**WINNER of the NATIONAL BOOK AWARD for Young People''s Literature**This 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, now in paperback! "The exact type of book I would''ve loved, and needed, as a kid."  Jasmine Warga, New York Times bestselling author of and Newbery Honor recipient for Other Words for HomeSeventh grade begins, and Kareems 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 kida Syrian refugee with a thick and embarrassing accentaround school. Just when Kareem thinks his middle school life has imploded, the hotshot QB promises to get Kareem another tryout for the squad. Theres a catch: to secure that chance, Kareem must do something he knows is wrong.Then, like a surprise blitz, Kareems mom returns to Syria to help her family but cant 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 parentsand between right and wrong. Its up to him to step up, find his confidence, and navigate the beauty and hope found somewhere in the middle.