One Chance Dance

by Efua Traoré

A heartwarming, exciting story of friendship, wonder and dance from Waterstones Prize-shortlisted author Efua Traoré!  Jomi’s mum left when he was little to make a new life for them in Lagos, the city of dreams. When Jomi doesn’t hear from her, he decides to follow. His only starting place is a TV dance competition that his mum used to love.

Things go badly for the boy and his pet bushbaby, until he meets a crew of street kids. Together, they come up with a one-chance idea to find Jomi’s mother – and make their own dreams come true.

A brand new novel full of joy and wonder by the author of Children of the Quicksands, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize Selected as The Times Children's Book of the Year 2023 A contemporary adventure of destiny, friendship and dance set in the vibrant city of Lagos, Nigeria Jomi hopes to find his missing mum by dancing on a TV talent show in a story which offers emotional pull and a lot of fun! PRAISE FOR CHILDREN OF THE

‘A joy of a rich, warm, powerful storytelling’ KATHERINE RUNDELL


‘A thrilling adventure bright with the gorgeous colours of Nigeria – glorious!’ JASBINDER BILAN


‘An excellent book … rich in tradition and realism.’ HANNAH GOLD


‘[A] beautifully evoked story’ THE TELEGRAPH

Genres: Middle Grade, Africa

229 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 6, 2023

Reviews

[Youcee Anaekwe · Rating 5 out of 5]

SERENDIPITY: Good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries

🌀Jomi had always believed in changing ones Ayanmo just like his mother, so when he runs away from a wicked aunty to Lagos in search of his mother with no money, three vague letters and a cute bush baby, he has no idea what lies in wait for him.

🌀This is such an inspiring and heartfelt book. Sometimes we forget what it means to dream and not let anyone or anything get in the way of those dreams and that’s exactly what Jomi and his friends did.

🌀There are so many lessons to be learnt from this book such as resilience, courage, kindness and the knowledge that no matter how old or rusty something looks, it can still be cleaned and made not just shiny but functional again.

🌀I think the most interesting thing for me is the use of a bush baby as pet for Jomi, an animal that has always been mythically associated with bad luck and witchcraft, turned around to serendipitously show Jomi the one thing he’s been longing for.
🌀I also found the style of writing very descriptive and imaginative.

🌀An amazing story that I’d recommend for children and Young Adults.
Kudos to the author, it was a delightful read

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

One Chance Dance is like a contemporary fairytale complete with an (almost) talking animal. Lagos, Nigeria provides the setting for most of the action as Jomi awaits/provokes his destiny. Jomi’s life has had plenty of hardships- experiences that would be considered very extreme and difficult by most readers in the U.K. This book does not dwell upon the challenges however and nor does Jomi, who shows incredible resilience when he embarks on a quest to find his mother. Life in the bustling streets of Lagos is no picnic for a runaway either but Jomi and his new friends are a great inspiration in how to find joy, hope and incredible talent even in adversity.

A very enjoyable read.
4.5.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Set in Lagos. It's a story of bravery, friendship, determination & serendipity. Jomi' story of about finding his mum who left him to make a better life for them both. Along the way Jomi makes friend with a bush baby, and a group of kids. It's got highs & lows and really was a sweet story. I listened to the audio book version, which was read wonderfully by Jane Ajia. Such a lovely book to start the year with.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

A joyful and delightful read.

The author has delivered a masterpiece. You get to know the true meaning of destiny and empathise with the characters. What a joy this book is. I never wanted it to end. Brilliant 👏.

[Cute Rabbit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was amazing I enjoyed it soo much.I loved how the team were so determined to help the main character and I liked how his mum and him worked together to make the mums boss give her ,her money which they owner was not giving.I especially loved the bushby in the story it is soo cute!!😊

[Lolá · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this one! Ms Traore knows how to weave a tale that reaches the heart of my inner child. I love a good story about hope and serendipity.

[Kitchen Sink Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nigeria is the destination for us as we pick up Efua Traoré’s One Chance Dance. The author herself is Nigerian-German and she grew up in a small town in Nigeria gathering stories that eventually she began to write down. This story is one of a young boy whose mother wants to find a new destiny for, well for them both, in Lagos, Nigeria. It is a contemporary adventure story, a story of following your destiny, making friends in unexpected places and dancing. It is an emotional story, tugging at the heart strings whilst also providing pages and pages of fun. I highly recommend i for every reader, it offers so much and will surprise many.

Jomi’s mum left him so she could find their destiny in Lagos but she hasn’t come back from the city of dreams. Jomi still lives in the village, near the hill of scrap which he loves for in there he can find things, he can find treasures. But what he really wants to do is find his mum, how he is going to do this he does not know, the only idea he has is that there was a TV dance competition that she used to love. When he meets a group of street kids they come up with a plan. This is a one chance plan for a one chance dance. Their hope is, if they can get Jomi onto the TV show maybe his mum will see him, and then together they can find the destiny she was searching for. A beautifully told adventure about following your heart and your dreams knowing they will come true.


Merged review:

Nigeria is the destination for us as we pick up Efua Traoré’s One Chance Dance. The author herself is Nigerian-German and she grew up in a small town in Nigeria gathering stories that eventually she began to write down. This story is one of a young boy whose mother wants to find a new destiny for, well for them both, in Lagos, Nigeria. It is a contemporary adventure story, a story of following your destiny, making friends in unexpected places and dancing. It is an emotional story, tugging at the heart strings whilst also providing pages and pages of fun. I highly recommend i for every reader, it offers so much and will surprise many.

Jomi’s mum left him so she could find their destiny in Lagos but she hasn’t come back from the city of dreams. Jomi still lives in the village, near the hill of scrap which he loves for in there he can find things, he can find treasures. But what he really wants to do is find his mum, how he is going to do this he does not know, the only idea he has is that there was a TV dance competition that she used to love. When he meets a group of street kids they come up with a plan. This is a one chance plan for a one chance dance. Their hope is, if they can get Jomi onto the TV show maybe his mum will see him, and then together they can find the destiny she was searching for. A beautifully told adventure about following your heart and your dreams knowing they will come true.

[Coded Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Friendship,dreams and dancing are the major theme in this YA read- One Chance Dance.

Picked this up after having difficulty in getting fully immersed in a book I was reading in other not to fall into a reading slump. Children book and YA are one of my fave genres to read especially the new wave of books set in Nigeria.

This was such a fast paced read for me, the writing was good and the story was captivating;Efua did it again. We get to met Jomi who is mum left in the care of his uncle and aunt to search for greener pastures in Lagos.

The main character Jomi is an avid lover of sustainability - reduce and reuse which in coincidence while reading this I was doing a report for school on sustainability as well.

As the story unfolds,we get to know that Jomi has been missing communication from his mum which he later found was kept away from him. In other to find his mum, he embarked on this trip to Lagos,where he encountered this set of friends who later housed me and helped him in finding his mum through their dance.

Looking for a fast paced read set in Nigeria this is for you,I enjoyed reading this.

[Kitchen Sink Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nigeria is the destination for us as we pick up Efua Traoré’s One Chance Dance. The author herself is Nigerian-German and she grew up in a small town in Nigeria gathering stories that eventually she began to write down. This story is one of a young boy whose mother wants to find a new destiny for, well for them both, in Lagos, Nigeria. It is a contemporary adventure story, a story of following your destiny, making friends in unexpected places and dancing. It is an emotional story, tugging at the heart strings whilst also providing pages and pages of fun. I highly recommend i for every reader, it offers so much and will surprise many.

Jomi’s mum left him so she could find their destiny in Lagos but she hasn’t come back from the city of dreams. Jomi still lives in the village, near the hill of scrap which he loves for in there he can find things, he can find treasures. But what he really wants to do is find his mum, how he is going to do this he does not know, the only idea he has is that there was a TV dance competition that she used to love. When he meets a group of street kids they come up with a plan. This is a one chance plan for a one chance dance. If they can get Jomi onto the TV show they hope maybe his mum will see him and that together they can find the destiny she was searching for. A beautifully told adventure about following your heart and your dreams knowing they will come true.

[Sacchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great palate cleanser. It's an inspiring story of kindness, hope, friendship, and of course, serendipity! 😁

A little boy named Jomi sets out to leave his village in hopes of finding his mum in the land of dreams, the city of Lagos. Upon getting there, he makes new friends, and eventually, they all devise a way to help him find his mum.

To be honest, I wasn't sure how they'd pull that off. It was awesome watching Jomi stand up for himself and grab what he wanted. He reached for the stars. I wish we got to know what later happened with his friends though.

[Lillee 🤍 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan of this book, cute beautiful story but really childish. the use of nigerian culture makes it really interesting but the character development is almost nonexistent. there is 1 character that i feel was developed well. the story was simple and an easy read but that’s what made it so predictable. im 14 and i would probably recommend it to my 7-8 year old self. ambitious readers that can’t recognise a plot

[Lydia Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the dances that they did including Thro’way, Pick’am, Fix’am and Shine’am.