Kareem Between

I saw Kareem Between by Shifa Salvage Safadi on a list of possible Newbery contenders, so I got it from the library. The book description reads, "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."

This was a great read. I liked that it addressed recent current events and helped readers understand what it would feel like to be affected by things like the 2017 travel ban from Muslim countries. I thought Kareem was a relatable character as he tried to figure out how to balance things in his life, and I thought the regular football tie-ins would be fun for kids who are football fans. The book was written in verse, and I thought it was clever how the author moved the verse to the right side of the page (right aligned) when the speaking was taking place in Arabic.

Rating: * * (2/3 = Liked it)