📘 Finding Chika by Mitch Albom — A Memoir That Wrecked Me (in the Best Way)
⭐ Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 out of 5
Genre: Memoir / Nonfiction / Heartstrings-Tugging Emotional Rollercoaster
Author: Mitch Albom
Content Warning: Terminal illness, child death, medical trauma
🍼 I Didn't See It Coming, and Then I Was Crying in the Produce Aisle
Let me start by saying I’m not the kind of person who cries while reading. I'm a parent, I read a lot, I can handle hard topics. But Finding Chika? Oh boy. This one snuck up behind me and drop-kicked me in the heart.
I’d originally picked up the audiobook, and let me tell you: listening to Chika's actual voice clips sprinkled throughout the chapters? Yeah, that hit different. I thought I knew what I was getting into. Spoiler: I absolutely did not.
🌍 What Is Finding Chika About?
Mitch Albom, the beloved author of Tuesdays with Morrie, tells the story of Chika Jeune, a vibrant little girl born in Haiti, who came to live with him and his wife, Janine, after being diagnosed with a rare and fatal brain tumor called DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma).
The book opens with Albom talking to a vision of Chika, who acts as both a memory and a narrator-in-spirit throughout the book. Together, they walk through their story—how he met her, how they fought for her, and how she changed his life.
✨ The Timeline: Heartbreak in Layers
🏚️ Chika’s Early Life in Haiti
Born into tragedy, Chika survived a devastating earthquake and the death of her mother. She ended up at the Have Faith Haiti Mission, the orphanage Mitch Albom oversees. Shy at first, Chika quickly became a spirited leader among the other children.
✈️ The Move to Michigan
After her caretakers noticed her drooping face and unsteady walk, Chika was diagnosed with a brain tumor in Haiti. Because medical treatment was unavailable there, Albom flew her to the U.S., where they got the devastating diagnosis: DIPG. Terminal. No survivors.
🧪 Experimental Treatments & Unshakeable Hope
Doctors gave her four months to live, but Mitch and Janine couldn’t accept that. They tried everything—radiation, chemotherapy, global travel for experimental treatments, and yes, even the internet’s most questionable promises.
Was it excessive? Maybe. Albom himself admits he was grasping for any shred of hope. I flinched at parts. But as a parent? I get it. If it were my kid, I’d try everything too. You don’t give up on your child. Ever.
💔 The Emotional Center
The memoir isn’t just about Chika’s illness—it’s also about what it means to be a parent. Mitch never had kids of his own, and through Chika, he learns how much love he had to give. He confesses his regrets, wonders why he waited so long, and shares how Janine—his quiet, steady wife—became a mother in every way that mattered.
There are moments of joy, frustration, awe, grief, and even guilt. Chika’s spirit brings humor and honesty to these reflections, like when she grills Mitch on why he never had children earlier. She's sassy, fierce, wise, and funny. A force of nature.
📉 The Decline
Despite some promising progress, the tumor returns. Chika begins to lose her ability to walk, talk, and eventually move. It’s unbearable to read at times. But Albom doesn’t shy away from the hard parts. He tells it all—the feeding tubes, the seizures, the unbearable silence at the end.
And yet, Chika never complains. She keeps singing, smiling, and lighting up rooms, even as her body fades.
⚰️ The Final Days
Chika died just after her seventh birthday, surrounded by love. Albom flew to Haiti to buy a burial plot before she passed, knowing the end was near. They held her, told her she was loved, and let her go.
Her funeral was held in Haiti, and Albom later took in her siblings at the orphanage—because Chika was family, and so were they.
💭 Final Thoughts: This Book Will Haunt You, Gently
I wanted to give Finding Chika a lower rating at first. Some moments felt heavy-handed or questionable—especially around the experimental treatments. But by the end, I understood. As a parent, I felt seen. Understood. I would've done the same.
This isn’t just a book about a sick child. It’s about faith, fatherhood, guilt, growth, loss, and most of all, love.
“You can’t lose someone you carry inside you.”
Excuse me while I sob forever.
🛍️ Buy the Book
📘 Buy Finding Chika on Amazon (affiliate link)
🎧 Audiobook version (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)
📚 If You Liked Finding Chika, You Might Also Like:
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🧡 Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
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🕊 When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
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👩👧👦 The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
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💔 Everything Happens for a Reason by Kate Bowler
Thanks for reading — and if you made it through without crying, I’m impressed. If you did cry... yeah, same.
Let me know what you thought of the book in the comments below. 👇 And as always, happy reading (and weeping).
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