Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family by Mitch Albom book reviews

Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family Book Cover

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Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family

Mitch Albom

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5 stars

21,320 (60%)

4 stars

9,906 (28%)

3 stars

3,023 (8%)

2 stars

572 (1%)

1 star

324 (<1%)

Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,443 reviews

Elyse Walters

4,010 reviews11.7k followers

March 4, 2020

Don't even get me started on why I wasn't going to read this book -- but as I told my friend Ceecee -- I was a turd...a snob - a turd...I was wrong!
I listend to the Audibook...(highly suggest the audiobook -Mitch does things that are not in the physical book)

The mind can fight all it wants to -- be righteous -- be a snob -- but the heart doesn't lie!!!
ANYONE who listens to this Audiobook and feels 'nothing' has a heart made of tin.

I was wrong!!! soooo wrong were my pre-conceived thoughts.

Not only will Chika. (in her own voice melt your heart) -- but I wanted to cry about something else
Shhhhh....don't tell anybody -- (its embarrassing) >> I hate it....
but....I wished I had a father growing up -- or even a mother - like Mitch Albom!!!

Parents can take a few lessons about what's important and what isn't --
In my day of raising daughters - we worried about the best schools -grades -a Jewish/Hebrew education -piano lessons -swim meets -etc. all 'less' important things...
Having YOUR kid ALWAYS feel safe with YOU -- is THE MOST important thing ...
I don't even know if I thought of 'those words' (safe) --when I was a young mom --
I think they were safe -- (they support themselves today -are independent and financially secure from their own doings) -- but........did I 'really' parent as Mitch did? -- Hell I don't know...
I might have been half lucky -and half ....I might have done better... (a little of both)

Mitch 'teaches' something very important in this book -- (its subtle - but its there) ....

Another 5 stars from me-- I agree with all the 4 and 5 stars!!!!!!

"Mr. Mitch, I'm a little scared, but I'm crying happy tears" .......

Thanks Mitch -- I will never deny your work again!!!

Julie G

979 reviews3,702 followers

December 31, 2020

Reading Road Trip 2020

Current location: Michigan

Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.
--Dr. John Trainer

Ah, children. They wake us, they make us, they break us.

Some of us ruin our bodies, our marriages and our minds in the effort to have kids.

Some of us aren't even the least bit inspired to have them.

Others, like Mitch Albom, fall somewhere in between.

Mr. Albom, a long-time Michigander and the well-known author of Tuesdays with Morrie, describes himself as having had a bit of a failure to launch on the subject of marital commitment and baby making.

He broke off an engagement; he then dragged his feet for seven years before declaring “I do�� to Janine, the woman he knew he loved dearly. He writes that he “delayed us starting a family, saying we should enjoy being married for a while, not rush into it.�� But, before he knew it, “all that was left for us was to rush, and meet with doctors. . . and the years passed, and soon it was impractical and even unsafe.��

He accuses himself of “selfishness,�� given how badly his wife Janine wanted kids, but Mitch and Janine soon accepted their roles of “beloved uncle and aunt,�� and by the time Mitch was in his 50s, he was also funding/operating the “Have Faith Haiti Orphanage,�� and having an almost daily influence on the children in the center's care.

Then came Chika.

Chika was born just days before the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010. She had a mother who loved her (and who died soon after), and an absent father. By the time she turned 5, she was a regular resident at the orphanage and recently diagnosed with a rare brain tumor. Before Mitch or Janine could think too much about it, they had swept Chika away from Haiti to their home in Michigan where they sought the best medical care they could find.

Mitch surprises even himself by declaring, “My job, it turns out, after so many years without them, is carrying children. It is the most wonderful weight to bear.��

He also learns quickly, “A child is both an anchor and a set of wings.��

Mitch and Janine became parents, quite literally, overnight, and not only became parents, but parents of a child with a terminal diagnosis. There was no “getting around�� this. They had just stepped up to love a child who was going to die soon.

This is a heart-breaking memoir. I felt so damn proud of Mitch Albom and his wife. Their conflict, whether they were truly Chika's parents or not, bothered me throughout the book (yes, you two, damn it, of course you were her parents), but, beyond that, I can't think of a reader who wouldn't respond to the honesty here.

I happen to be the mother of one biological child and two adopted children, and I have spent more than my fair share of time in ambulances and in emergency rooms. I have had almost zero assistance, and raising my two daughters has just about killed my marriage, so I can only APPLAUD Mitch Albom for this honest memoir and his chapter “When A Marriage Becomes A Family.�� When he describes to the reader what it is like to be a husband to a wife versus a husband to a wife who is a mother, I found myself sobbing, in understanding. These are two distinct categories, and extra care must be given to a wife who has the daily care of a child with a life-threatening condition. (He also gives credit to the pivotal role that family members and friends play, in a marriage, when it comes to caring for a child with a medical condition).

I experienced moments when I felt the story teeter, ever so slightly, toward schmaltz, and in those moments, I put the book down for a while, but I noticed that Mr. Albom always managed to reel me back in quickly with his honesty and fierce humanity.

I can not recommend this memoir enough to any parent, or anyone who has had a child with a medical condition or an internationally-adopted child. All author profits from this book go to the Have Faith Haiti Orphanage.

What you carry is what defines you. It can be the burden of feeding your family, the responsibility of caring for patients, the good that you feel you must do for others, or the sins you will not release. Whatever it is, we all carry something, every day.

favorite-adoption-stories michigan reading-road-trip-2020

Reading_ Tamishly

5,223 reviews3,333 followers

January 27, 2024

"You can hide from people you like."

Why would you do that?

"So they can find you."

This book broke my heart and my tear glands.

This is a story about adoption, battling cancer, death and grief.

But this is also a book about goodness, hope, humanity, life lessons and found families.

Reading this book was really difficult. It's heartbreaking and I took my time. So many times I had to close the book in between because it was so hard to digest my own emotions and come to terms with the fact that I was going to lose Chika page after page and grief all over again until the book ended.

The writing is filled with memories and gratitude even when it's filled with the struggles of the family.

Mitch Albom's writing is beautiful and eye-opening. There are parts of Tuesdays with Morrie in this book as well. I love it as well.

A good book but please take your time while reading it. This book requires a certain time to read when you are ready for such books.

And yes, the world is still full of amazing people. Do not believe otherwise.

Debbie W.

900 reviews790 followers

January 27, 2021

Another book by Mitch Albom that solidifies my vote as one of my favorite authors! Along with and , has also been added to my list of favorites by Albom. This memoir of the little girl who touched the lives and hearts of Albom and his wife, Janine, as well as thousands of other people, brought laughter and tears as I listened to this audiobook. I'm sure the printed word is outstanding, but I highly recommend listening to the audiobook. Not only is it narrated by Albom himself, but he has also included audio clips that truly add poignancy to this heartfelt story. A must-read for Mitch Albom fans and/or people moved by the 2010 Haitian earthquake.

2020-reads audiobook broke-my-heart

Kloe

455 reviews21 followers

March 6, 2025

Mitch Albom is going to have a new book and no one here except me on goodreads is hyped for it ??!

Update:
BYE IM IN SHAMBLES

Cheri

2,034 reviews2,897 followers

November 13, 2019

”Hopelessness can be contagious. But hope can be, too, and there is no medicine to match it. Chika’s believing in us helped us believe in ourselves.��

In the late 90s, a friend gave me a copy of Mitch Albom’s “Tuesdays With Morrie,�� and when I saw that he had another new memoir coming out, I knew I wanted to read this one, and put my name on the list at my library.

The lessons he learned with Morrie, an old professor, are very different from the ones he learns from Chika, a young girl whose life is marked with difficulty even before her birth, which was three days before the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, and what years she spent with her mother before her mother’s death in childbirth were marked by desperate poverty. A young girl that is brought to an orphanage when her mother dies giving birth to her baby brother, where Albom meets Chika on one of his regular trips to Haiti at the orphanage he runs there �� The Have Faith Haiti Orphanage in Port Au Prince.

When it is brought to his attention that Chika needs medical attention that isn’t available in Haiti, he brings her to their home, hoping to find a cure for this girl that has stolen his heart.

”Chika died last spring, when the trees in our yard were beginning to bud, as they are budding now, as it is spring again. Her absence left us without breath, or sleep, or appetite, and my wife and I stared straight ahead for long stretches until someone spoke to snap us out of it.��

Eventually, life begins to return to a more somber ‘normal�� for Albom and his wife. Life has to go on, as do the living. The slow process of grief can’t be rushed along. As husband and wife, with many of their memories of life with Chika intertwined, grief is a shared, but also a solitary process. In his grief, eventually, Chika begins to appear to Albom, moments of conversations urging him through the process, urging him to share his story. Their story. Sharing the lessons that she taught him.

��"I remember times you and I were walking and, without prompting, you reached out and took my hand, your little fingers sliding into mine. I would like to tell you how that felt, but it is too big for words"

This is his story, their story, of the years they spent together, acknowledging the gift that those years were, for she will forever occupy a place in their hearts. And, yes, it has heartbreaking moments, but it also is heartwarming, tender and inspiring. We live, we love, and in the end, we become Real.

�� Real isn’t how you are made …It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real.�� -- The Velveteen Rabbit by Susan Gabriel

Many thanks, once again, to the Public Library system, and the many Librarians that manage, organize and keep it running, for the loan of this book!

2019 autobiography-memoir haiti

Provin Martin

416 reviews64 followers

May 20, 2021

Oh Chika -you have my heart! Through sniffles (and full on bawling) I made the commitment to find out who Chika was and what her journey entailed. Mitch Albom exquisitely tells his story of finding Chika in Haiti at the orphanage he (and purchasers of this book) supports. From finding out she was sick, bringing her to America to seek treatment and memorializing her last days, this book will break your heart and put it back together again. Albom highlights the lessons he learned for his adopted daughter. Much like his previous books, these are lessons everyone can benefit from. I highly recommend the audiobook, read by Mitch himself and intertwined with Chika’s young loving and defiant voice. Hearing her sing lullaby’s and religious songs really brings Chika back to life for the reader. If you love Alboms other books, you’ll love Finding Chika the most 🥰

Jean

1,789 reviews786 followers

April 17, 2021

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Mitch Albom’s book “Tuesday with Morrie.�� So, when I saw Albom’s book “Find Chika��, I decided to give it a try.

The book is well written and is a heartbreaking story of a young Haitian girl that ended up in a Haitian orphanage run by Albom after the earthquake. Albom does provided some information about the earthquake and about life in Haiti as background information to the story. The story did not leave me feeling sad as the ending had an upbeat quality to it.

I read this an audiobook downloaded from Overdrive as part of my local library service. This service has been very helpful during the pandemic as the library has been closed. The book is short at four hours and fifty-four minutes. Mitch Albom does a good job narrating the book.

audio-book autobiography human-interest

Ryan Hancox

9 reviews1 follower

July 1, 2020

I do not review books often. It honestly makes me feel pretentious. But this book was awful for several reasons. To clear the air, the child featured in this piece is clearly brave and endearing. Her strength throughout a terminal diagnosis is truly noteworthy and the audiobook voice clips of her joy are truly heart warming/wrenching. But there are several reasons I hated this book. The author kept this poor girl alive for his own selfishness and used religion as an excuse to do so. Anytime her life span was prolonged, he is quick to proclaim the healing powers of faith but alternatively anytime something goes wrong (infected port) he is quick to blame the human error of modern medicine. This is despite all procedures are explained using informed consent, where a health care provider explains risks v benefits to a procedure so that the responsible party must agree/disagree to proceed with the intervention. He continually downplays and questions educated palliative care and hospice professionals opinions on quality of life. He subjected a poor orphan child from Haiti to multiple experimental treatments without even including her in the discussions about her diagnosis. He even goes as far as to include a hero piece where the child is passing away naturally under a hospice care nurses watch, and he has to emphatically beat on her back and suction a nonverbal bedridden child to keep her alive for another 24 hours. Books like this seriously undermine what palliative care providers try to educate patients and family about the dying process. The thoughts/beliefs expressed in this book explain the hesitancy/fear of many patients mortality. It leads to unnecessary hospital admissions and aggressive medical care (CPR/intubation) for many patients who it will cause more harm than good. It is an emotional book and it is well written. I implore you to read and form your own opinions. All proceeds benefit a Haitian orphanage the author runs and operates. Ultimately, I loved this girls story but could not stomach the authors agenda.

Em Lost In Books

1,004 reviews2,197 followers

March 24, 2020

4.5*

2010-19 2020 non-fiction

Aj the Ravenous Reader

1,133 reviews1,166 followers

September 30, 2024

There was a time when I thought was losing his magic touch because it seemed like after reading , every single book he released next seemed to pale in comparison until and I’m so glad I decided to pick this up.

I doubt it's easy to write about your own philanthropy but then again Mr.Albom wasn't really writing about his good deeds. He was writing about Chika and I could only imagine the courage and strength it took to write it. I've been bawling out since I started the book and I didn't even know Chika.

But it makes perfect sense that Mr. Mitch wrote about another book 20 years after he wrote where he detailed the lessons he learned about life from his former professor, Morrie. is written in perfect juxtaposition to the former as Mr. Mitch once again learns valuable life lessons but this time from a precious little girl.

And just like with my experience with , I savored every word from this book. Though devastatingly sad, it is undeniably inspiring and life affirming. I am reminded of my deep admiration of the author as well. Kudos to Mr. Mitch and Ms. Janine, his wife. Thank you for reminding us that there are still many good people left in the world.

emotionally-intense five-stars non-fiction

381 reviews160 followers

July 7, 2020

This is a heartbreaking and beautiful story about family and making sure to stop and enjoy life, because we sometimes forget how fragile and precious it really is. It really highlights the beauty and importance of all of those very simple everyday moments. How to value those moments and live in them. It can be hard sometimes, it's nice to be reminded how special they are. I really loved the writing style; it was soft, heartfelt and unadorned. Be prepared to shed a lot of tears!

There was a lot of talk about religion, and personally I am not religious, but I didn't feel like it was preaching to me at all. It was just a big part of their life so naturally it was included. It felt right.

Also, I reccomend reading this as an audiobook, if audiobooks are your thing, because it is read by the author and it has real clips of Chika and Mitch talking that add so much extra to the story. Really beautiful book.

favorites-of-2020

Linden

1,936 reviews1 follower

August 20, 2019

Author Mitch Albom and his wife Janine run an orphanage in Haiti, and they received a call that one of their favorite children, 5 year old Chika, had something very wrong. The only MRI machine in Haiti identified a brain mass, so they brought Chika to Michigan to see if they could get treatment for her. She had a rare incurable brain tumor which attacks young children, but they tried everything, including extended stays in Germany for an experimental treatment. The book was very thought-provoking, because I wondered how far I would go to try and save my child. Would I keep seeking a cure, as they did, despite the fact that most doctors told them that it was hopeless? Would I keep looking, even while the child was bedridden with a feeding tube? Or would I have put her on hospice care with minimal intervention? Who can say? Have some tissues handy as you read this one.

advance-review-copy

Jennifer Blankfein

389 reviews657 followers

February 2, 2020

I read this labor of love in one sitting and cried all the way through. Mitch Albom and his wife, Janine are incredibly special, and as lucky as Chika was to have them, this precious spitfire little girl gave this generous couple the beautiful gift of family. It is a must read....full review to come on Book Nation by Jen.

Rosa

140 reviews62 followers

September 23, 2023

چیکا دختر کوچولوی اهل هائیتی، از فقر و زلزله نجات پیدا میکنه تا از مسیر یک پرورشگاه سفر جدیدی رو شروع کنه، سفری که به همون اندازه که بلند و تاثیر گذاره، خیلی کوتاه و دردناکه..�� اما رد این حضور، زندگی و نگرش اطرافیانش رو تحت الشعاع قرار میده...
کتاب در جستجوی چیکا، مثل ی دلنوشته یا حتی به نوعی سوگنامه ایه که شرح متفاوت ترین تجربه و سال های زندگی میچ البوم و همسرش و اندوه و هیجان غیر قابل انتظارشونه...
حضور الهام بخش چیکا، سوال ها، برداشتش از هر موضوعی و جنگیدنش برای زندگی ، نقطه ی عطفی در زندگی این زوج میشه، و در آخر خیال بودن و داشتن چیکا، یادآوری میکنه که گاهی برای پیدا کردن نباید با چشم ها گشت، فقط شنیدن قلب برای دوباره زندگی کردن در لحظه های غم و شادی کافیه‌‌‌��:
"چیکا کجاست؟"
دستش را روی قلب من می‌گذار��.
"اینجاست."
و اثری از او باقی نمی ماند��.

میچ آلبوم با گشتن به دنبال چیکا، به شناخت خودش و عواطفی رسید که فکر می‌کر�� شاید اصلا لازم نباشه تجربه شون کنه اما بعد از چیکا هم دیگه از این مسیر برنگشت:

" چیکا، ارزشمندترین چیزی که از خودت میتوانی به دیگران بدهی زمانت است، زیرا هرگز نمی‌توان�� آن را باز پس بگیری، وقتی به فکر پس گرفتن آن نباشی، رفتارت عاشقانه است."

Greta Samuelson

505 reviews117 followers

July 17, 2022

10 sentences in and my heart is already breaking.

Many years ago I read Tuesdays with Morrie and it was a beautiful memoir to Mitch Albom’s friend and old professor. I’ve not forgotten it. I won’t forget Finding Chika either.

This is also a true story - it is about the too-short life of Chika, born in poverty in Haiti and surrendered to an orphanage after her mother died while giving birth to her brother when she was just a toddler.
Mitch and his wife happen to help run this orphanage. They do more than just throw money at it. They visit often and have relationships with the kids, the “Nannies��, the teachers and everyone there.

Chika developed facial drooping at about 4 or years old and after an MRI in Haiti it was discovered she had a mass in her brain. The care she needed was not available in her country so Mitch and Janine took her home to Michigan.

Together, the 3 of them became a family and Mitch will tell you what Chika taught him.

Mitch shares Chika’s whole story in this book and you’ll feel sad, you’ll laugh, you’ll be angry, you’ll feel all kinds of feelings as you read.

His writing is honest and heartfelt without unnecessary fluff - it’s just real.

Kim Fox

322 reviews23 followers

June 21, 2021

It is not often that I read a book that touches me as this one has. I knew after the first page that this story was going to be special , and I was right.

Chika, what a special little girl and I totally believe that she was put on this Earth to be Mitch and Janine's little girl...their daughter.

This is a story about finding love that you didn't know you were looking for. And finding love that you needed. Chika gave her light to everyone she met and those who knew her were forever changed.

This book will have you feeling all the emotions, so have the tissues ready! This book will be one of those books that I recommend to everyone!

Carol (Reading Ladies)

850 reviews184 followers

November 30, 2019

“What we carry defines who we are. And the effort we make is our legacy.�� ~Mitch Albom

In Finding Chika: A Little Girl, An Earthquake, and the Making of a Family, Mitch Albom, well-known author of Tuesdays With Morrie, shares his life-changing experience of caring for Chika, a young Haitian orphan. She was born a few days before the devastating 2010 earthquake into a poverty-stricken family. When her mother died after giving birth to her baby brother, Dad found placements for all their children. Chika was brought to the Have Faith Haiti Orphanage that Mitch Albom operates in Port Au Prince. After five-year-old Chika was diagnosed with a medical condition that was untreatable in Haiti, the Alboms brought Chika to America to live with them while seeking medical intervention. Instead of returning to Haiti as planned, Chika and the Alboms become found family, and Mitch learns a great deal about caring for a special needs child, the definition of family, unconditional love, loss, and grief.

Fans of Mitch Albom will appreciate this poignant memoir. Tissues required!

Memorable themes make this heartfelt book unputdownable and memorable. I dearly love the themes of found family and the rescue of innocent children! Other thoughtful themes include making a difference, protection, time investment, resilience, when a marriage becomes a family, what we carry��.

“What we carry defines who we are. And the effort we make is our legacy.��

“Families are like pieces of art. You can make them from almost anything. The only ingredient you need to make a family is unconditional love.��

If you are touched by family stories, have compassion and concern for orphans, are interested in medical interventions, or list Mitch Albom as a favorite author, you WILL want Finding Chika on your TBR.

Buy Don’t Borrow: I am encouraged to report that all profits from the sale of Finding Chika will go to the support of the Have Faith Haiti Orphanage.

Content warning/trigger warning: childhood cancer, loss of a child, poverty

For more reviews visit my blog

5-star-reads favorite-reads memoirs

Cookie M.

1,383 reviews153 followers

August 11, 2020

If you read this book I recommend the audio book version, read by the author Mitch Albom. I guarantee you will experience every joy, every sorrow, every hope and every moment of faith right along with him.
This is his account of how he and his wife came to bring a delightful Haitian orphan home to Michigan from an orphanage they help to run in Haiti to get treatment for a dangerous brain tumor.
The little girl, Chika, taught them what it is like to love a child with your whole heart and how far you will go to try to save that child's life.
There are parts of this book that are hard to take. I had to stop listening a couple of times when the saga hit too close to home and reminded me of my own family's battle with my husband's terminal brain cancer.
The Alboms are very special people. I will not forget what they did, and I will pray for them and Chika, a tiny girl whose life has affected the world more than she could ever know.

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.

�� Gina��

876 reviews158 followers

July 6, 2020

Mitch Albom is one of my favorite authors so it's no surprise this little book got 5 stars.

This is the story of Chika, a newborn when the horrific earthquake all but destroyed her native country of Haiti. Although she and her mother both survive, and without divulging spoilers, Chika does end up at an orphanage that Albom and his wife were running. It is there that they meet for the first time. A toddler and the people who would love her with all their might and take her back to the US with them.

The book is written by Albom as a dedication to their beloved Chika. Although she was loved immensely, even that love could not overcome what was about to transpire.

It's a sad story but a beautifully sad story, if that makes sense. 7 years may be a whisper in the sands of time, but 7 years is enough time to create a lifetime of memories.

culture-and-traditions favorites inspirational-spirituality-religion

Marilyn (not getting notifications)

1,067 reviews439 followers

June 17, 2020

I have read several of the books that were written by Mitch Albom but none of them touched me as deeply as Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family. Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven were my favorite books of his until I read this one. I actually listened to Finding Chika on audible. It was read by Mitch Albom. My respect and admiration for Mitch Albom, author and person, soared to even greater heights after listening to this book. The compassion and dedication Mitch and his wife gave to the running of the Have Faith Haiti Orphanage was more than commendable. Those forty plus children that they provided homes, schooling, clothes, food, medical care and above all love after the devastating earthquake that decimated Haiti, became Mitch's and his wife's family since they never had any children of their own. Finding Chika was written as a memoir and tribute to a little girl named Chika who touched so many people's lives but none greater than Mitch Albom and his wife, Janine. When Chika was diagnosed with a rare cancer that affected her brain, Mitch learned that there was not a doctor in Haiti that knew how to treat it. Without a moment's hesitation, Mitch and his wife, then in their forties, brought Chika home to Detroit with them. Their hope was that the American doctors would be able to cure Chika so she could return to Haiti. Instead, Chika, an adorable and loveable four year old child stayed with Mitch and his wife as they spend the next two years tirelessly trying to find a cure for her rare cancer. Mitch and Janine gave Chika a home, hope, stability and above all more love than any little girl could hope to embrace.

Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family by Mitch Albom was a beautiful, emotional, heartfelt, powerful and poignant memoir. Your heart will break, you will cry, but you will also smile and even laugh. This book will touch all your emotions. I can only imagine how difficult it was for Mitch Albom to write Chika's story and incorporate how her life, his, and his wife's became one loving family. This is a book not to be missed. I highly recommend it.

marilyn-s-challenge

Amy

1,198 reviews430 followers

January 19, 2022

I was so deeply touched by this book, as I often am for Mitch Albom's works. I have said continuously that Have a Little Faith was one of my most cherished reads ever. Mitch Albom always touches me with his spirituality. But this one, was about the spirituality gained by parenting, and also by loss. How can you not forever remember Chika, but also the incredible love one can have for one's own children, who are our miraculous gifts from God, and who teach us the depths of love. It was a hard read, a heartbreaking one - and yet reminds us of everything in life worth living, and fighting for. Five stars from me.

medicine non-fiction parenting

Marianne

125 reviews24 followers

December 10, 2023

Honestly, it's quite hard being honest while rating a book that talks about a true story. Especially when it unfolds all the struggles they went through.
Maybe it was hard for me to see there helplessness and disappointments all through Chika's story.
But good god, it took me some time to finish this book, almost 4 months.
I'm tying to ask myself why, but the only thing I can come up with is that it was extremely repetitive. It was already hard reading about what was happening to keep coming back time and again to the same points.
Don't get me wrong, it was enjoyable nonetheless. Mostly because the book is divided into lessons, every part recounting the lesson the author learnt thanks to Chika. Which is quite interesting to say the least!
My favourite lessons were number six: "when a marriage becomes a family" and seven "what we carry"
Especially the seventh, it altered my perspective on some big things if I might say, to keep this review spoiler free.
You should however still give it a try, because I do think that everyone will have his own subjective experience and will react differently to the story.

Here's my favourite :
"What we carry defines who we are. And the effort we make is our legacy"

family k non-fiction

Rich Paz

Author��2 books60 followers

November 13, 2019

Well done, Mr. Albom. I would have given this book 6 stars. This is the best book you've written so far and I love all your books. And this book really tells me who you are, sincere and authentic. I can't wait for your next book. Congrats and thanks for sharing.

Jonas

289 reviews11 followers

July 29, 2021

Finding Chika is a departure from Mitch Albom’s fictional work and is reminiscent of Tuesdays with Morrie. Books are mirrors, windows, or sliding doors. Finding Chika is all of these things and more. Above all, it is an exploration of loss, grief, and finding the ability to move forward. The audio version is extremely powerful as Mitch Albom speaks from his heart about his love for and grief over the loss of his adopted daughter. In between chapters there are audio clips of Mitch interacting with Chika. This adds a whole new depth and emotional impact on the listening experience. I cried several times while listening.

Listening was a healing experience for me. I had recently lost my mother and hearing Mitch talk (directly to me through my ear buds) about his honest and raw emotions and experiences was comforting and healing. I have lost friends, former students, and family members. This book absolutely captures grief and the grieving process (though the grieving process is different for everyone, it is provides an accurate window for those who haven't experienced it). I believe every reader will find a role (parent, caretaker, friend, child, etc.) they connect with and other roles they will gain a deeper understanding of.

Finding Chika is a moving testament of love and courage. I applaud and appreciate Mitch Albom's willingness to show such vulnerability and share such a sorrowful experience to help heal his and the hearts of his readers.

nonfiction

☮K��

1,719 reviews8 followers

December 31, 2019

4.5 stars

Oh boy, this is a sad one. Prior to borrowing it, I guess I didn't read the synopsis, because all I need to know is that if Mitch Albom wrote it, I want to read it. I didn't know he was telling the true story of when he and his wife brought a little Haitian girl back to America and into his Detroit home to pay for her medical bills for treatments she could not get at the orphanage in Haiti.

An orphanage that he himself operates, following the huge earthquake there in 2010.

Treatments that were not likely to help her.

Little Chika is a delight and teaches everyone the power of love. She remained so strong and uplifting, it breaks your heart.

Narrated very emotionally by Albom (with Chika's recorded voice talking and singing on the audio version), this one is retchingly sad. But I am so happy he shared her story.

audio nonfiction overdrive

Julie Schooler

Author��16 books24 followers

January 22, 2020

Yes it is a terrible tragedy when a child passes away and I am not at all taking away from the devastation the author and his wife (plus many others) are feeling at Chika's unfair and untimely death. Plus it really is touching how they became a family of sorts and how Chika's joy and enthusiasm touched the author's life in profound ways. And of course, this book is well written. It's just... well its just I don't know how I feel about taking a child out of the only home and country she knows to spend her limited time left having numerous invasive surgical and medical procedures when the diagnosis is without doubt terminal. Yes, the author helped extend Chika's life but from what I could understand, it didn't seem that great in those last few weeks or months. I don't know what is 'right' in such a dire situation but I guess I was hoping for an uplifting story arising from a terrible situation but instead I felt confused and had more questions than answers.

Jonathan K (Max Outlier)

756 reviews183 followers

June 24, 2021

Having read Ablom's iconic, "Tuesdays with Morrie" several times, I looked forward to the insights from this experience. His evocative style of storytelling yields tears, joy
and 'food for thought', which for those that are familiar wth him expect. Chika Jeune was a blessing in so many ways, but witnessing her health deteriorate made chapters difficult to read. And while "Morrie's" story was heart wrenching, this one was FAR more challenging. At its core, we're reminded of a child's view of the world; wonder, joy, curiosity, unconditional love and playfulness; emotions we often forget as adults. Frankly speaking, of all books I've read, this was by far the most difficult. In all honesty, 'Tuesdays with Morrie' was far more to my liking.

Ghazaleh

160 reviews128 followers

October 9, 2022

یکی از غمگین ترین کتاب هایی که تا به حال خوندم. اونجایی خیلی ناراحت کننده اس که میدونی این یه داستان واقعیه و درباره یه کودک معصومه که نمیدونی چرا باید همچین اتفاقی براش بیفته.
ولی خوبی کتاب های میچ آلبوم اینه که در عین غمناک بودن همیشه حس زندگی کردن و امید داشتن رو بهت القا میکنه.
نمیدونم چطور همچین پارادوکسی را ایجاد میکنه تو داستان هاش ولی به همین خاطره که نویسنده مورد علاقه امه.

Jill Jackman

10 reviews1 follower

January 5, 2020

I was privileged enough to have been part of Chika’s love and life. Mitch, and his narrative allowed me to relive those years with both laughter and tears.❤️

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