"Once a pregnant sixteen-year-old incarcerated in the Minnesota juvenile justice system, now a celebrated writer, arts activist, and teacher, Carolyn Holbrook has heeded the call to tell the story of her life. In a memoir woven of moments of reckoning, she summons stories born of silence, stories held inside, untold stories stifled by pain or prejudice or ignorance."
Looking forward to reading.

I had a challenging time getting into this book therefore I did not finish it. I always think that if I connect with a book or not my time of life plays a role.

A memoir in essays.
Inspiring. Heartbreaking. Soul-Touching.

I am not one to put a star-rating on someone's retelling of their life, so I will always rate it a 5 star read. Kudos to the author that chooses to open up and be vulnerable to share their life story with the world and be open to individual interpretation of their words.

A beautifully written, powerful story in few words (just 200ish pages) that will stay with me over time.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my complimentary eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Please excuse my tardiness in posting my review. My TBR list is continuously growing and I keep finding so many amazing books being requested + added to my pile! I have so much gratitude for this copy that has been shared with me.

This title really hooked me and then the content really stood up. I thought it was really good. It kept turning pages and didn't want to put it down.

I’m judging the L.A. Times 2020 and 2021 fiction contest. It’d be generous to call what I’m doing upon my first cursory glance—reading. I also don’t take this task lightly. As a fellow writer and lover of words and books, I took this position—in hopes of being a good literary citizen. My heart aches for all the writers who have a debut at this time. What I can share now is the thing that held my attention and got me to read on even though it was among 296 other books I’m charged to read.

This was a stunning collection of essays and I appreciate the work Holbrook has done here.

Carolyn Holbrook shares her struggles as a mixed black woman raising 5 children. She shares her experiences growing up mixed race through a series of essays that were extremely well written and let me into her world. As a white woman, I don't share these experiences and don't often get the opportunity to hear about them firsthand. I appreciated Holbrook's honesty, and loved getting a glimpse into another perspective of life.

A book of essays that detail one persons life. In this time knowing others trauma can be a learning experience. Definitely worth the read.

this was one of the most inspiring, heartbreaking, and overall amazing book, I've ever read. I cried, smiled, and mourned over so many different aspects of this book, going into detail would just take up too much of everyone's time. But, I will say, the writing is masterful, and the way the author gave us a glimpse into their lives was so artfully done, and I think this an essential read for EVERYONE!

4.5! This was a beautiful book of essays where the author tells personal stories of her life, career, and family. Her journey of being an incarcerated pregnant teen to becoming a prominent figure of the Minnesota literary scene was amazing to read about. Highly recommend this!

Thanks to NetGalley and the University of Minnesota Press for an advanced copy of this book.

Painful that our young black youth are going through such trauma and the very system that’s supposed to protect us often let’s us fall through the cracks and locks us up. This is a redemption story. This is a story about reclaiming one’s own power. And with it their destiny. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC.

A well written memoir that takes you along Holbrook's story of perseverance against the uphill battle of her life and the ways literature has helped her. She intertwines her empathy towards those she encounters (like her class of teen parents) with her own struggles to form a warm and thoughtful lends with which to view the world.

A powerful collection of essays that shares the experiences of woman and the struggles of being Black in the United States.

Fast paced book and I really enjoyed it. Good story line and I think people are gonna love it. I would definitely read again and recommend

I did take away that Carolyn was a great teacher though. This boom was all over the place. I felt like the essays didn't flow very easily at all.

A very powerful and interesting book. This is a collection of individual essays which I hadn’t realised prior to starting and while it took me a little while to get into the swing of that, I ended up really enjoying the style of it. It’s always hard to review someone’s memoir as essentially it’s their story and who are we to comment on this, but this is one I am definitely glad I read.

Now more than ever, I think it's important to continue to learn and expand your knowledge. This book was incredible. Not only was it inspiring, but also a little eye-opening. "Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify" was beautifully written, which made it so easy to read. Sometimes, certain topics can be tough to read, but it was effortless to take everything in that was being told. The idea of each chapter covering different stories, different things from the author's life was a fantastic one. It really makes the reader go through a lot of emotions tough. I didn't really know what to expect when I picked up the book. But it proved to be a brilliant read—a definite recommendation.

Memoirs are always so hard to provide feedback. I felt so honoured to have read her life experiences.

Thank you for the ARC of Tell Me Your Names and I WIll Testify
I enjoyed the format of the book and felt that it flowed well.
It was a quick read for me, I'm glad I requested it.

This was such an engaging read! I always love essays, since you can delve into so many topics and stories without the larger work getting bogged down in transitions or other details.

Carolyn has the ability to really transport you to the time and place she is writing about. From the setting to the emotions, she is a beautiful and clear writer. Tell Me Your Name and I Testify delves into so many aspects of privilege, oppression and identity - but still remains hopeful in the way that Carolyn was able to lean into those that offered her support and how she continued to work to create a better future for herself, her children and her community.

I made it half way. I really tried, I did. But there was zero continuity or even tenuous links between the essays. I found them stilled and didn't flow. The first essay I loved, but the rest did not live up to the hype.

The first essay describes her spiritual link with her ancestors and then it's never brought up again (in the half I read anyway). The rest of the essays felt very wordy and clunky, with no poetry to the writing. It felt like a what I did this weekend essay from school. It was definitely more a memoir than a collection of essays. I appreciate the author sharing her life we me, and I think some careful editing could have made this sing. I was interested in the themes of redemption, racism, and triumph over adversity.