Call Me American

Starred review from February 26, 2018
War-torn Somalia is the unlikely incubator for an immigrant success story in this wrenching yet hopeful autobiography. Iftin was five years old in 1991 when a decadeslong civil war engulfed the Somali capital of Mogadishu; his family witnessed massacres by militias, survived death marches, and endured years of starvation. His one escape from grim reality was a movie theater where he learned English watching American action movies, and his enthusiasm for the wealth, freedom, and rough justice depicted in them earned him the nickname “Abdi American.” That spelled trouble, however, when the rise of Islamic extremism brought harsh religious strictures—he was flogged for going to the beach with a girl—and attacks on anyone associated with America. A chance 2009 encounter with an American reporter got him a gig doing radio dispatches for NPR, and more Islamist threats; after his house was bombed, he fled to the enclave for persecuted Somalis in Kenya, and finally, after navigating the labyrinth of U.S. immigration rules, moved to rural Maine, where he now works as a translator. Written in limpid prose, Iftin’s extraordinary saga is not just a journey of self-advancement but a quest to break free from ethnic and sectarian hatreds.

April 1, 2018
Born to extreme poverty in 1985 in war-torn Somalia, Iftin chronicles the extraordinary obstacles he overcame to obtain residency in the United States.The author's parents--and almost everybody of their generation in a lower-caste Somalian tribe--lived outdoors as nomads, raising camels and goats. They had never heard of the U.S. and only had a vague idea of Somalia as a diverse nation that had been colonized by Italy. Six years after Iftin's birth and shortly after a devastating war with Ethiopia, Somalia descended into a tribal civil war that left millions dead, starving to death, or homeless. Amid a seemingly hopeless life filled with daily study of the Quran and corporal punishment from teachers if the memorization was less than perfect, a preteen Iftin became a combination of dreamer for a better life and street hustler to supply his family with scraps of food. He found a way into a ramshackle video store, where he violated Muslim tenets to view American movies, painstakingly repeating phrases to himself to learn English. "The things I saw in the movies seemed unreachable," he writes, "but at least I could learn the language they spoke." Eventually, the narrative shifts from his life of quiet desperation on the streets to his then-unrealistic plan to leave Somalia. The author reached a fetid refugee camp in Kenya and was able to obtain a visa to enter the U.S., where he knew nobody. Explaining how Iftin reached the U.S. would involve a series of spoilers, but suffice it to say that he did achieve entry four years ago, after which he found lodging, paid work, and formal education in Maine, where he plans to attend college. The author felt secure and optimistic there until the election of Donald Trump.A searing memoir filled with horrors that impressively remains upbeat, highly inspiring, and always educational.

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Starred review from April 15, 2018
The author was born a Muslim under a neem tree in Somalia, probably in 1985 (he's not sure of the date, since birthdays are not celebrated or even recorded in Somalia). He grew up in privation and peril?the former, thanks to terrible droughts, and the latter because of a seemingly endless civil war, which meant his life and those of his family were in constant danger. ( I am six years old and learning that nowhere in the world is safe. ) As a boy, he fell in love with America, teaching himself English by watching American movies and listening to American music, earning, in the process, the nickname Abdi American. When life in Somalia became untenable, he fled to Kenya, but life as a refugee was not much better until something miraculous happened: he won a place in the American Green Card Lottery, officially titled the Diversity Visa Program (which President Trump is now attempting to discontinue). How this ultimately led him to America is a story in itself, as suspenseful as the larger survival story that is his life, one distinguished by strength, wits, perseverance, and, it must be acknowledged, great good luck. His story is absolutely remarkable and always as compelling as a novel or, perhaps, one of the Hollywood movies that he says saved his life. Consider his an essential ur-immigrant story, one that is enlightening and immediate. Abdi is an inspiration.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

Starred review from May 1, 2018

Nor Iftin's experience was the "gory terrorism" of Mogadishu, Somalia, the setting of Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down. His pastoral parents retreated to the city when drought decimated their herds. A brief period of prosperity soon descended into warfare with Islamic terrorist activity infiltrating the city and affection for American ways endangering one's life. Nicknamed "Abdi American," the author had a love of Western movies that was dangerous. He quickly parlayed that affinity into learning English fluently and met reporter Paul Salopek, who featured him in a 2009 Atlantic article. Opportunities for public radio reporting generated American connections that finally led him to resettle in Maine. While focusing on his life in Somalia, the horror and tribulations of his family become explicit. Sadly, the volume ends with President Trump's stance on immigration, which prevents Nor Iftin from visiting his family in Somalia and them from joining him in America. VERDICT A harrowing success story of escaping terrorism, overcoming government bureaucracy, and experiencing pure luck, this insightful debut yields an inside look at a largely forgotten conflict that continues to rage.--Jessica Bushore, Xenia, OH

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2018

Having learned English by imbibing American pop songs and movies, Somali-born Iftin secretly posted dispatches to NPR and the Internet when the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab took over his country. A tough path took him to Kenya, America's annual visa lottery, and finally Maine, where he works as a translator for fellow Somalis while studying political science at the University of Southern Maine. Bravo!

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.