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Kareem Between

Author Shifa Saltagi Safadi On Tour
Read by Peter Romano
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On sale Sep 10, 2024 | 3 Hours and 22 Minutes | 9780593944813
Grades 3-7
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This award-winning, 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 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.

** Winner of the 2024 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature** Global Read Aloud Selection ** School Library Journal Best Middle Grade Book ** Chicago Public Library Best Fiction for Older Readers ** PEOPLE Magazine Best Kids Book ** Junior Library Guild Selection** Texas Lone Star Reading List selection ** Common Sense Media Selection for Families** Cybils Novel in Verse Award Winner** Jane Addams Children Book Award Finalist** ILA Notable Book for a Global Society** Bank Street's Best Children's Books of the Year**
© Malak Safadi
SHIFA SALTAGI SAFADI is the author of Kareem Between and several picture books, including The Gift of Eid. She has a bachelor’s degree in English literature, teaches ELA at a local middle school, and reviews Muslim books on her blog, Muslim Mommy Blog. 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.

Find her on Instagram @MuslimMommyBlog View titles by Shifa Saltagi Safadi
Fall 2016
Prepare to Play
The day
of the first 
school game,
the
team
marches
down
the
halls
together,
loud with laughter,
matching jerseys
filling their faces with triumph,
applause around them
as they prepare to play
while
I
flatten
my
b
o
d
y
against the lockers,
                                         moving
                                         out of their way.
All I can think
is
if I was on the team,
I wouldn’t 
be
invisible.

Stadium
It seems like everyone in 
Chesterton
comes to the first game,
the silver and red colors of 
our Bulldogs
streaked on hundreds of faces,
wide smiles,
spirits high,
arms waving,
loud voices
in the stands
chanting the
school spirit song,
the barely fall breeze of September
flowing around us.
It takes 
only one quarter
for everyone to realize
our team isn’t going to win.
Austin’s tosses fall shorter,
Coach’s yells get louder,
and the 
number of fans
in the stands
gets
smaller.
I feel like I’m rewatching
last Sunday’s game,
rewatching Jay Cutler 
get sacked five times,
rewatching Bears fans 
leaving
to 
avoid seeing
a game 
end
so low
it crushes us to the ground.

Late Fall 2016
Division
In the book
The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary
the fifth graders
don’t want their school 
shut down.
Because their class
would be
                         divi          ded.
Because when
friendships
fr      ,
classes are
lonely.
Months shuffle forward,
books my only
companions,
lessons and learning
all I do.
I hide in the library
to escape
the embarrassment
of where to sit at lunch,
but even my favorite books
don’t distract me from 
my despair.
I text Adam
about how awful
school is without him,
almost as awful as
the Bears’ season has been.
Their loss in October
against the Packers
left
a bitter taste in my mouth
that hasn’t disappeared
all of November.
                        I’m thinking
                        of switching teams, bruh.
BOOM.
My book
falls 
out from
my hand
onto the school hall floor.
Adam’s moving on
from the Bears?
From our team?

Free Agent
Adam 
and me
were more 
than friends.
We were brothers,
since kindergarten.
Before
we learned our letters,
we learned
to toss a foam football.
Back and forth
and
forth
and 
back.
Adam’s the one who 
first taught me the game,
about the Monsters of the Midway,
Da Bears.
We watched
replays,
studied Super Bowl XX
over and over,
and together,
we drew dreams
of being the next 
Super Bowl stars,
of bringing the Bears 
back to 
sweet greatness.
Adam was the lineman
to my QB,
the one who had my
back,
the encouragement in my ear
that helped me
play.
He was my link to the
game.
Like a free agent
without a team,
when Adam 
left,
my link
was
bro
         ken.
Copyright © 2024 by Shifa Saltagi Safadi. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Educator Guide for Kareem Between

Classroom-based guides appropriate for schools and colleges provide pre-reading and classroom activities, discussion questions connected to the curriculum, further reading, and resources.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)

Read More
★ “A masterfully written, deeply resonant tale.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

★ “Dynamic and engaging, drawing readers in from page one….a story of identity, growing up, standing up for what’s right, and boyhood.”—School Library Journal (starred review)

“A beautiful story of hope, empathy, confidence, and courage”—Teen Librarian Toolkit

“Heartfelt and personal…. a tale of true depth.”—The Horn Book

“For fans of Kwame Alexander, Daniel Nayeri, and sports-heavy books with broad appeal.”—Booklist

“Riveting, powerful, and soul-stirring, this is a beautifully written story of triumph amid tragedy.”— S. K. Ali, New York Times bestselling and award-winning author

“An immersive story that captures the nuances of middle school friendships, family challenges, and the difficult realities of being “stuck” between two different worlds.”—Maleeha Siddiqui, acclaimed author of Barakah Beats and Any Way You Look

“Safadi cleverly weaves together spare verse, creating an emotionally compelling and action-packed story.”—Reem Faruqi, award-winning author of Unsettled

“Kareem’s story will pull you in with each emotion-filled play and pass…. an important addition to middle grade literature, a new perspective we desperately need to find hope and empathy in our divided world.”—Aida Salazar, award-Winning author of Ultraviolet

About

This award-winning, 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 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.

** Winner of the 2024 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature** Global Read Aloud Selection ** School Library Journal Best Middle Grade Book ** Chicago Public Library Best Fiction for Older Readers ** PEOPLE Magazine Best Kids Book ** Junior Library Guild Selection** Texas Lone Star Reading List selection ** Common Sense Media Selection for Families** Cybils Novel in Verse Award Winner** Jane Addams Children Book Award Finalist** ILA Notable Book for a Global Society** Bank Street's Best Children's Books of the Year**

Author

© Malak Safadi
SHIFA SALTAGI SAFADI is the author of Kareem Between and several picture books, including The Gift of Eid. She has a bachelor’s degree in English literature, teaches ELA at a local middle school, and reviews Muslim books on her blog, Muslim Mommy Blog. 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.

Find her on Instagram @MuslimMommyBlog View titles by Shifa Saltagi Safadi

Excerpt

Fall 2016
Prepare to Play
The day
of the first 
school game,
the
team
marches
down
the
halls
together,
loud with laughter,
matching jerseys
filling their faces with triumph,
applause around them
as they prepare to play
while
I
flatten
my
b
o
d
y
against the lockers,
                                         moving
                                         out of their way.
All I can think
is
if I was on the team,
I wouldn’t 
be
invisible.

Stadium
It seems like everyone in 
Chesterton
comes to the first game,
the silver and red colors of 
our Bulldogs
streaked on hundreds of faces,
wide smiles,
spirits high,
arms waving,
loud voices
in the stands
chanting the
school spirit song,
the barely fall breeze of September
flowing around us.
It takes 
only one quarter
for everyone to realize
our team isn’t going to win.
Austin’s tosses fall shorter,
Coach’s yells get louder,
and the 
number of fans
in the stands
gets
smaller.
I feel like I’m rewatching
last Sunday’s game,
rewatching Jay Cutler 
get sacked five times,
rewatching Bears fans 
leaving
to 
avoid seeing
a game 
end
so low
it crushes us to the ground.

Late Fall 2016
Division
In the book
The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary
the fifth graders
don’t want their school 
shut down.
Because their class
would be
                         divi          ded.
Because when
friendships
fr      ,
classes are
lonely.
Months shuffle forward,
books my only
companions,
lessons and learning
all I do.
I hide in the library
to escape
the embarrassment
of where to sit at lunch,
but even my favorite books
don’t distract me from 
my despair.
I text Adam
about how awful
school is without him,
almost as awful as
the Bears’ season has been.
Their loss in October
against the Packers
left
a bitter taste in my mouth
that hasn’t disappeared
all of November.
                        I’m thinking
                        of switching teams, bruh.
BOOM.
My book
falls 
out from
my hand
onto the school hall floor.
Adam’s moving on
from the Bears?
From our team?

Free Agent
Adam 
and me
were more 
than friends.
We were brothers,
since kindergarten.
Before
we learned our letters,
we learned
to toss a foam football.
Back and forth
and
forth
and 
back.
Adam’s the one who 
first taught me the game,
about the Monsters of the Midway,
Da Bears.
We watched
replays,
studied Super Bowl XX
over and over,
and together,
we drew dreams
of being the next 
Super Bowl stars,
of bringing the Bears 
back to 
sweet greatness.
Adam was the lineman
to my QB,
the one who had my
back,
the encouragement in my ear
that helped me
play.
He was my link to the
game.
Like a free agent
without a team,
when Adam 
left,
my link
was
bro
         ken.
Copyright © 2024 by Shifa Saltagi Safadi. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Guides

Educator Guide for Kareem Between

Classroom-based guides appropriate for schools and colleges provide pre-reading and classroom activities, discussion questions connected to the curriculum, further reading, and resources.

(Please note: the guide displayed here is the most recently uploaded version; while unlikely, any page citation discrepancies between the guide and book is likely due to pagination differences between a book’s different formats.)

Read More

Praise

★ “A masterfully written, deeply resonant tale.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

★ “Dynamic and engaging, drawing readers in from page one….a story of identity, growing up, standing up for what’s right, and boyhood.”—School Library Journal (starred review)

“A beautiful story of hope, empathy, confidence, and courage”—Teen Librarian Toolkit

“Heartfelt and personal…. a tale of true depth.”—The Horn Book

“For fans of Kwame Alexander, Daniel Nayeri, and sports-heavy books with broad appeal.”—Booklist

“Riveting, powerful, and soul-stirring, this is a beautifully written story of triumph amid tragedy.”— S. K. Ali, New York Times bestselling and award-winning author

“An immersive story that captures the nuances of middle school friendships, family challenges, and the difficult realities of being “stuck” between two different worlds.”—Maleeha Siddiqui, acclaimed author of Barakah Beats and Any Way You Look

“Safadi cleverly weaves together spare verse, creating an emotionally compelling and action-packed story.”—Reem Faruqi, award-winning author of Unsettled

“Kareem’s story will pull you in with each emotion-filled play and pass…. an important addition to middle grade literature, a new perspective we desperately need to find hope and empathy in our divided world.”—Aida Salazar, award-Winning author of Ultraviolet

Additional formats

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