
My Name Is Why: Quick Reads 2022 (Paperback)
Lemn Sissay (author)- 10+ in stock
SPECIALLY ABRIDGED FOR QUICK READS
How does a government steal a child and then imprison him?
How does it keep it a secret?
This story is how.
This story is true.
My Name Is Why is a true story about growing up in care and fighting to succeed despite the cruelty and failures of the care system.
Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
ISBN: 9781838854645
Number of pages: 160
Weight: 143 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 12 mm
Edition: Main - Quick Reads
MEDIA REVIEWS
Searing . . . Unputdownable . . . My Name Is Why is authentic and beautiful, a potential game-changer in public attitudes to children raised in care. It's about bureaucratic cruelty and what happens when love is absent. Don't miss it * * The Times * *
An extraordinary story * * Sunday Times * *
The most amazing thing about this book is that it's not made up. This actually happened. It is an incredible story -- BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH
I have never read a memoir like it. A blistering account of a young life in the hands of neglectful authorities. It's a quest for understanding, for home, for answers. Grips like a thriller. Astounding -- MATT HAIG
The great triumph of this work comes from its author's determination to rail against what he rightly diagnoses as this institutionally endorsed disremembering of black and marginalised experience. It is a searing and unforgettable re-creation of the most brutal of beginnings -- Michael Donkor * * Guardian * *
Utterly devastating and beautiful . . . Breathtakingly written -- DOLLY ALDERTON
This is a deeply moving memoir that speaks with incredible poeticism. A staggering expose of colonial theft and abandonment, this book is grippingly heartbreaking -- DAVID LAMMY
A fascinating memoir . . . So powerful -- ELIF SHAFAK
The engaging transfiguring truth of My Name Is Why is like a baptism of truth - leaving you washed clean of lies and reborn in love. Profound in its kindness, intelligence and unselfish heart, this book is important and unputdownable -- JESSICA HYNES
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“Deeply moving, ultimately hopeful personal history”
Lemn’s memory of how he was rejected by foster parents and housed in a series of worsening children’s homes that failed to offer care, as evidenced by excerpts from his social services files, is both important and... More
“Excellent - so moving”
I was too poorly to get to The Brewery and I know I will regret that chance to see and hear him.
I’m reading the book whilst following him online.
What a brilliant person and thanks for telling us how and why you have...
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“Shocking and moving in equal measure”
Shocking and moving in equal measure. Lemn Sissay's story is a compelling read, and at points you have to remind yourself it really happened. His writing is beautiful, and he's inspiration.
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