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ClareR (5726 KP) rated My Name is Why in Books

Oct 29, 2019

My Name is Why

Lemn Sissay | 2019 | Biography

9.0

(2 Ratings)

Book Rating

If you can read this book and NOT get angry whilst doing so, then you’re a better person than me. My Name is Why is Lemn Sissay’s true story of his life in the English Care system. His Ethiopian mother handed her son into the care of Social Services whilst she finished her nursing course, only to have him permanently taken away and put in to long term foster care. She wrote letters begging for his return from after his birth, all to no avail. This was the start of a catalogue of failures for Lemn. The way his foster parents treated him after they basically abandoned him at the age of 12, putting him in to the care system and a series of unsuitable group homes, frustrated me to the point of tears. What was most upsetting was the complete lack of emotional support. He wasn’t treated as a child, a child who needed affection and emotional support, but as a problem to be solved. It seemed to me that his childhood was just a countdown until social services could get rid of him from off their books.

I’m so glad that Lemn wrote this book, because I’m sure that it speaks for all those children and adults who experienced life in care. And I hope that the right people read this: those who take care of all of those children. I’m full of admiration for Lemn Sissay and all of the work that he does: his poetry, his broadcasting, and the work that he does for care leavers at his Christmas dinners. I will have been to watch Lemn three times: heard him read his poetry, his one man play, and the third time will be when I see him talk about this book at my local library/ theatre/ cinema (Storyhouse in Chester, UK). And to be quite honest, he always inspires me whenever I see him. This is an inspirational book too - against the odds, Lemn has made something (quite a big something actually) of his life.
This is a wonderful book that I’d recommend all human beings to read.

Kudos

Jake (15 KP) rated The Witch (2015) in Movies

Jul 9, 2017

The Witch (2015)

2015 | History, Horror

6.3

(28 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Incredible attention to detail including the dialect, costumes and traditional folklore (3 more)

The best child acting I've ever seen in a movie

If you like folklore and traditional tales then this is very accurate to the records

Black Philip

Advertised as a film with plenty of action and jumpscares (2 more)

Uninteresting to those who don't care for tension or history

A fairly controversial ending which divides audiences

A truly unique and engrossing horror for REAL fans of the genre!

Kudos

Dean (6926 KP) Jul 27, 2017

Couldn't disagree more on this one of the worst films I've seen in ages. Especially after all the hype around it.

Kudos

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)

8.3 (4 Ratings) Rate It

Movie

A father's wish magically brings a wooden boy to life in Italy, giving him a chance to care for the...

Therapy with Infants: Treating a Traumatised Child

Inger Poulsen and Inger Thormann

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

When a child without a fully developed language experiences physical and psychological stress that...

Family Centres and Their International Role in Social Action: Social Work as Informal Education

Chris Warren-Adamson

(0 Ratings) Rate It

Book

This title was first published in 2001: Family centre practice is one of the success stories of the...

Dianne Robbins (1738 KP) rated Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy in TV

Apr 22, 2021 (Updated Apr 22, 2021)

Exploitation

Exploitation at its worst. It's terrible to subject children to some of these people chosen for this show. They may have the adults would make good tv but at what cost to the children who have to live with that stranger for a week. Parents who sign their families up for this should be visited by child protective services to determine what other poor decisions they have made involving their child's care because some of this stuff is borderline abuse.

Kudos

Kaz4ray (17 KP) rated What Happened to Monday (2017) in Movies

Jan 26, 2018

I love dystopian ideas and this appealed (0 more)

Too many characters (2 more)

It becomes really confusing after a while

I disliked the main characters so didn’t really care what happened to them

This is a great premise. In a future world where you can only have one child a grandfather keeps sextuplets and calls them Monday-Sunday. They all have a day of the week that they are allowed outside but one day Monday disappears. The other sisters set about to find her before their secret is discovered.