The Name She Gave Me
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Synopsis
A heartbreakingly beautiful novel in verse about adoption, family, friendship, and love in all its many forms, perfect for fans of Robin Benway and Jandy Nelson, from the acclaimed author of Three Things I Know Are True.
Rynn was born with a hole in her heart—literally. Although it was fixed long ago, she still feels an emptiness there when she wonders about her birth family.
As her relationship with her adoptive mother fractures, Rynn finally decides she needs to know more about the rest of her family. Her search starts with a name, the only thing she has from her birth mother, and she quickly learns that she has a younger sister living in foster care in a nearby town. But if Rynn reconnects with her biological sister, it may drive her adoptive family apart for good.
This powerful story uncovers both beautiful and heartbreaking truths and explores how challenging, yet healing, family can be.
Release date: June 21, 2022
Publisher: HarperAudio
Print pages: 400
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Author updates
The Name She Gave Me
Betty Culley
My birthmother was twenty
when I was born,
four years older
than I am now,
and she gave me a name.
Scheherazade
(Shuh-hair-ah-zod)
has three e’s,
two a’s
and twelve letters.
Mom and Dad changed my name to
Rynn—
four letters, one repeat,
and no vowels,
unless you count the (sometimes) y.
I don’t love the name
Scheherazade,
but my birthmother
gave it to me.
It’s the only thing
from her I (don’t) have.
My lost name is a clue,
like a message in a bottle
washed up on an empty shore.
In an old book,
a girl named Scheherazade
told a king stories
so he wouldn’t kill her.
Night after night,
she stopped her stories
in the middle,
like a soap opera
or a detective series,
and continued them
the next night.
It took 1,001 nights
and 1,000 stories
for the king to fall in love
with her.
Why she would want to marry
a man who killed women
is beyond me.
Or why she’d want
to be with someone
who took 1,001 nights
to figure out he loved her.
I’m wondering if my birthmother
wanted me to know
that in order to survive
without the truth
of who I am
and where I came from,
I would also have to make up stories
to get me through the night.
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