, Traci Chee’s We Are Not Free is an incredible work of historical fiction for young adult readers. Taking place during World War II, this novel follows a group of teenage Nisei, or second-generation Japanese American citizens, as their lives are upended after the authorization of Executive Order 9066.

Told through multiple perspectives, each character’s voice allows readers to explore this era of unjust incarceration from varying views. Some, in an effort to prove their patriotism, willingly enlist to fight in the war. Others strongly resist, holding protests within the internment camps. All mourn the profound loss of their homes, communities, and cultural ties that held them together. Though the story is fictional, We Are Not Free reveals the ugly truths behind one of the darkest times in American history.

Flying Lessons and Other Stories

Ellen Oh, Editor

Throughout his career, the late author Walter Dean Myers championed diverse voices in children’s literature, believing that every child deserved to see themselves reflected in the books they read. From this mission comes Flying Lessons and Other Stories, an anthology of ten short works by some of today’s most celebrated children’s authors: Kwame Alexander, Kelly J. Baptist, Soman Chainani, Matt de la Peña, Tim Federle, Grace Lin, Meg Medina, Tim Tingle, Jacqueline Woodson, and Walter Dean Myers himself.

Within this book, middle-grade students will immerse themselves in a wide range of settings, from school hallways and city basketball courts to sleepy small towns and sunny foreign beaches. And while the stories feature characters from vastly different backgrounds, their central themes—friendship, family, belonging, and dreams—will resonate with every reader.

At its core, Flying Lessons and Other Stories is a memorable collection—not to mention our top-selling title this year— that will undoubtedly open students’ eyes to the world around them, inspiring empathy for others and introspection for the reader. For these reasons, it deserves recognition as the 2022 Discovering Literature Book of the Year.