What do you think?
Rate this book
Chasing Butterflies
Every kid dreams of happily-ever-after. . .until her world is turned upside down. . .
At sixteen, gifted pianist and poet Nia Daniels has already known her share of heartache. But despite the pain of losing her mother and grandmother, she's managed to excel, thanks to her beloved father's love and support. He's held her through every tragedy, and cheered her on through every performance. Nia can't imagine what she'd do without him--until an illness suddenly takes him, and she has no choice. And Nia's in for one more shocking blow. The man who'd always been her rock, her constant, wasn't her biological dad.
Orphaned and confused, Nia is desperate for answers. But what she finds will uproot her from the life she's always known in California and bring her to the east coast--to Omar. He's a man who's spent most of his life--and all of Nia's--behind bars. He's her biological father. An ex-gang member. Living in the hood. And he's determined to do whatever it takes to win the love of his only daughter and make up for his mistakes. If only she'll let him...
At sixteen, gifted pianist and poet Nia Daniels has already known her share of heartache. But despite the pain of losing her mother and grandmother, she's managed to excel, thanks to her beloved father's love and support. He's held her through every tragedy, and cheered her on through every performance. Nia can't imagine what she'd do without him--until an illness suddenly takes him, and she has no choice. And Nia's in for one more shocking blow. The man who'd always been her rock, her constant, wasn't her biological dad.
Orphaned and confused, Nia is desperate for answers. But what she finds will uproot her from the life she's always known in California and bring her to the east coast--to Omar. He's a man who's spent most of his life--and all of Nia's--behind bars. He's her biological father. An ex-gang member. Living in the hood. And he's determined to do whatever it takes to win the love of his only daughter and make up for his mistakes. If only she'll let him...
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 27, 2015
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 10, 2018
Chasing Butterflies was an awesome book! I loved everything about this book. It was a wonderful story about a young girl whose world was flipped upside down, and how she came to grips with her new life.
June 13, 2021
I read this book because a student told me she was reading it. The Goodreads description says the main character was a gifted pianist - it has been about a month since I finished the book, but I don't remember anything about pianos. She was a writer and poet who experienced culture shock when leaving her comfortable lifestyle in California to spend a summer with previously unknown family members in a rough neighborhood in New Jersey. Once I finished reading the book, I talked about it with the student who had recommended it. We both agreed we were dissatisfied with the New Jersey half of the book, and felt the story had many plot point flaws. The author succeeds at contrasting the California culture with the New Jersey setting, but I'm unclear of the author's agenda. The life lesson takeaway from the story - make sure you ALWAYS have your lawyer's contact information on you and backed up in at least two locations.
July 4, 2017
Perhaps it's not fair that I am giving this book one star, but I couldn't finish it. I couldn't handle the protagonist going on and on about her father who she only called "Daddy" and also I hated the prescribed options about sexuality that showed up just 30 pages in. The writing was also mundane and I didn't like the poetry-like stanzas/paragraphs.
July 21, 2023
The poetry is my favorite part of this book.
January 5, 2017
The Spoken Word is off the chain - "Spitting nothing but the truth!"
Nia Symone Daniels is an average California teen-ager living in Long Beach. Aged 16, in the 11th grade, she is liberated in her innocence’s. For her beloved Daddy's 39th Birthday she dedicated her written word to him in a Poetry bar. Finding creative freedom in spoken word, the arts she also enjoyed hanging out with her classmates (Crystal and Cameron) video games, pin-ball machine and gossip.
Having lost her mother ten years previous soon followed by her grand-mother, "grief causes us to lose a piece of ourselves, while surrounded by unconditional love, gives us promise." While her mother loved Motown, her grand-mother introduced her to jazz.
With her dad being a sought after renowned architecture he spoiled her while he showed her culture that some children may never know. He nicknamed her "Butterfly" because she was light on her feet and was always fliting about as a child. They traveled around the world and experienced Europe, the home to classical music, concerts, opera houses and ballet; the arts. When Nia spit her words, people took notice to this "old soul. As music that makes our spirit come alive, so does spoken word. Her dad talked to her openly about life and instilled in her to "wait" until she was married for sex. He told her that her destiny was in her hands.
The life Nia Symone Daniels knew in Long Beach was forever turned upside down and changed at the sudden death of her beloved dad. Orphaned and confused Nia was thrust into an uncertain life on the East Coast with her biological father she never knew she had.
The story telling mixed with excellent spoken word had me captured. This is a "all-nighter." It was so real that it could be any of our young children. It was a riveting suspenseful plot from beginning to end. Great novel.
Marilyn Diamond
AAMBC Reviewer
Nia Symone Daniels is an average California teen-ager living in Long Beach. Aged 16, in the 11th grade, she is liberated in her innocence’s. For her beloved Daddy's 39th Birthday she dedicated her written word to him in a Poetry bar. Finding creative freedom in spoken word, the arts she also enjoyed hanging out with her classmates (Crystal and Cameron) video games, pin-ball machine and gossip.
Having lost her mother ten years previous soon followed by her grand-mother, "grief causes us to lose a piece of ourselves, while surrounded by unconditional love, gives us promise." While her mother loved Motown, her grand-mother introduced her to jazz.
With her dad being a sought after renowned architecture he spoiled her while he showed her culture that some children may never know. He nicknamed her "Butterfly" because she was light on her feet and was always fliting about as a child. They traveled around the world and experienced Europe, the home to classical music, concerts, opera houses and ballet; the arts. When Nia spit her words, people took notice to this "old soul. As music that makes our spirit come alive, so does spoken word. Her dad talked to her openly about life and instilled in her to "wait" until she was married for sex. He told her that her destiny was in her hands.
The life Nia Symone Daniels knew in Long Beach was forever turned upside down and changed at the sudden death of her beloved dad. Orphaned and confused Nia was thrust into an uncertain life on the East Coast with her biological father she never knew she had.
The story telling mixed with excellent spoken word had me captured. This is a "all-nighter." It was so real that it could be any of our young children. It was a riveting suspenseful plot from beginning to end. Great novel.
Marilyn Diamond
AAMBC Reviewer
December 21, 2016
The Spoken Word is off the chain - "Spitting nothing but the truth!"
Nia Symone Daniels is an average California teen-ager living in Long Beach. Aged 16, in the 11th grade, she is liberated in her innocence’s. For her beloved Daddy's 39th Birthday she dedicated her written word to him in a Poetry bar. Finding creative freedom in spoken word, the arts she also enjoyed hanging out with her classmates (Crystal and Cameron) video games, pin-ball machine and gossip.
Having lost her mother ten years previous soon followed by her grand-mother, "grief causes us to lose a piece of ourselves, while surrounded by unconditional love, gives us promise."
With her dad being a sought after renowned architecture he spoiled her while he showed her culture that some children may never know. He nicknamed her "Butterfly" because she was light on her feet and was always fliting about as a child. They traveled around the world and experienced Europe, the home to classical music, concerts, opera houses and ballet; the arts. When Nia spit her words, people took notice to this "old soul. As music that makes our spirit come alive, so does spoken word. Her dad talked to her openly about life and instilled in her to "wait" until she was married for sex.
The life Nia Symone Daniels knew in Long Beach was forever turned upside down and changed at the sudden death of her beloved dad. Orphaned and confused Nia was thrust into an uncertain life on the East Coast with her biological father she never knew she had.
Nia Symone Daniels is an average California teen-ager living in Long Beach. Aged 16, in the 11th grade, she is liberated in her innocence’s. For her beloved Daddy's 39th Birthday she dedicated her written word to him in a Poetry bar. Finding creative freedom in spoken word, the arts she also enjoyed hanging out with her classmates (Crystal and Cameron) video games, pin-ball machine and gossip.
Having lost her mother ten years previous soon followed by her grand-mother, "grief causes us to lose a piece of ourselves, while surrounded by unconditional love, gives us promise."
With her dad being a sought after renowned architecture he spoiled her while he showed her culture that some children may never know. He nicknamed her "Butterfly" because she was light on her feet and was always fliting about as a child. They traveled around the world and experienced Europe, the home to classical music, concerts, opera houses and ballet; the arts. When Nia spit her words, people took notice to this "old soul. As music that makes our spirit come alive, so does spoken word. Her dad talked to her openly about life and instilled in her to "wait" until she was married for sex.
The life Nia Symone Daniels knew in Long Beach was forever turned upside down and changed at the sudden death of her beloved dad. Orphaned and confused Nia was thrust into an uncertain life on the East Coast with her biological father she never knew she had.
March 13, 2022
A Beautiful Masterpiece
I never thought I would read about a female protagonist using poetry for therapy. Truth be told, I create characters like Nia, yet Nia did steal my heart. Amir Abrams did a wonderful job creating a masterpiece about loss, finding your way through grief, and hope. This wonderful masterpiece earned its way on my Recommended Reading List and Recommended Book Club.
I never thought I would read about a female protagonist using poetry for therapy. Truth be told, I create characters like Nia, yet Nia did steal my heart. Amir Abrams did a wonderful job creating a masterpiece about loss, finding your way through grief, and hope. This wonderful masterpiece earned its way on my Recommended Reading List and Recommended Book Club.
September 8, 2017
reviewed for SLJ.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews