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Skating Towards Justice: Identity and Resilience with Akim Aliu: Dreamer

     I loved this book! Akim Aliu: Dreamer was a quick read with strong messages of resiliency and identity. Akim Aliu is a Ukranian-Nigerian-Canadian professional hockey player who shares his life's journey in this graphic memoir. He candidly recounts many experiences and with racism, both overt and covert, and overcoming adversity throughout his upbringing and experiences leading him to the NHL and ultimately speaking out against many prominent figures who terrorized him throughout his life and career. 



  • Publication: 2023

  • Pages: 128

  • Genre: Graphic Novel Memoir

Awards & Recognition

  • Great Graphic Novels for Teens, 2024
  • Children's Favorites Award, 2024
  • In the Margins Book Awards, nonfiction, 2024
  • Texas Maverick Graphic Novel Reading Lists, 2024, grades 6-12
  • MISelf in Books (Michigan), 2023, middle school
  • Eureka Book Award Honors (California), 2023
  • CDE (California ) Recommended List, 2023, grades 6-8

Classroom Considerations

As with any YAL featured in YA Shelf Talk, I think it's important for educators and parents to consider the themes in Akim Aliu: Dreamer, along with the issues of racism and bullying. I'd recommend this graphic novel memoir be used with students ages 12+ due to moments of violence.


I also think that discussions among students about racism, bullying, and learning perseverance need to be in safe spaces where culture and norms-building have already been done. These conversations can be more powerful and meaningful when done in spaces where everyone feels like their voice matters.

Ideas for Use in the Classroom

  • A research project examining the experiences of other athletes would be really eye-opening as racism and discrimination in many sports happens all too often. I found that it's pretty easy to Google "athletes who have faced racism in sports" and find an abundance of names and links. Here is a great video from the Kids Network of CBC discussing Aliu's story and his newfound voice bringing more light to racism in hockey and other sports. CBC - Akim Aliu
  • Analyzing the complexities of multiple cultural identities and their impact on societal perceptions. 
  • This is another great read about perserverance (Felix Ever After) --but a real-life one. Students can focus on identifying instances of resilience and how Aliu responds to adversity. 
  • A creative project idea, using Akim Aliu: Dreamer as an anchor text, could be for students to create their own graphic short stories reflecting personal experiences or social issues they are passionate about. 

Possible Read Aloud Excerpts

(There are no page numbers in Akim Aliu: Dreamer so I listed the following read aloud excerpts chronologically.)

"Skating...This is IT. There's really nothing like it. The speed, the agility, the cold air on your face...Windsor, Ontario, 2005. Whack! ......The cold air on your face...Like the feeling of facing reality for the first time. Like facing the fact that you were an outsider within a world or community you loved so dang much. SO DANG MUCH that you had to fight against, and endure, hate and bigotry--YEARS of racism--just to keep on following your dreams, just to be happy...or make a better place for the next ones following in your footsteps...This is that story...about perseverance and following your dream against all odds..."

"Mom and Pops got me the pair of skates at the yard sale just down the street from our apartment for only nine dollars. They were all-leather beauties. The didn't fit quite right, but man...they felt good. I went down to Trinity Bellwoods Park most days after school in the winter and skated on the rink there. I was constantly falling. I couldn't stand up. All over the place for a few sessions...and then sessions four, five, six, I got better, and better. And then a year later...I led my house league in scoring."

"Yet despite my growing numbers and accolades...after the Downie incident, there was always this aura lingering around me that I was a bad kid And I knew it--I just KNEW it came from something as dumb as being black...My appearance, my 'fro...just the way I am. I was different. I didn't look like a regular hockey player, especially at that age in these small towns. On top of that, my rankings never correlated with how well I was playing. If you looked at my numbers at the time, I should have been top 20 in the world. But instead I would be ranked 30 to 50. It all seemed to go back to the situation with Downie, where somehow I was the one painted as the bad guy. Black guy, white guy in hockey. The black guy MUST have been the problem and was now using the race card."

Reflection & Next Steps...

    By bringing Aliu's story into our classrooms, teachers can provide students with a relatable narrative that encourages empathy, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of the societal structures that shape our world. 
    I think Akim Aliu's story is one that many prominent and unknown athletes relate too and/or know all too well. I'd love to look into other powerful stories of athletes--and other talented figures--who have overcome adversity in their own journeys to success in their sport/field.

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