My name is...

"They are survivors, not just victims, and they have not only a past, but a future." inside cover

My name is... was a very powerful and emotional read. The stories that these young people wrote and shared were moving, highlighting the trials that occur with the refugee experience. The tales were from a variety of locations (Somalia, Sudan, Mexico, Laos, Afghanistan, and more) which to me just reiterated to me that we live in a global community and that throughout this world there are many stories of pain and struggle that need to be shared. At the same time, there are many glimmering hints at happiness in these tales as many wrote about their dreams of education, connecting with family, women's rights, and the kindness of people.

The thing that really hit me the most was the ability of the writers to move past anger or calls for sympathy but rather they are able to look at their past experiences and while never really forgetting what happened, they do not ruminate on their sufferings. Instead they show such incredible resilience in their stories and also in their lives. It was very inspiring.

Critically, it is quite impressive the language abilities of these young refugees. The writing is at a rather high level for English Language Learners. It makes me curious since some of them have only been in the US for a few years, as to what the editing processes were. Regardless, it is very well written.

The narratives are juxtaposed with various illustrations of experiences with cultural aspects or images of homelands. I enjoyed this positioning, as well as the randomized order of how the stories were placed. It was not a section on Somalian refugees followed by Hmong, but rather intertwined, which I feel demonstrates what occurs in society. You never know who has these experiences and what sort of community is there that surrounds them.