Teen Tuesday features one of my favorite titles of the year, The Many Assassinations of Samir, Seller of Dreams by Daniel Nayeri. I absolutely adored Mr. Nayeri's debut, Everything Sad is Untrue, which was published in 2020 and won the Printz Award.
His sophomore novel is narrated by Omar, a twelve-year-old monk in training, whom Samir and his caravan happen upon just as Omar is about to be stoned by his fellow monks. Samir talks the monk into releasing Omar to his custody in exchange for several bolts of silk. During their journey to Samarkand on the dangerous Silk Road, Omar, renamed by Samir as Monkey, comes to realize that Samir is basically a con man who has angered many people, some of whom vow to kill him.
This face-paced adventure is often laugh-out-loud funny, but also layered and gorgeously written. Mr. Nayeri is a top-notch narrator. I would listen to him read the phone book. That said, I did spend some time with the book. It is beautifully designed with terrific jacket art, and each chapter features an illustration. I've noticed that books published by LQ have heft, unlike the trend nowadays toward flimsy paper and bindings.
His sophomore novel is narrated by Omar, a twelve-year-old monk in training, whom Samir and his caravan happen upon just as Omar is about to be stoned by his fellow monks. Samir talks the monk into releasing Omar to his custody in exchange for several bolts of silk. During their journey to Samarkand on the dangerous Silk Road, Omar, renamed by Samir as Monkey, comes to realize that Samir is basically a con man who has angered many people, some of whom vow to kill him.
This face-paced adventure is often laugh-out-loud funny, but also layered and gorgeously written. Mr. Nayeri is a top-notch narrator. I would listen to him read the phone book. That said, I did spend some time with the book. It is beautifully designed with terrific jacket art, and each chapter features an illustration. I've noticed that books published by LQ have heft, unlike the trend nowadays toward flimsy paper and bindings.
Highly recommended! Happy reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment