Finding Chika

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

By: Mitch Albom

Narrated by: Mitch Albom

Best-selling author Mitch Albom returns to nonfiction for the first time in more than a decade in this poignant memoir that celebrates Chika, a young Haitian orphan whose short life would forever change his heart. Performed by Mitch Albom with Chika’s voice featured throughout.

Chika Jeune was born three days before the devastating earthquake that decimated Haiti in 2010. She spent her infancy in a landscape of extreme poverty, and when her mother died giving birth to a baby brother, Chika was brought to The Have Faith Haiti Orphanage that Albom operates in Port Au Prince.

With no children of their own, the 40-plus children who live, play, and go to school at the orphanage have become family to Mitch and his wife, Janine. Chika’s arrival makes a quick impression. Brave and self-assured, even as a three-year-old, she delights the other kids and teachers. But at age five, Chika is suddenly diagnosed with something a doctor there says “no one in Haiti can help you with.”

Mitch and Janine bring Chika to Detroit, hopeful that American medical care can soon return her to her homeland. Instead, Chika becomes a permanent part of their household, and their lives, as they embark on a two-year, around-the-world journey to find a cure. As Chika’s boundless optimism and humor teach Mitch the joys of caring for a child, he learns that a relationship built on love, no matter what blows it takes, can never be lost.

Told in hindsight, and through illuminating conversations with Chika herself, this is Albom at his most poignant and vulnerable. Finding Chika is a celebration of a girl, her adoptive guardians, and the incredible bond they formed - a devastatingly beautiful portrait of what it means to be a family, regardless of how it is made.

A Sweet Little Book

I love the way Mitch Albom writes— very personal and from the heart. And this writing is about a couple’s struggle to keep China alive even though they know Chika wouldn’t make it. Very touching and disclosive of the pain they went through I trying to save this child’s life. I wept for all of them as Chika slowly slipped away..

Classic Mitch Albom, love story.

Thoroughly enjoyed this short weekend read. Great book club selection and reminder of just how precious each and every day is.

Chikas Life

Wonderful aliveness of Chikas life. The life of Chika is remarkable. A definite read for all.

Heartwarming

Very heartwarming. An inspirational yet sometimes tear-jerking, sometimes comical narrative that teaches us lessons on the ups & downs of life while emphasizing how important it is to have purpose.

Keep a box of tissues near by...

I have been a huge fan of Mitch Albon since "Tuesdays with Morrie," so I knew I was in for something special. This was so beautifully written, and the audio version, with the sound bites of Chicka should be the only way this story is told. I cried A LOT but I will probably read this one again. A MUST read for sure!