BookBright
ABOUT THE BOOK
NO SPOILERSDreamer is a graphic novel memoir, told entirely in comic panels, about a real professional hockey player, Akim Aliu. Akim is born in Nigeria in 1989 to a Ukrainian mother and a Nigerian father, and by the time he is a kid the family has moved again, first to Russia and then, in 1996, to Toronto, Canada. The book opens with sixteen-year-old Akim taking a teammate's hockey stick to the mouth on the ice, then rewinds to show how he got there: a boy who falls hard for hockey after learning to skate on a nine-dollar pair of secondhand skates, even though his parents can barely afford the sport and his own brother Edward tells him it isn't for kids who look like them. As Akim's talent grows, so does the racism he runs into, from strangers on the street to coaches and teammates on his own team. A student who wants to know whether Akim makes it to the NHL, and what it costs him along the way, has to keep reading.
Free Battle of the Books questions for Dreamer
SPOILERSEvery one of these has the same answer, and that is the point. In a real battle the question is read aloud with a dozen other books in play, and students have a few seconds to place it. Here is what a battle might ask about Dreamer. Use them as a quiz, a trivia round, or BOTB practice.
Where in the book they come from
- Early in the book
In what book does a grandfather sell his military apartment so the family can move to Canada?
✓ Answer
Dreamer by Akim Aliu
Mikhailo had been given that apartment after his military career ended, and in 1996 he sold it and handed the envelope of money to Larissa and Tai. The man who once refused to hold a Black baby paid for the family's fresh start.
- First half
In what book does a boy who speaks only Russian eat lunch alone while classmates snicker and point?
✓ Answer
Dreamer by Akim Aliu
Akim shows up at his new Canadian school unable to say a word in English, and the other kids stare and whisper as he passes. He says nobody understood him and they made sure not to welcome him.
- First half
In what book does a boy press both hands against a rink fence with his mouth open in awe?
✓ Answer
Dreamer by Akim Aliu
Walking through Toronto with Edward, Akim hears kids yelling on an outdoor rink and stops cold. The page goes wordless while he watches a stick, a puck and a goal, and that is the moment the game gets him.
- Second half
In what book does a boy on the ice spot another Black player in a gold jersey?
✓ Answer
Dreamer by Akim Aliu
Akim had just about decided his brother was right that this was not a sport for people like them. Then Aaron Atwell skated past in a rival team's colors, and seeing him changed everything.
- Second half
In what book does a boy with shattered teeth whisper "I just want to play"?
✓ Answer
Dreamer by Akim Aliu
Back at home, Akim's parents tried to get him to talk about what had happened and he sat in silence. When he finally spoke, crying, it was not about the team or the coaches at all, only about the game he still loved.
- Near the end
In what book does a teenager lie on a hotel bed in his suit after a draft's first round?
✓ Answer
Dreamer by Akim Aliu
Akim went unpicked through the entire first round in Columbus after being assured he would go early. He felt humiliated that he had dressed up and brought his family and both billet families all that way to watch it happen.
