Tiny Dancer : The Incredible True Story of a Young Burn Victim's Journey from Afghanistan

By Anthony Flacco

Book Overview

One fateful day in July 2001, Zubaida, a nine-year-old Afghan girl, slipped while filling a kerosene heater and set herself on fire. Her burns were so severe, no one thought she'd live. But Zubaida survived, and her father brought her all over the region, finally to the American army base in Kandahar, trying to get help. A Green Beret listened, and Zubaida was flown to a specialized burn center in America for a year of reconstructive surgeries. Flacco's depiction of Zubaida's culture shock is remarkable. The TV and film writer explains how, for the first time, Zubaida was going to school, getting to make personal choices and spending time with children who had the luxury of imagining limitless futures. The medically complex procedures were successful; the social adjustments were difficult. With improved language skills, therapy and lots of love from her host family, Zubaida began to thrive (she even appeared on Oprah). But then it was time to return to Afghanistan, where she felt like a model ship in a bottle-perfectly formed but going nowhere. Flacco's empathy and ability to tell Zubaida's story like he's inside her head makes for an engrossing feel-good read. Photos. Copyright (c) Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 146101462X
• ISBN13: 9781461014621
• Release Date: June 2011
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 242 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Tiny Dancer: A Remarkable Story

This is not just the story of a burn victim, TINY DANCER is a story of Courage and Compassion; from the little Girl, to the Soldiers who help her, to the Doctors who care for her, to the Americans who embrace her! We truly are a nation with reverence for humanity. The way Anthony Flacco tells the story is not only true to the events, but his words will reach out from the pages and touch your heart. TINY DANCER is an INSPIRATIONAL STORY and a lesson for us all! A MUST READ! All my Best to Zubaida, God Bless all those who assisted in her chance to continue her life, and THANK YOU ANTHONY for telling her story.

A Truly Inspirational Story

Thank you so much for the gift of "Tiny Dancer". What an absolutely amazing story of courage and human resiliance. I was thoroughly absorbed by the story which is so well written and totally gut wrenching. In these difficult times when we are so overwhelmed by "bad" news on a daily basis it was such a treat to read this inspirational story of hope and courage. God bless Zubaida's "little cotton socks". It seems clear that destiny has something great in store for her and hopefully her life will have a wonderful positive impact on her country and the world in general. Tony Baarda

one girl's story told

I read the book in one evening...I couldn't put it down. Zubaida's story moved me to tears several times and also moved me to tell others about the book. Its amazing to me that the author, Anthony Flacco, could take on ONE girl's story and make the whole world care! Wow! "Tiny Dancer" is truly a triumph.

Just bought a second copy!

This is such an incredible story, so inspiring, that I gave away my copy of the book to a friend and bought another for me. I may have to pass this on and just keep buying the book. Not only is it a good story to begin with, but I like the way author Flacco tells the story. As I write this, we are staying with friends in San Antonio, Texas...after evacuating from Houston for hurricane Rita. Our home is on the water and may now exist after tomorrow. Hard to get too upset over that once you know Zubaida's story...

Flacco's TINY DANCER Is A Triumph On Many Levels...

If TINY DANCER were only the story of a young Afghan girl who suffered horrific disfigurement, it's unlikely that I would be writing this review. There is no shortage of misery today, and to chronicle only a minute fraction of it would surpass the capacity of the world's library shelves. Even viewed through the insulating filter of news columns or TV bytes, the sheer volume of anguish out there is mercifully numbing-- that is, to the rest of us, if not to its victims. But Anthony Flacco has done far more than write of the pain of Zubaida, a terribly burned and scarred young Afghan girl; instead, he has crafted an anthem for all who have seen life's cold cruelty and have wished for the power to allieviate even a bit of it. TINY DANCER is deceptively straighforward. In its skillful narrative, what lesser books would have made the main storyline --that is, Zubaida's accident itself and the gift of hope proffered by generous American benefactor--becomes but a backstory. To be sure, it is a moving backstory: in this part of the story, TINY DANCER is notable in that it is less about affliction than it is about the triumph of compassion. But Flacco takes the story beyone the "Lifetime Movie Of The Week" -version. Not satisfied with the cliche of a fast fadeout when the girl's hideous scars are erased by plastic surgery, he instead compels us to follow Zubaida's tale onward, even to her fight to reenter her former life in a Third World country. I won't steal from you the satisfaction of the book's conclusion, or even of the sheer pleasure you will experience in reading TINY DANCER yourself. Suffice it to say that once you open this book, you will find your perceptions --indeed, likely yourSELF-- indelibly altered. --Earl Merkel