Kareem Between

This heartfelt coming-of-age novel in verse tells the powerful story of a seventh-grade Syrian American boy navigating middle school, friendship, football, and family.

FINALIST for the NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

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 around school. When the hotshot QB promises to get Kareem another tryout, there's a catch: he must do something he knows is wrong. Then his mom returns to Syria to help her family and can't make it back home. Kareem is stuck between countries, friends, football, and right and wrong.

• Author: Shifa Saltagi Safadi
• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers