Call Me American

The inspirational tale of a boy in wartorn Africa who fell in love with America through movies and escaped his country's turmoil to move here—a story of remarkable courage, determination, and triumph.Born in Somalia shortly before the country descended into years of brutal civil war, Abdi Nor Iftin learned to speak English by watching Schwarzenegger movies and listening to American pop songs. His first direct experience with an American was when he cheered the arrival of the Marines to take on the warlords in Mogadishu. When Somalia emerged from war only to succumb to the radical Islamist al Shabaab, Abdi used his language skills to post secret dispatches to National Public Radio and the Internet. Astoundingly, several Western listeners were able to get desperately needed cash to Abdi until the untenable situation in Somalia forced him to flee to Kenya as a refugee. In a near miraculous stroke of luck, he won entrance to the U.S. in the annual visa...