The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams
Daniel Nayeri
Levine Querido/Chronicle, 2023
205 pages
Grades 3-6
Historical Fiction/Adventure
Our hero is in trouble, big trouble. The kind that comes from a group of angry monks chasing you with rocks intending to kill. Luckily for our hero, a merchant from a caravan along the Silk Road spots the conflict and bargains for the boy's life. The merchant Samir names the boy "Monkey" and the two travel along with the band of fellow fortune seekers to reach distance Samarkand hoping to make a big profit. It doesn't take Monkey long to discover that his silver-tongued master deals more in stories than actual goods and is quick to talk his way into the best end of the bargain. For this reason, Samir has many enemies among those he has swindled. Around every turn there appears to be some sort of disaster leading to the loss of stock and safety and assassins seem to be everywhere. Monkey manages to help Samir out of many jams and is working towards his freedom by saving his master's life repeatedly. The trio (including their decrepit donkey) learn who to trust, avoid pitfalls, and manage to pivot their plans again and again. Will they ever survive the journey?
Printz winner, Nayeri, pens a very different book from his autobiographical heartbreaking tale Everything Sad is Untrue, yet still reflects his Persian culture. As explained in an author's note in the back of the volume, the story is set in the late eleventh century in the Taklamakan desert, which is the stuff of fantasy and legends. Nothing magical happens in this story, yet it reads like a fairytale and one expects Samir to jump on a magic carpet any minute. He is a believable and interesting character and the reader will understand why Monkey can't help but save him even though he is less than trustworthy. The action in the story never stops and there are surprises along the way--with a big payoff at the end, which had me holding my breath. Beautiful full-color illustrations by Daniel Miyares introduce each chapter and will help to draw-in readers. Terms and historical background is offered at the end of the volume, as well as a bibliography. This is a tightly written, lyrical tale that does not insult young readers. It feels like it is an old story, yet is highly original and of the best quality, which unusual in these Dogman days.
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