My Name Is Tani . . . and I Believe in Miracles - Young Readers Edition

Book Description

An amazing, miraculous refugee story of coming to America, the young readers edition of Tani Adewumi's story will inspire kids looking for true stories of doing hard things.

At eight years old, Tani Adewumi, a refugee, won the 2019 New York State Chess Championship after playing the game for only a year--and while homeless.

Tani and his family fled Boko Haram's reign of terror in Nigeria to come to the United States, where they lived in a New York City homeless shelter while waiting to be granted religious asylum. Tani began attending a public elementary school and decided he wanted to join the chess program, but it required a fee. Tani's mother reached out to the coach, who offered Tani a scholarship--and a year later the young immigrant became a chess champion.

Ideal for readers 8 to 12 years old, this adaptation presents compelling insight into:

• What it means to leave a comfortable home and move to a new country with nothing
  
• What it's like to live in America as a homeless family
  
• How it feels to be an outsider, a Nigerian, in a new school
  
• And what it means to learn a game, compete, and experience the thrill of winning

Tani's story will inspire you to believe in the power of the human spirit to triumph over the greatest adversities. And his family's faith will inspire you to believe in miracles.

Authors

Tani Adewumi is the Nigerian-born boy who won the 2019 New York State Chess Championship after playing the game for only a year. Tani and his family's story begins amidst Boko Haram's reign of terror in their native country of Nigeria and takes them to a New York City homeless shelter, where they waited to be granted religious asylum. Tani's father, who came from a royal Nigerian family, became a dishwasher and Uber driver to support his family. Tani's mother, whose family owned the largest printing press in Nigeria and who had been working at a bank for over a decade, trained to become a home aide. So, when Tani asked to join the chess program at his elementary school, which required a fee, it seemed unlikely. His mother wrote to the coach, who offered Tani a scholarship. Miracles led Tani and his family to New York. As Tani's father puts it, "There are many times in my life where I thought, this must be the miracle, and yet I did not know that the miracle had not yet begun."

Craig Borlase is a New York Times bestselling writer, specializing in crafting dramatic, engaging memoirs. Recent work includes Finding Gobi — the international and New York Times bestselling account of an ultra-marathon runner's chance encounter with a stray dog in the Mongolian desert, now translated into twenty-one languages — and My Name Is Tani — the story of an eight year old chess prodigy living in a homeless shelter in NYC.  Craig has collaborated with a wide range of authors on more than fifty books, from a global entertainment icon to a former Muslim woman who was one week away from becoming a suicide bomber. Previous work has taken him to Iraq, Jordan, China, Haiti, India, Sweden, Cuba, Uganda, Australia and all over the United States.

Additional Information

Cover: Paperback
Number of Pages: 201
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Publication Date: April 14, 2020