Prior to the war and uprisings in Syria within the last 10 years, Yusra, our author, was a competitive swimmer (her stroke is the 100M  Butterfly/freestyle) and represented her country in international competitions. As the war intensified, Yusra and her sister fled to the Turkish coast in 2015 (17 years old) and boarded a small dinghy full of refugees bound for Greece. When she realized her boat's engine shut down she and her sister dove into the water to swim to lighten the weight of the boat, and ultimately saved the lives of all on board. Upon finally arriving in Greece, she worked toward her Olympic dream. After finding refuge in Germany, she was selected to compete in 2016 on the Refugee Olympic Team in Rio de Janeiro.

Butterfly tells her story, from Syria to the Olympics to her current work with the UN as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency (appointed in  2017 at the age of 19). Her purpose in writing is to encourage readers to remember that refugees are ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. She advocates for refugees globally through sharing her own inspiring story and has become a powerful voice for the forcibly displaced across the world and an example of the resilience and determination to rebuild lives and positively contribute to host communities.