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A review by greenlivingaudioworm
My Name Is Tani . . . and I Believe in Miracles: The Amazing True Story of One Boy's Journey from Refugee to Chess Champion by Tanitoluwa Adewumi
4.0
"Talent is universal; opportunity is not."
I remember reading a news article about the 8-year-old immigrant who moved to the United States, started playing chess and within a year, won the New York State chess championship. I had no idea this story was going to be turned into a book, but are we really surprised with how many inspirational stories get turned into books these days? I was fully expecting more of the story to be told from Tani's perspective, but it took me awhile to remember that Tani was very young when the events before his life in New York took place so his memories would be limited, at best. I really appreciated having the insight and memories from both Tani's mom and dad since they had different experiences escaping from Nigeria and Boko Haram. I actually found the portion of the story from Nigeria to be the most interesting and engaging. I was terrified for what would happen to Tani's parents and Tani himself after some members of Boko Haram asked Tani's father to print some posters for them and he refused. This portion of the story had me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't stop listening.
I was both impressed and saddened to learn about the continued hardships Tani and his family faced once they arrived in America. I had no idea they spent time with some family in Texas and I was shocked to discover just how poorly they were treated by members of their own family. The whole time I was rooting for Tani and his family. Even though I knew the outcome of their story, I still found myself wondering what was going to happen next and being scared the family would be captured (or worse) by Boko Haram. This was such a good story to read as well as a good reminder to show compassion toward others as we truly never know what exactly someone has gone through to get to where they currently are.
While this wasn't the young reader's edition, I think this story could easily be enjoyed by middle and high school students as well as adult readers.
*Thank you to Libro.fm for the advanced listening copy of this audiobook!*
I remember reading a news article about the 8-year-old immigrant who moved to the United States, started playing chess and within a year, won the New York State chess championship. I had no idea this story was going to be turned into a book, but are we really surprised with how many inspirational stories get turned into books these days? I was fully expecting more of the story to be told from Tani's perspective, but it took me awhile to remember that Tani was very young when the events before his life in New York took place so his memories would be limited, at best. I really appreciated having the insight and memories from both Tani's mom and dad since they had different experiences escaping from Nigeria and Boko Haram. I actually found the portion of the story from Nigeria to be the most interesting and engaging. I was terrified for what would happen to Tani's parents and Tani himself after some members of Boko Haram asked Tani's father to print some posters for them and he refused. This portion of the story had me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't stop listening.
I was both impressed and saddened to learn about the continued hardships Tani and his family faced once they arrived in America. I had no idea they spent time with some family in Texas and I was shocked to discover just how poorly they were treated by members of their own family. The whole time I was rooting for Tani and his family. Even though I knew the outcome of their story, I still found myself wondering what was going to happen next and being scared the family would be captured (or worse) by Boko Haram. This was such a good story to read as well as a good reminder to show compassion toward others as we truly never know what exactly someone has gone through to get to where they currently are.
While this wasn't the young reader's edition, I think this story could easily be enjoyed by middle and high school students as well as adult readers.
*Thank you to Libro.fm for the advanced listening copy of this audiobook!*