Reviews - Kareem Between | The StoryGraph

160 reviews for:

Kareem Between

Shifa Saltagi Safadi

4.36 AVERAGE

authorsamantha's review

3.75

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

mabelharper's review

4.0

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

donalynmiller's review

4.5

emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

2024 National Book Award winner

2025-2026 Texas Lone Star List

katnortonwriter's review

4.0

emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Sometimes I'll read a book that's for a younger age range than I am and get secondhand embarrassment from kids acting like kids, so this is my disclaimer that I know the way the main character acts is realistic, but it was still painful to read. The story was fairly predictable in that doing the coach's son's homework does not guarantee him a spot on the team, rather, becomes a mountain of a mess until Kareem decides to be true to himself. This does specifically focus on the Muslim ban in early 2017 and I appreciate that it chooses to focus on how this specific administration harmed people of color and how it enabled everyday people to harm others in their community.

originaldelaney's review against another edition

4.0

emotional inspiring medium-paced

libby_libaryon's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Kareem is a Syrian-American middle school boy who loves American football and makes the mistake of abandoning his real friends to try to fit in at school.