Catozzella racconta la storia di Samia, una bambina somala che ha la corsa nel sangue; e che ha partecipato per il suo Paese alle Olimpiadi di Pechino, nonostante tutte le condizioni avverse. Piccola guerriera somala, Samia, che ha combattuto correndo contro la guerra, contro l’integralismo islamico, le divisioni tribali, l’omicidio del padre, la separazione dall’amico Alì e il suo sconcertante tradimento. Samia corre forte, piccola guerriera somala nonostante debba allenarsi con il burqa, nonostante un’alimentazione impensabile per un’atleta, nonostante la povertà, nonostante l’assenza di un allenatore. Samia va a Pechino e corre, corre forte, corre per la Somalia, che non vuole che una donna corra per lei. Poi Samia parte e va in Etiopia, ma i documenti non arrivano e allora per correre intraprende il viaggio, quella terribile odissea che affrontano centinaia di migliaia di persone per arrivare in Italia. E nel mare mediterraneo, quello che si chiama mare nostrum, la piccola guerriera somala termina la sua breve vita. Un monito per noi, per l’Italia che non vede, per l’Italia che ignora, per l’Italia che ha paura perché non capisce che noi siamo la speranza. Grande libro di Catozzella che con poche pagine fa esplodere la storia di una grande guerriera che rimane nel cuore. Corri Samia, corri. ( )

"He was going to do what Mo Farah had done... make the Journey"
By sally tarbox on 6 August 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
Quite a powerful read, written in the first person from the point of view of Olympic Somali runner Samia Omar. The reader lives with her through a poor but happy childhood, her every moment taken up with running. But the endless war starts to permeate her contented life, whether it's ethnic conflict, casual violence or the increasing powers of Al-Shabaab - a load of muslim thugs intent on enforcing koranic ideas on the populace. Forced to curtail her athletic dreams, to run in a burqa, Samia decides to put herself in the hands of people traffickers and attempt to reach her sister in Finland and pursue sport unhindered...

Brings home the plight of the illegal immigrants who make it to Italy (or sometimes don't) in dire conditions.
Extremely readable, would be of interest to the YA reader (but I enjoyed it too!) ( )

Samia Yusuf Omar knows she's an athlete from a young age. Already at ten, she dreams of being the fastest and trains with a single-minded dedication on the streets of war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia despite the many dangers. In Mogadishu, a simple trip to the market can be a death sentence. Not wearing the proper veils, stepping onto the city's beaches, or even being seen with her best friend and "coach," Ali, stand to put Samia in terrible danger. Samia finds refuge and support with her family in the relative safety of their home. Soon, Samia begins to win races, but as conditions in Mogadishu decline under the power of militant radical Islamist group, Al-Shabaab, the deadly risks of Samia and her sister Hodan's dreams strike too close to home. As tragedy strikes her family and the women of Mogadishu are forced to conform to the vigorous restrictions of Islamic law, Samia dreams not only of being the fastest but of making her family proud and being a beacon of hope for the subjugated women of her war-torn homeland.

The world saw Samia's potential at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics where she represented her country in the 200m sprint. While she may have lost the race, she won the support of an international audience. Unfortunately, conditions are even more dangerous for her in the wake of her Olympic competition. Being a picture of possibility for Muslim women makes her a target in her hometown. It's virtually impossible for her to train, and she cannot gain strength with the meager food her family can provide. When her sister Hodan successfully makes the Journey, being smuggled across the Sahara and over the sea into Europe, Samia is heartbroken, but as conditions decline, Samia has to admit that the Journey is the only way she will ever realize her dream of being a champion.

Don't Tell Me You're Afraid is a compelling novelization of the true story of Samia Yusuf Omar's childhood, rise to running excellence, and eventual desperate journey to escape the war and poverty afflicting Somalia. Told in an extremely readable first person, the novel immerses readers in the life of a young girl who dreams of being the fastest and dreams of being a symbol of what her country had been and could be. I was, at the start of the book, very ignorant of the conflict in Somalia. While I had been aware of the growing amount of refugees, this novel puts a human face on the horrible conditions facing those whose desperation to escape would have them put their lives in the hands of deplorable smugglers who transport refugees in the worst possible circumstances and use every opportunity to extort every last resource from the desperate.

With Samia as the narrator, the ongoing tragedy of refugees is set in even more stark relief, knowing that this girl Somalia had paraded on an international stage was no better off than the least of these seeking asylum. Don't Tell Me You're Afraid is a heartbreaking story that needs to be read. While there are certainly some departures from the true to life sequence of events and a tendency of the author to wander into a sporadic second person narration that might bother the more discerning reader, Catozzella and translator Anne Milano Appel do a great job of bringing the heart of Samia's story to the page and making a hard to read account of hardship and hope virtually unputdownable. ( )

Don't Tell Me You're Afraid by Giuseppe Catozzella is a fictionalized account of the true story of Samia Yusuf Omar, a Somali girl who has one dream - to run. The book is a fictionalized account dramatically told. You may agree or disagree with that approach. However, strip away all the drama, and the story itself is still an amazing one. I find myself lost in the emotional story and the dramatic storytelling.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2016/07/dont-tell-me-youre-afraid.html.

Reviewed for the Penguin First to Read program. ( )

Her name is Samia. She wanted only to run, she had a dream, to represent her country of oppressed women in the Olympics. She starts running at the age of eight, with her good friend Ali, who will be her coach for many years. But, this is Somalia, a country perpetually at war, she runs in holey old gym shoes trying to bypass the glass, iron and other debris on the streets. Al-Shabaab is everywhere and they soon take power. Everything changes, no music, no singing, women must always wear the burka, never be seen without, no movies and life becomes unbearable. Still she runs, at night, dangerous, she has a dream and is not willing to let it go.

Eventually she realizes her dreams will never come true in her country so she puts her faith in the traffickers, a journey that is hard and treacherous. Had to put this book down at certain places, pause and just reflect, take a little time out of mind. So powerful, so intense. I hope I never forget this remarkable woman's name, she is the embodiment of everyone who has their own dreams, tell themselves it is not possible, she is an inspiration.

Based on a real person, this is her odds defying story, though it is heartbreaking. Puts things in perspective in my own country, why I think we need to read books like these no matter how hard. Even at their worst, in this country, we are so lucky. Books like these remind me of that and also how many people are struggling throughout the world. Always remember.

ARC from publisher. ( )