The Sweetest of Lemons

Printz Medalist and Newbery Honor winner Daniel Nayeri crafts this beautiful paean to storytelling and the bonds of family.

Based on powerful memories of Nayeri visiting his grandfather, this story-within-a-story brings a young boy in a hot car ride across the desert. The destination is an oasis, where gardens perfume the air, and tales are lovingly told. Here is the gate to a magical world full of princesses, valiant brothers, dangerous giants, and one perfect, enchanted lemon. Will any of the brothers be able to foil the giant, retrieve the lemon, and free the princess? In the warm embrace of Nayeri's storytelling, readers will lean into the enchantment until the story's end.

Rahele Jhompeur Bell creates the two gorgeous visual strands of the tale-one inspired by the frames and jewel-like colors of Persian miniatures, the other a tender, richly textured rendering of a contemporary family.

Together, the author and artist cast a delicious spell that, like the singular lemon at the heart of the story, is so sweet it can cure sadness itself.

Award-winning author Daniel Nayeri, who was born in Iran and immigrated to Oklahoma as a refugee, captivated readers with his poignant memoir Everything Sad Is Untrue (Printz Award Winner), the epic adventure The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams (Newbery Award Honor), and the World War II novel The Teacher of Nomad Land (National Book Award). A former publisher, editor, and pastry chef, he resides along the East Coast

Rahele Jomepour Bell is a picture book illustrator who grew up in Iran, among her Grandma's fairy tales (which she has never been able to find in a book) and the devastation of war. She holds an MFA in integrated visual arts and is an assistant professor at the Kansas City Art Institute. She is happiest creating illustrations that make the imagination travel, take a new look at old ideas, and reaffirm the viewer of their natural place in this world.