Everything Sad is Untrue
Gretchen and Katie talk about one of their summer book reads that made a huge impact on them. It's a secular published, young adult book, about a 12 year old refugee boy from Iran.
Told in the style of 1,001 Arabian Nights, it weaves together myths from his Persian culture, family legends of his great-great-grandparents, his own memories from Iran, living in a refugee camp in Italy, with his current life as a refugee living in Oklahoma. All of this is told with the humor of a 12 year old boy who loves a good poop story.
As this boy tries to make sense of his memories, you start to realize why they had to flee Iran: his mother became a Christian.
His family's story of faith gets woven into all the other memories and his thoughts on God stopped us in our tracks and took our breath away.
We strongly recommend this book for personal enjoyment or family discussion, and promise we didn't even give the best parts away.