Heavy Medal Mock Newbery Finalist: KAREEM BETWEEN by Shifa Saltagi Safadi
ntroduction by Heavy Medal Award Committee Member Louie Lauer
The 2024 recipient of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, KAREEM BETWEEN by Shifa Saltagi Safadi brings the story of Kareem, a 7th grade boy who feels caught between his Syrian heritage and his desire to be an All-American boy. Using carefully chosen language and often visually expressive poetry, Safadi provides readers with a coming-of-age story that also looks at the impact of othering in school and community settings. In looking more closely at this novel, there are two particular areas that make this work particularly distinguished: delineation of characters and appropriateness of style.
Safadi’s use of verse gives readers a personal look into the life of a young man who feels caught in the middle. Voicing and characterization feel authentic for a seventh grade boy and rich details about Kareem’s cultural heritage immerse readers in a world that they may not be familiar with. At the same time, Safadi builds experiences for her character that many readers will easily relate to. Finding one’s way through adolescence and coming to terms with one’s own identity are all areas young will find connection with. The added dimension of Kareem’s Syrian heritage and how that impacts his ability to feel accepted by his peers is handled in a nuanced and developmentally appropriate manner, playing very naturally into the central theme of the novel.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Most notably is Safadi’s use of the poetic form. Each poem is grounded in Kareem’s love of football and language, sprinkled with football terminology and figurative language, and often titled with football references that are connected to the content of the poem. This is consistently done throughout and adds value to the story. Visual clues to Kareem’s emotional state are also given through intentional use of line breaks and spacing. The resulting poetry weaves a tightly structured, briskly paced story that is brimming with emotion. Told in such a fresh and unique manner, this timely story is bound to find readership in addition to recognition it has already received.
Heavy Medal Award Committee members and others are now invited to discuss this book further in the Comments section below. Let the Mock Newbery discussion begin!
Filed under: Book Discussion, Heavy Medal Mock
About Emily Mroczek-Bayci
Emily Mroczek (Bayci) is a freelance children’s librarian in the Chicago suburbs. She served on the 2019 Newbery committee. You can reach her at emilyrmroczek@gmail.com.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
SLJ Blog Network
Watch the 2025 Youth Media Awards LIVE!
Confidence, Language, and Awesome Abuelas: Julio Anta and Gabi Mendez Discuss the Upcoming Speak Up, Santiago!
Mr. Muffins Defender of the Stars | This Week’s Comics
When Book Bans are a Form of Discrimination, What is the Path to Justice?
Historical Fiction versus REAL Fiction, a guest post by H.M. Bouwman
Our 2025 Preview Episode!
ADVERTISEMENT
I’m conflicted on how I feel about KAREEM BETWEEN. In the back half of the book, it reveals itself to be about an important (negative) moment in history – the Muslim travel ban – told through the perspective of someone who was directly affected by the policy, and in general, is about the experience of being a second-generation Syrian immigrant, which many readers will not have been exposed to in real life or in other stories. On the other hand, I think it shows the difference between a book that is worth reading *because* it has an important social message and a book that is worth reading *and* it has an important social message, and it falls in the former camp.
As Louie said in his introduction, each poem is grounded in Kareem’s love of football, but that might be underselling it. Everything is football here, to the point of being a formula – if it’s possible to express things in terms of a football metaphor, it will happen. There was a small discussion in the comments of THE COLOR OF SOUND whether the use of color and sound language was too repetitive or obvious there, but it is subtle compared to here.
This is a novel in verse, which I hadn’t had much experience with until a few years ago. I will admit that I sometimes wonder what is being gained versus being a prose novel, especially as I started noticing the cliches. In the poem “Strategy,” the ice cream cone is about to drip, so the word “drip” visually falls downward. When a football flies, the words go up, when thoughts are jumbled, the word “jumble” is mixed up. This was a fresh, cool idea when I first saw it, but has become less exciting as time has gone on and I’ve seen it again and again. I don’t categorically dislike novels in verse – I liked LOUDER THAN HUNGER this year, and EB & FLOW was one of my favorites last year – but it sometimes feels like if you’ve got a story that doesn’t quite get to 25,000 words, you can add line breaks and throw in some on-the-nose word art and you’ve got a novel.
But like I said, the perspective and the political moment are really what make this book unique. This is a *consciously* political novel – in “Countdown,” Kareem literally gives a crafted speech on the local news summarizing what the message of the book is (which I’m not sure local news normally wades into?). This book reminds me of a term sometimes used with stand-up comedy, “clapter,” which describes a situation where a comedian says something structured like a joke, but instead of laughing, the audience claps. It’s most associated with comedians saying something political in a way they know their audience will agree with – hence, applause. A critic who calls this clapter might not disagree with the politics, but the argument is that the point of comedy is to make people laugh. Does KAREEM BETWEEN work as a good book in and of itself, or is it another iteration of a “immigrant kid feels embarrassed about their heritage but learns to be proud of it” story, leaning too hard on football metaphors and novel-in-verse tricks, that gets overrated because kid lit adults care deeply about the subject matter?
I’m being overly harsh here. This book has already appeared on plenty of year-end lists and won a National Book Award, so lots of people think the first option is right, and I imagine this will get serious consideration for recognition from the Newbery committee. Again, I felt that this book was worth reading, but I thought that there were weaknesses.
You bring up good questions, Brian, and my experience with verse novels is similar: a fresh, neat idea when I first came across it, but I’m less taken by it now. I believe THE CROSSOVER is the only novel in verse that’s been awarded the Newbery, though there have been a few Honors since (LONG WAY DOWN, IVELIZ EXPLAINS IT ALL, perhaps others I haven’t read yet). But overall, not many verse novels have been given the award or honor status compared to the recent increase in their publication, which suggests that the Newbery committee is just as strict in their criteria with verse novels as they are with prose. At the end of the day, Newbery Medal Winners and Honor Books have to be exceptional, not just neat.
That being said, I think KAREEM BETWEEN is a good contender. It is certainly a consciously political novel, but past books that have either been considered by HMAC or won a Newbery Honor have also been consciously political without compromising style and quality, like THE UNDEFEATED. So the question is: yes, Safadi pretty neatly plays around with her verse style, and yes, the message of the book is of utmost importance, but is it also GOOD? And my assessment is: yes! Kareem is in a pretty unique position as a child whose parent was directly impacted by the Muslim travel ban of 2017, but he’s also in a very relatable position as a sixth-grader who just wants to fit in with the popular kid, and both of those aspects of his story are developed well. He also has to contend with the (rather disastrous) consequences of his rash actions and shows growth from this by the end of the novel. Stylistically, while I am also not the biggest fan of verse novels, I appreciated that all the passages in which the characters are speaking in Arabic are typed from right to left. So while I agree that novels in verse and books with social commentary should be subjected to the same rigor that other books are subjected to, I think KAREEM rises to that challenge.
The evolution of verse novels in children’s literature is interesting one, and of course I can’t help looking at the Newbery side of it. Bina mentions THE CROSSOVER as a previous winner, but Karen Hesse’s OUT OF THE DUST was actually the first medalist with a novel in verse, way back in 1998. An amazing book that holds up very well, but I remember at the time thinking it was so innovative, and to use a Newbery Criteria term, “individually distinct.” There just weren’t many book in this form at the time. Virginia Euwer Wolff’s MAKE LEMONADE and maybe one or two more? So there was a different kind of excitement to see a new-ish type of book win the Medal.
Kind of similar to graphic novels, I think: the Honor award for EL DEAFO in 2015 was a surprise: so a graphic novel can win the Newbery. But by the time MEXIKID became the fourth book to get a Medal or Honor last year, we take it in stride (also: great book!)
Novels in verse are so prevalent now that we’re even less likely to reward a title based on the form choice. In terms of the literary elements we look at for Newbery, it’s natural to jump to “appropriateness of style” in a verse novel, but also clear that we need to see how plot, characters, setting, themes, etc. play out within that style. As we’re doing so far in this thread on KAREEM…
Thank you, Steve, for your excellent points on verse novels. I agree, that when considering a verse novel, it isn’t enough to just consider that the author is using “unique” format (one that isn’t unique any more) but how they are using it to advance plot, theme, characters and setting. I also am looking for ways that the choice of format has impacted the telling of the story. Is it a purposeful use of the well-written poetry? Poetry has the benefit of often getting to emotional center of a character and the plot much faster and more succinctly. If done to that end, a verse novel can be very effective.
I meant “Brian” and not “Brain”. My apologies.
Louie
I don’t think you are being over harsh, Brain, but looking at this text through a critical lens. I agree with you that the football references were certainly not subtle, but I found that this technique fit the theme and structure of the story. For a boy who is caught between worlds, he is inundated with messages about what it means American. His obsession with football is symbolic of his desire to be seen as a normal American by others. In this way, the constant football references is away for the Safadi to express the intensity of his obsession. Certainly over the top and I can see where it feels like gimmick, but I do see it as an intentional technique that is effective here.
I know I’m late to this discussion, but I just read this book, so I wanted to touch on the football references. I personally didn’t find them to be all that heavy-handed, anymore than the basketball ones were in CROSSOVER. So, I’m curious: Is this a matter of the allusions being heavy-handed to the point of feeling didactic? Or is it just that CROSSOVER did it better?
Or – as someone else here has commented – is the football conceit necessary to help emphasize Kareem’s struggles in being Syrian-American? Football is, after all, the quintessential American sport, and Kareem is using it as a way to fit in – and the word doesn’t have the same meaning outside of America.
I completely concur with this statement, Brian: “is it another iteration of a “immigrant kid feels embarrassed about their heritage but learns to be proud of it” story, leaning too hard on football metaphors and novel-in-verse tricks, that gets overrated because kid lit adults care deeply about the subject matter”. I know I sound like a broken record from book to book to book, but I have very strong feelings about kid lit hype fed fully by adults. In my library, I am going to sell this book hard as a book about football, because there really aren’t enough of those – the verse aspect will help sell it because kids are less intimidated by books with fewer words on a page (to answer your question about what is being gained in verse vs prose, in my professional opinion). I hope the didactic nature of its cultural message won’t outweigh the football and verse, though? Kids can tell when they’re being taught to, and I worry that bleeds through here. I liked this book, but am not pulling for it to win the Newbery this year.
Of note, but not related to the Newbery – something that struck me the entire time I was reading was how similar this story is to the 2021 title I read this year, “Yusuf Azeem is Not a Hero” by Saadi Faruqi with its extreme emphasis on middle school football in a book about culture.
I completely agree with you here, Kate. I think kids can definitely tell when they are being taught to and I personally think it counts against the criteria of excellence in quality. I will also be selling this book to kids as a football book and hoping that the didacticism of it doesn’t turn them off.
When writing my Youth Review of KAREEM BETWEEN, I had some rookie Newbery questions, so I asked Steven Engelfried. With his experience on the committees for Caldecott ( 2002) and Newbery (2010, Chair 2013) his input is really illuminating. With respect to KAREEM I asked :
-Are there any past Newbery medalists that have overtly political positions?
-With current political climate and library challenges, could the author’s political plot decisions shape the debate? I get why it was the National Book Award winner and I love the link to sports, I just don’t how politics fits into the ALA discussion and am curious about your opinion on how this many affect book selection.
I hope that in bringing this up on HM, Steven can share how Newbery criteria, their addition of “not for didactic content” and focus on literary qualities direct the committee.
When writing my Youth Review of KAREEM BETWEEN, I had some rookie Newbery questions, so I asked Steven Engelfried. With his experience on the committees for Caldecott ( 2002) and Newbery (2010, Chair 2013) his input is so helpful. With respect to KAREEM I asked :
-Are there any past Newbery medalists that have overtly political positions?
-With current political climate and library challenges, could the author’s political plot decisions shape the debate? I get why it was the National Book Award winner and I love the link to sports, I just don’t how politics fits into the ALA discussion and am curious about your opinion on how this many affect book selection.
As Quade mentioned, we had an email exchange about his questions above…Here’s my response, but I’d love to hear others weigh in too:
I’m only speaking for myself here, but I don’t think current politics and Committee members’ personal stances should come into play in a Newbery discussion. That’s where the Criteria really help, guiding members to really focus on literary qualities. And the part about “not for didactic content” can help too. That can be seen as guidance that you shouldn’t reward a book just because it has a good message…though of course you can reward it because of the way it conveys its message. But you can also see it as: don’t penalize a book just because it has a message you don’t agree with.
At the same time, if an individual member strongly disagrees with the political position, it’s possible that that person, whether consciously or subconsciously, might not get behind that book. That member would still have to argue against it by keeping to the words on the page, but it could have an impact. So we don’t really know for sure. And it could go the other way too. Using KAREEM as an example, a member who strongly opposed the 2017 Muslim ban could work extra hard to convince themselves and others that it’s Newbery worthy because of that…but still will have to get back to the words on the page. I trust that the process works.
As for history, although we’ve had plenty of books that included big issues, I can’t really name one that directly tackled a current political issue like the 2017 Muslim ban. We’ve had discussions on Heavy Medal in past years around books that are close to KAREEM BETWEEN in the ways current issues play into the stories. THE OGRESS AND THE ORPHANS was a fantasy, but it was pretty clear that the evil Mayor/Dragon was a Trump-like character. In NEW FROM HERE, the family faced anti-Asian hatred during the time of COVID. We have no way of knowing if those elements limited their chances at the Newbery, partly because of the confidentiality rules…but also because in any given year there are so many truly excellent books that it’s inevitable that some outstanding titles will not win.
Like those two examples, though, there’s a lot more to KAREEM than the politics, and you could point to character development, style, and other areas of excellence. And the way the political issue is woven into a realistic, engaging story about one family can be seen as a real strength in development of plot and theme.
I don’t think ALA as an organization would back off from something like that (but again, that’s just me guessing). As far as I know, there was no controversy around the Newbery Honor for TOO BRIGHT TO SEE, which features a transgender protagonist. Members of that Committee might have wondered if there would be reaction…but in the end, that book would have had to go through intense, high-level discussion about its literary quality in order to earn its Honor.
I’ve seen some Goodreads reviews of NOT NOTHING with lower ratings because of perceived pandering to progressives through a “gratuitous” inclusion of a transgender character. The problem with that, of course, is that it wasn’t gratuitous at all. That character was one of the protagonists of Forman’s previous book, Frankie and Bug, and it was kind of cool to see what became of them. Or maybe it is gratuitous (there’s no actual reason why the Wednesday Wars kids needed to show up as adults in later Schmidt books either), but it wasn’t sending a message.
Though NOT NOTHING is still a message book. Superficially it stands at the intersection of QUAGMIRE (Alex’s character and situation could be Quag’s) and TREE. TABLE. BOOK, but more than either book, NOT NOTHING served up a moral, and I do think it’s possible to argue, without agreeing or disagreeing with that moral, that it weakens the book in comparison to the other two. The moral made characters and plot predictable, and that’s a problem on multiple Newbery fronts. Yes, what Alex’s Bad Deed actually was is reserved for a late revelation, but it’s almost a MacGuffin — it could’ve been almost anything and not really matter to the book’s purposes and redemptive arc. (Though it’s possible to consider the threshold past which the book’s moral fails – what if he had killed the kid?)
I am certainly not saying a book can’t have a moral. The Ogress and the Orphans was a very moralizing book, but that did little to box it in. If anything, its morals were just reflective of the book’s overall richness (or to its detractors, excess and bloat). And there were wonderful parts of NOT NOTHING that you couldn’t predict from reading the front flap summary, like the significance of “Someone to Watch Over Me” to Minna.
Dang, I had a hard time getting this book. After almost 3 weeks in transit in my ILL system and at least one wrong library delivery I had to break down, buy it on Amazon and read it today. So it’s fresh…
Kareem was a likable character and his struggles with being seen, fitting in, etc are very middle grade appropriate. Adding in the aspect of the Muslim Ban and the effect on his family was quite good and will allow the reader to see the consequences of heavy handed bans – whether it’s on people groups, books, etc. The football focus and references will appeal to some of my readers who clamor for more sports fiction and who like the poetic narrative because it seems less daunting. The book was heavily sprinkled with figurative language and imagery.
Where I am bogged down is in finding what makes this book uniquely different or distinguished. I found some of the sections done really well like the Scrimmage section starting on pg. 310 and the last several poems starting on pg. 319 with the text centered showing his understanding of being Syrian and American – being between. But, other poems and the use of line breaks and word play seemed clunky and drew me out of the story. An example of this was on page 106 where it says, “The library is right next to the local news. I really couldn’t figure out why there was spacing there.
For me, the book was good and I look forward to talking about it with my students, but it’s not my favorite.
I agree with pretty much everyone here! I thought that the plot of the story was great and shed a light on a moment in US history when small (close-minded) actions had big effects on a large population of people living in the United States. Sometimes big news stories can be hard to contextualize if they don’t happen to you personally, and KAREEM BETWEEN did a good job of showing how the “Muslim Ban” impacted Muslim Americans.
I think the coolest thing about this book which I haven’t seen anyone mention yet was that when Kareem was “talking”/writing about his family, culture, Arabic lessons the poems were right justified, since Arabic is read right to left. Whenever he was talking about school or football or more of his American side, the poems were left justified since English is left-right. I don’t know if the typical middle grade reader would pick up on that, but I honestly thought that was the most interesting choice that the author/typesetter took for the entire book.
The rest I could write about this book mirrors what everyone above has said: lots of football, lots of tell instead of show, not very unique. Ultimately, I believe this book is good, but not great. I didn’t find it to be a stand out of the books I read for HMAC or even among some of the other novels I’ve been reading that could be Newbery contenders. This book will find its audience and will delight many readers, but I do not think it exhibits excellence in children’s literature.
I know this won the National Book Award, but when I’m recommending Syrian-American novels in verse, I’ll still be reaching for Jasmine Warga’s OTHER WORDS FOR HOME (2020 Newbery Honor). I liked KAREEM well enough and I do think it showed the real-world impact of the Muslim ban, which non-Muslims might not have really felt the impact of, but that alone doesn’t make it a top Newbery contender for me.
I agree with Kate’s comment of sharing KAREEM BETWEEN as a football story to middle schoolers. I think Kareem’s love of football, wanting to be accepted by Austin, the quarterback – being part of a team – and feeling comfortable in their identity will resonate with young readers. I loved that Kareem was a Bears fan (we’re Bears fans in our household!), and I like how Shifa tied NFL facts to the scenes of the poems. Shifa’s prose was cleverly crafted. In “Football Midfield” when Kareem and Austin argue about Austin’s homework – and Austin taunts the promise of making it on the team to Kareem, the words: “His words hiss behind his teeth like a snake.” (pg. 72) in the shape of a snake was clever. Or “Scrimmage” – when Kareem is throwing the ball during the play, I liked how the words “Step, Step, Step” were placed to show his movements (pg. 312).
I thought Kareem and his sister Jameelah – and Kareem’s classmates/friends were well developed. You felt for Kareem and their family’s struggles with their mother being away and their father in charge. I also felt for Kareem when he and Fadi faced microaggressions from Austin. I agree that kids can tell when they’re being “taught” something in a story. It comes down to how the content is presented. If the content is presented in such a way that it’s entertaining and relatable, and if the story is good – then I think kids will be open to it.
While the idea of Kareem and his friends sneaking into the news station to see Stanley Jones was a little farfetched, overall, I liked the book.
I appreciate everyone’s comments. While I love novels in verse, this book didn’t work for me, and I wouldn’t have selected it as a potential winner.
There are definitely some strong areas (for example, I really like the concern for the mom during the flight — constantly asking if she got there safe), but the author throws too much into the plot… Racism, doing other’s homework, peer pressure, being the middle child and feeling isolated, family issues… IMO, this is a frequent issues for MG authors — they are trying so hard to get the message and point across that they can’t let the reader and the story ‘rest’.
As a reader who LOVES novels in verse, I agree with many of the criticisms of KAREEM here. My notes next to the words-that-move say, “CROSSOVER did this already, and better.” Apologies if I missed it, but I didn’t catch any discussion about this one next to our other finalist BLACK GIRL YOU ARE ATLAS. Even though KAREEM is a “chapter book,” and ATLAS is a “poetry collection,” (cataloged in the 811s), these nominees could be compared. ATLAS tells a story and affects readers’ emotions through its skillful writing. Take away the artwork, and this book is still distinguished. Examine a handful of the poems in KAREEM, and I would argue the writing is mediocre. The purposes of the two books’ presentations are very different, so this isn’t an exact apples-to-apples assertion, but notable, I think.
I liked this book. It’s a good upper-elementary read and I am a fan of books that have a sports theme.
Through this book, I had this feeling that there was a pattern or formula to the writing. All of the elements were there, it just didn’t feel new to me.
For example, the bolded grammar lessons & definitions :
Imperative sentences (26) homophones (78) idioms (83) Tragedy (86) contractions (not bolded 119) irony (128) personification (142) conditional statements (152) deceit (157) onomatopoeia (161) hyperbole (162) metaphor (163) palindromes (178) oxymoron (201) similes (207) synonyms (221) and then united (224, bolded but I am not sure why. ) At first I thought it was cool, then it shifted to didactic for me. It did not really add to the story like spelling and vocabulary did in FERRIS (DiCamillo.)
Then there were the nods to books, literature and the library: “Oh, you’re that dude always has his nose in a book” (14) “The school library is huge. I’ll show you tomorrow” (63) The Crossover (96.) This is is so many of the books on our list and with the incredible pop culture, music and Emily Dickinson plot ties LOUDER THAN HUNGER was next-level.
Novels in verse were popular. This story could have been a novel. With the exception of the Arabic positioned right to left, I didn’t think free verse format was necessary.
I got a little stuck on the coaches son is the Quarterback bully stereotype. But I really questioned the overt political plot. It could have been referenced with more nuance. I think that MID-AIR and BLACK GIRL YOU ARE ATLAS did an excellent job of referencing the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor tragedies in a way that let the reader draw their own opinions and conclusions.
Yup, I still liked it. I just think there are stronger Newbery contenders in 2024.