The Name She Gave Me

by Betty Culley, Lisa Cordileone

Genres: YA Family; General Fiction

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.

 

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Release date: June 21, 2022

Publisher: HarperAudio

Print pages: 400

Sample

RynnNames

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.

Scheherazade

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.