A review by katherinereadsbooks1
Finding Chika: A Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family by Mitch Albom

emotional informative medium-paced

4.0

 

This book is about Mitch Albom’s experience as the legal guardian of a little girl, Chika, who has the brain tumor: Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG).  Albom started writing this book one year after Chika’s death, and it’s noticeably a way for him to process his grief.  DIPG is an extremely rare, fatal tumor that starts in the pons, which is part of the brain stem and controls vital functions.  There is no cure, and current treatments aren’t effective.  Most patients don’t survive a year past diagnosis, and it’s the leading cause of childhood cancer deaths.  Chika survived just shy of 2 years post diagnosis.

Mitch meets Chika at an orphanage he runs in Haiti; and when he learns that her condition cannot be treated in Haiti, he and his wife bring Chika to their home in the USA for treatment.  It’s a very emotional story, especially if you listen to the audiobook.  The audiobook is narrated by the author, and he includes audio clips of Chika talking, laughing, and singing.  It’s clear Chika was a very joyful child who didn’t let her illness define her.  It’s heart wrenching hearing about Chika’s treatments, and the progression of her disease, and her story is a good reminder that we shouldn’t take life for granted.