Butterfly: From Refugee to Olympian - My Story of Rescue, Hope, and Triumph
Written by Yusra Mardini
Narrated by Lameece Issaq
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Butterfly is an inspiring audiobook about how one woman saved fellow refugees from drowning—and how she went on to become an Olympic swimmer.
When young Syrian refugee Yusra Mardini realized her boat's engine shut down as she was traveling from Syria to Greece with other refugees, there was no hesitation: she dove into the water. Surfacing, she heard desperate prayers and sobbing from the passengers in the sinking boat above her. Between the waves, her elder sister Sarah screamed at her to get back on the boat. But Mardini was determined. She was not going to let Sarah do this alone. Grabbing the rope with one hand, she began kicking up the black water, inching the boat towards the distant shore.
This bold act of bravery saved the lives of a boatload of refugees heading to Turkey from Syria. After her arrival in Greece, Mardini, focused and undeterred, worked toward a lifelong goal: to compete in the Olympics. She succeeded, and competed in 2016 on the Refugee Olympic Team in Rio de Janeiro.
Butterfly tells her story, from Syria, to the Olympics, to her current work with the UN as a Goodwill Ambassador. Mardini is eager to tell her story in the hopes that listeners will remember that refugees are ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, chased from their homes by a devastating war.
Praise for Butterfly:
"War, for all its atrocities, is punctuated by instances of unfathomable human spirit and grace. Olympic swimmer Yusra Mardini’s story is a prime example. Butterfly recounts this Syrian refugee’s extraordinary tale of bravery, survival, and winsome, never-give-up moxie. It is impossible not to be won over by Yusra, who once swam for her life at sea and is now fighting for the dignity and wellbeing of countless refugees like her whose lives have been upturned by war." — Khaled Hosseini, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns
"Part coming-of-age story, part sports narrative, part migrant journey, Mardini's book is cinematic even as it is deeply intimate and rooted in place." — New York Times Book Review
Yusra Mardini
Yusra Mardini is an Olympic swimmer and Syrian refugee who, in 2015, fled her hometown of Damascus when it became too dangerous to live in the war-torn country. Mardini swam with the Refugee Olympic Team at Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020 and was named the youngest ever UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador. The Malala Fund named Yusra in their list of Game Changers and she is also one of the hundred women featured in Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls. She lives in Hamburg where she continues to train and compete internationally. A major Netflix film documenting her life is due to release in 2022, written by Jack Thorne.
Related to Butterfly
Related audiobooks
All the Way to the Tigers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares (A Memoir) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Most Precious of Cargoes: A Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fox Hunt: A Refugee's Memoir of Coming to America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Do Not Say We Have Nothing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row (Oprah's Book Club Summer 2018 Selection) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Between the Mountain and the Sky: A Mother’s Story of Love, Loss, Healing, and Hope Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bring Back Our Girls: The Untold Story of the Global Search for Nigeria’s Missing Schoolgirls Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Children of the Land Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Address Unknown: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Running for My Life: One Lost Boy's Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Naked Don't Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Find Me Unafraid: Love, Loss, and Hope in an African Slum Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I Heard What You Said: A Black Teacher, A White System Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The New American Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Terrorist's Son: A Story of Choice Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Elephant Chaser's Daughter Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Upside: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Power of Women: A Doctor's Journey of Hope and Healing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Boy on the Beach: My Family's Escape from Syria and Our Hope for a New Home Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Our Mad and Furious City: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rust: A Memoir of Steel and Grit Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A House in the Sky: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/512 Years a Slave Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nujeen: One Girl's Incredible Journey from War-Torn Syria in a Wheelchair Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Biography & Memoir For You
Fairy Tale Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Divine Rivals: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sure, I'll Join Your Cult: A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twisted Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5From Blood and Ash Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If He Had Been with Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When No One Is Watching: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pet Sematary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Local Woman Missing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The House in the Cerulean Sea Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Series of Unfortunate Events #1 Multi-Voice, A: The Bad Beginning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bell Jar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Child Called It: One Child's Courage to Survive Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Later Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Five Years: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Year of Magical Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5See You on the Way Down: Catch You on the Way Back Up! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Zone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing to See Here Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: One Introvert's Year of Saying Yes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Elon Musk Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Butterfly
8 ratings0 reviews