Book Review — Finding Chika by Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom’s Finding Chika is a tender and heart-wrenching memoir about love, loss, and the unyielding power of family. Told through the eyes of a grieving father figure, the book recounts Mitch and his wife Janine’s journey with Chika Jeune, a spirited little girl from Haiti who forever transformed their lives.

Albom, a veteran journalist who achieved national recognition for sports writing in his early career, introduces us to Chika against the backdrop of the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake. Through vivid descriptions, he captures the scale of destruction:

“Everyone appeared to be outside. I saw nobody in a window or coming out a door. I would later learn that many Haitians refused to enter buildings for months, fearful that the remaining structures would collapse on top of them.”

It’s in this fragile, post-earthquake world that Chika, only three days old when the disaster struck, begins her journey of survival.

Chika comes into Mitch and Janine’s lives when she is diagnosed with a rare and aggressive brain tumor, DIPG, for which there is no cure in Haiti. They bring her to the United States, determined to give her the best chance at life. What begins as a quest to save her health becomes a lesson in love, resilience, and what it means to be a family.

Chika’s infectious energy leaps off the page. Whether she’s directing the other kids at the ‘The Have Faith Haiti’ Orphanage that Albom operates in Port Au Prince, like a tiny drill sergeant or bossing Mitch around with her trademark phrase, “Stand down,” Chika is a force to be reckoned with. Even in her illness, she exudes bravery, teaching Mitch and Janine lessons about hope and acceptance.

One of the book’s most poignant moments comes when Chika, wise beyond her years, begins to accept her fate. Albom recounts her strength and clarity, leaving readers grappling with their own views on life and mortality. “Aidan will not marry a girl like me… Because Aidan will not marry a girl who cannot walk,” Chika says, a line that encapsulates the book’s emotional depth.

Albom doesn’t shy away from the ethical complexities of their journey. Having no children of their own but caring for forty-plus children at the orphanage, they encounter situations where parents, usually fathers in a bid to get at their estranged partner, just up and demand for the kids no minding the material, emotional, and psychological investments the orphanage has made in the lives of the children. Mitch and the staff wrestle with a difficult question: who truly has the right to decide what’s best for the children? It’s a reminder of the painful bureaucracy that often accompanies profound personal loss.

If you’re considering reading ‘Finding Chika’, Albom’s narration in the audiobook version of the book published in 2019 is a must-experience. He adds layers of warmth and authenticity that can’t be captured in text alone. In fact, he includes recordings of Chika into the audio experience. It makes for an even richer experience.

Ultimately, Finding Chika is a celebration of life’s fleeting beauty. Albom’s reflections on his time with Chika are tender yet profound: “She taught me that love is not something you feel. It’s something you do.” The book is a reminder that family is not defined by blood but by the bonds we choose to build.

Heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure, the 250-page ‘Finding Chika’ is a testament to the enduring power of love, even in the face of unimaginable loss. It will leave you reflecting on what truly matters, and from the online reviews, there are no shortage of people who reached for tissues.