Viewers of America's hit TV show Dancing with the Stars already know Valentin "Val" Chmerkovskiy as a fan-favorite ballroom dancer and heartthrob. And while he has captivated fans since his first performance on the show in 2011, there is a lot more to Val than meets the eye. After coming to America at the young age of eight, without knowing a word of English, Val was a stranger in a strange land, far from his family's native land of Ukraine. Now, as never before, Val opens up about what it was like for his family to move to Brooklyn, realizing the American Dream the moment he became the first American to win the World Championship in Ballroom dancing just a few short months after 9/11. In his upcoming memoir, I'LL NEVER CHANGE MY NAME: An Immigrant's American Dream from Ukraine to the USA to Dancing with the Stars (on-sale: March 6, 2018; Dey Street Books; Hardcover; $26.99), Val reveals the successes and failures he's had on and off the ballroom floor, from world championships up through his first step on Dancing with the Stars.
For the first time, Val looks back at his childhood in Odessa, Ukraine, and his Jewish family's immigration to the United States-including what it was like to grow up in Brooklyn as a stranger desperate to fit into a different culture, how he worked to become a premiere dancer, and, of course, the collaborations and competitions with his brother and fellow Dancing with the Stars sensation, Maksim "Maks" Chmerkovskiy-who also wrote the book's foreword.
In I'LL NEVER CHANGE MY NAME, Val speaks warmly of his close-knit family and shares intimate and inspiring stories meant to offer hope and motivation not only to fans, but to everyone with a dream. Enduring persecution in their native land, Val's parents wanted a better life for their children-a desire that led them to leave everything they knew and start again thousands of miles away in a foreign country. It was a gamble that paid off-after years of practice and discipline, Val, along with Maks, have reached the pinnacle of success. Though he admits he sometimes still feels like an outsider, Val reveals that he is every bit as American as he is Ukrainian, and he expresses his enduring gratitude for everything that America represents and pays homage to his adopted nation and the opportunities it has afforded him and his family.
While Dancing with the Stars has demonstrated Val's beautiful physicality, I'LL NEVER CHANGE MY NAME illuminates his soul, revealing a deep, thoughtful person who channels his emotions and socially conscious views through his art. Inspiring, heartfelt, and compulsively readable, this is a classic story of the American Dream. Showcasing 16 pages of never-before-seen photos, I'LL NEVER CHANGE MY NAME is sure to touch readers' hearts.