A new all-ages adventure tale from Printz Medal Winner, Daniel Nayeri
This is the tale of an exciting journey along the Silk Road with a young Monk and his newfound guardian, Samir, a larger than life character and the so-called “Seller of Dreams”. The man is a scammer; his biggest skill being the ability to talk his way into getting what he wants. While that talking did save Monkey’s life, it has left a lot of people furious with Samir— furious enough to hire assassins. Monkey decides to try and save Samir from the attempts on his life—as a way to pay off his debt! If he can save Samir six times, he’ll be a free man...but will they all survive that long?
For fans of The Little Prince and Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories.---from the publisher
224 pages 978-1646143030 Ages 8-12
Keywords: action/adventure, journey, Silk Road, 8 year old, 9 year old, 10 year old, 11 year old, 12 year old, storytellers, Arabian tradition, Newbery Honor
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“I didn’t have anything else to say. Even if I was wrong about love and the universe, I thought, I didn’t deserve to be hit with rocks. Why didn’t any of them say so? No one had said it, but I said it to myself. I didn’t deserve to be hit with rocks. But maybe it didn’t even matter. Whatever happened to Majnoon, if we could talk the way birds do, I think he would tell us. He would say death is better than losing love. Death with love is better than life without it.
And it seemed to me that even if the whole world was distracted with its accidents and lies, I wouldn’t be distracted. I would discover what it meant to love. Otherwise, I would have wasted both life and death, which are neither one as important.”
Since the end is never told
We pay the teller off in gold
– Grateful Dead, “Terrapin Station” (1977)
THE MANY ASSASSINATIONS OF SAMIR, THE SELLER OF DREAMS is a philosophical, high adventure, coming-of-age story on the Silk Road in the late 11th century. It is also a story about storytelling. The narrator is a twelve-year-old who had first lost his parents, and then lost the old widow who had subsequently cared for him. When we meet him, he is hoofing it across the desert, on the way to being stoned to death by the monks chasing him, who had taken him in (and taught him to read), but have since become incensed over his impertinent questions about life, death, and love.
Fortunately, he encounters a caravan of traders and travelers making their way along the Silk Road, heading to Samarkand. Among the colorful crowd is Samir, a jolly storyteller of the first order. Unfortunately, Samir is also a cagey and talented trader who has shortchanged and thoroughly pissed off members of his audiences in villages and camps all up and down the Silk Road. Samir makes a deal with the monks to acquire the boy along with a monk’s robe. He names the novice monk Monkey.
Monkey immediately becomes infatuated with Mara, the servant girl belonging to the blacksmith who is part of the caravan. His love-tinged hopes for the future motivate him to seek ways to pay back Samir for the six bolts of silk his guardian exchanged for him. Coming to the realization that Samir is in mortal danger, Monkey sets out to protect his guardian from a cast of various assassins who have been hired to get even with Samir. It turns out to be a relatively steady and lucrative gig.
THE MANY ASSASSINATIONS OF SAMIR, THE SELLER OF DREAMS is filled with danger and action, love, history, and philosophy. This notably includes fascinating discussions of accidentalism. Along the way, Monkey becomes one hell of a storyteller himself.
“Swapping stories
Sitting around in some all night zoo
Watching it run like a movie
Synchronized like magic
Good friends, you and me”
– Joni Mitchell, “Good Friends” (1985)
This was one of those read-it-in-one-gulp tales for me. It is well-researched, and the turns of phrase and rich vocabulary are to die for. There are gorgeous illustrations by Daniel Miyares at the start of each chapter. But it’s the wonderful relationship that develops between Monkey and Samir that is the glue that brings it all together.
And while any second- or third-grader who plows through Harry Potter can certainly handle this one, the ideal audience I envision consists of tweens and teens who will be studying world history and who will catch and comprehend so much that will sail right over the heads of younger kids.
“I couldn’t believe it. ‘How can Rasseem be your next of kin? He practically hates you!’
‘Nonsense,’ said Samir. ‘He definitely hates me. But a caravan is family, little monk. If your family can’t hate you, who can?”
I wouldn’t trade this one for anything!
Well…err…actually, if you’re interested, I could use a couple of…
Recommended by: Richie Partington, MLIS, California USA
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