Calling My Name
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
“Calling My Name is a treasure.”—Nic Stone, New York Times–bestselling author of Dear Martin
Calling My Name is a striking, luminous, and literary exploration of family, spirituality, and self—ideal for readers of Jacqueline Woodson, Jandy Nelson, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Sandra Cisneros.
This unforgettable novel tells a universal coming-of-age story about Taja Brown, a young African American girl growing up in Houston, Texas, and deftly and beautifully explores the universal struggles of growing up, battling family expectations, discovering a sense of self, and finding a unique voice and purpose.
Told in fifty-three short, episodic, moving, and iridescent chapters, Calling My Name follows Taja on her journey from middle school to high school. Literary and noteworthy, this is a beauty of a novel that captures the multifaceted struggle of finding where you belong and why you matter.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tamani's debut novel brims with heart and soul, following its African-American protagonist, Taja Brown, as she searches for spirituality, love, and a sense of self during middle school and high school. Expressive writing creates intimacy from the outset, and Taja's relationship with God is especially absorbing; even when her spirituality isn't explicitly discussed, it shapes her actions and the way she views the world. Her honesty about her doubts and her desire find God on her own terms make her relatable and real. "I want to tell Gigi everything: my doubts about good people going to hell just because they happen to be a different religion or happen to mow their lawns or wash their cars or plant begonias on Sunday instead of going to church," Taja reflects during a visit to see her ailing great-grandmother. "Most of all, I want to tell Gigi about the God I feel inside of me when I get still." The discussion of religion never feels heavy handed or prescriptive; it's clear that Taja's journey is hers alone. Ages 14 up.)
