Carolyn Holbrook

"Recipient of the 2010 Kay Sexton Award, Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify are the long-awaited collection from local literary figure Carolyn Holbrook. A collection of linked essays, Tell Me Your Names follow Holbrook's transformation from a pregnant 16-year-old incarcerated in the Minnesota juvenile justice system through her years living in Minneapolis, raising a family, and eventually to the founder of an organization that challenges conventional ideas about writers of color and provides support for them. Each essay grows from, in some way, stories that are born from silence, or being silenced; stories held inside and untold, hidden traumas: from her family history; her time incarcerated as a teen mother; her life as a teacher, especially working with children of color; cycles of domestic and sexual abuse; and why telling these stories is so necessary for working through traumas personal and collective"--

Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify

Demi

*arc received by netgalley*


I received an arc of this book a few weeks ago and I let me tell you, this book was an absolutely incredible experience to read. It was inspiring, heartbreaking, and so moving all at once. The writing was so beautiful and so well done that it was incredibly easy to read and really take in everything that was being told. I thoroughly enjoyed the way this book was set up and I really appreciated that each chapter covered a different story from the authors life in which was written with the purpose of sharing a not only a story to the reader but a lesson as well. Getting a glimpse into the authors life was such a privilege and this book really made me feel so many emotions, it truly took me to each scene with such detail. The way the author wrote this book truly made me really feel a connection I never expected to feel from it and I would highly recommend this book to absolutely anyone and everyone!

Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify

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