emilybh's review against another edition
3.0
‘The children’s home may well have been housing us but it wasn’t caring for us [...] The act of writing would follow me wherever I went. No one could take it away from me.’
.
This is a short and powerful account of Lemn Sissay’s childhood in care, the discovery of his Ethiopian mother and retrieval of his name. Prefacing each chapter with a stanza of poetry, Sissay asks what it means for a childhood to be told through official documents and reports, rather than the story of a family. As he weighs his own memories against the notes of his social worker, his early struggle to form a sense of self becomes clearer. This is exacerbated as he is uprooted from a foster family to a children’s home and then an assessment centre, in which he is subject to growing forms of neglect and racism. In My Name Is Why, Sissay responds to these experiences, setting out his own voice and personal resilience in spite of this mistreatment - 3.5 stars.
.
This is a short and powerful account of Lemn Sissay’s childhood in care, the discovery of his Ethiopian mother and retrieval of his name. Prefacing each chapter with a stanza of poetry, Sissay asks what it means for a childhood to be told through official documents and reports, rather than the story of a family. As he weighs his own memories against the notes of his social worker, his early struggle to form a sense of self becomes clearer. This is exacerbated as he is uprooted from a foster family to a children’s home and then an assessment centre, in which he is subject to growing forms of neglect and racism. In My Name Is Why, Sissay responds to these experiences, setting out his own voice and personal resilience in spite of this mistreatment - 3.5 stars.
readsbyetta's review against another edition
4.0
Half photocopies of social care documents, half memories in his own words, this a very moving memoir. The neglect of children is always hard to read about but shouldn't be shied away from. Lemn Sissay spends one chapter holding a torch to the abuse suffered by boys at the Wigan's Wood End 'Children's Home' and giving voice to others who have suffered. But mainly this book is about the disconnect between how a child feels (and how they feel they are seen) and how they are perceived by the people in authority who are paid to have complete control of a child's life.
jo_82's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic but heartbreaking read, devastating account of the treatment of children and systemic failures the care system in the UK.
lilyflowers's review against another edition
5.0
Book 19 of 30 (I changed my goal to 30) -- My Name is Why? By Lemn Sissay
I was introduced to Lemn's poetry by accident. There was a time in my life where I felt disconnected from my heritage and was desperately seeking the words of people from my countries of origin to consume and be in proximity to. I Googled Ethiopian authors and Lemn's Blog came up with his poetry. Here I am years later reading a book of his life and feeling so much sadness for how it started but full of joy at watching him take on the world, where the foster care system tried to silence him.
MNIW is a raw account (there are passages from his actual care files) of the types of abuse and neglect Lemn and many other children faced and still face at the hands of adults who have no business taking care of children.
Con: The only con was the book's formatting was confusing at times because the files were scanned into the pages but then were also transcribed and then Lemn's adult voice was intermingled. I wish one of the two was in italics to better follow.
I was introduced to Lemn's poetry by accident. There was a time in my life where I felt disconnected from my heritage and was desperately seeking the words of people from my countries of origin to consume and be in proximity to. I Googled Ethiopian authors and Lemn's Blog came up with his poetry. Here I am years later reading a book of his life and feeling so much sadness for how it started but full of joy at watching him take on the world, where the foster care system tried to silence him.
MNIW is a raw account (there are passages from his actual care files) of the types of abuse and neglect Lemn and many other children faced and still face at the hands of adults who have no business taking care of children.
Con: The only con was the book's formatting was confusing at times because the files were scanned into the pages but then were also transcribed and then Lemn's adult voice was intermingled. I wish one of the two was in italics to better follow.
aimee96_'s review against another edition
4.0
This was a very quick read! A true story based local to myself in Lancashire / greater Manchester UK. It was very interesting to read Lemn’s story and his experience growing up within the care system. Being able to read various case notes from his childhood and seeing differences in what he went through, compared to what was noted in his files was rather shocking. I enjoyed this book and would recommend to those looking for a quick read which focuses on personal life experiences and finding yourself.
bellaruffell's review against another edition
5.0
This book blew my mind and opened my eyes to a world that quite frankly I know nothing about. I am now determined to learn more. In My Name Is Why, Lemn Sissay tells the story of his upbringing through the social services documents about him that he had to fight in court to get hold of.
Lemn learnt about his childhood through reports - I can’t even begin to imagine what that would be like. He didn’t even know what his real name was for most of his childhood. Although Lemn starts in foster care with what initially seems to be a caring family, we quickly realise that this is not the case. Lemn was emotionally/mentally and even maybe physically abused during his early life with this family. One can’t even begin to imagine the level of rejection he was made to feel. Lemn then moves between multiple children homes as a teenager. The system even managed to hide the fact that his mother was looking for him.
8,000 are currently living in a children’s home and of course when a family is not able to - for whatever reason - be able to look after a child it is important these homes are there to look after them and are staffed by caring people. However this can quite often not be the case, as it was with Lemn.
I am so glad that a book like this exists to open peoples eyes to the lives of children living in care who might have been forgotten. His success goes to show that any child can do or become anything they wish. However I wish this was a story that didn’t have to be told. After all children are the future are we should be doing everything possible to invest in them.
I will seek Lemn Sissay’s work out wherever and whenever it can be found. It is the least one can do to honour the brave heart of the man and all those who had the misfortune to share these experiences.
Lemn learnt about his childhood through reports - I can’t even begin to imagine what that would be like. He didn’t even know what his real name was for most of his childhood. Although Lemn starts in foster care with what initially seems to be a caring family, we quickly realise that this is not the case. Lemn was emotionally/mentally and even maybe physically abused during his early life with this family. One can’t even begin to imagine the level of rejection he was made to feel. Lemn then moves between multiple children homes as a teenager. The system even managed to hide the fact that his mother was looking for him.
8,000 are currently living in a children’s home and of course when a family is not able to - for whatever reason - be able to look after a child it is important these homes are there to look after them and are staffed by caring people. However this can quite often not be the case, as it was with Lemn.
I am so glad that a book like this exists to open peoples eyes to the lives of children living in care who might have been forgotten. His success goes to show that any child can do or become anything they wish. However I wish this was a story that didn’t have to be told. After all children are the future are we should be doing everything possible to invest in them.
I will seek Lemn Sissay’s work out wherever and whenever it can be found. It is the least one can do to honour the brave heart of the man and all those who had the misfortune to share these experiences.