Calling My Name

Written by Liara Tamani

Narrated by Imani Parks

Calling My Name, by debut author Liara Tamani, 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 it 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 deftly captures the multifaceted struggle of finding where you belong and why you matter.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 24, 2017
• ISBN: 9780062688293

Liara Tamani

Liara Tamani holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a BA from Duke University. She is the author of the acclaimed young adult novels Calling My Name, a 2018 PEN America Literary Award Finalist and SCBWI Golden Kite Finalist; All the Things We Never Knew, a 2020 Kirkus Best YA Book of the Year; and What She Missed. Before becoming a writer, she attended Harvard Law School and worked as a marketing coordinator for the Houston Rockets and Comets, production assistant for Girlfriends (TV show), home accessories designer, floral designer, and yoga and dance teacher. She lives in Houston, Texas. liaratamani.com

Reviews for Calling My Name

[reader1009-863136 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

diverse middlegrade/teen fiction (mature 6th grade and up?)
The stories start off with Taja in the 5th-6th grade (just about to start the awkward puberty years) but end with her having lost her virginity and entering college (parental note: this book contains sex and one or two F* words); I would say this would suit an audience of 6th-9th graders better than 9th-12th graders. Taja's voice sounds genuine to her age (she could easily have been someone I went to school with) and as far as I am able to tell, also sounds genuine to her background--African American, belonging to a very religious Christian family and growing up circa 1990. I think her voice would resonate with readers (even with the generational gap) and the short story format provides lots of spaces for stopping and reflecting (if the reader wants to).

I also think the cover art is beautiful. More, please.

[fingerpost_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I had mixed reactions to this book. On the one hand, the writing is beautiful and poetic. It is a book filled with introspection and deeply personal thoughts, which I liked.But it isn't a novel in any traditional sense. It doesn't tell a story. Most of the 50 odd chapters are unrelated story-wise from each other. Here and there a single thread will carry through several chapters, but only briefly.Each chapter is one tiny snapshot into Taja Brown's life. All other characters are distant secondary players, as all focus is on Taja's own thoughts, personal battles, strengths, weaknesses, etc. When I finished a chapter, nothing compelled e to keep reading, to see what would happen next, because whatever story there was in that chapter (and many of the chapters are pretty much just Taja's thoughts, with no story at all) would not be picked up in the next chapter. An added difficulty is that the book covers many years of Taja's life, from sometime in middle school I gather, up to high school graduation, yet there is nothing at any point to let the reader know where in this timeline we are. From a literary standpoint, I don't think any of that is a weakness. It just wasn't the kind of book that appeals to me as much as one with a plot, holding it all together. I suppose I'm a bit too shallow to fully appreciate this one, even though I recognize the lovely writing.Perhaps I should say, this one of the best books I've ever read that I didn't like all that much.

[heatherlinc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"Calling My Name" had an extremely slow start but, thankfully, it did improve in the second-half of the book when Taja was at high school.I have to admit, I wasn't a big fan of this book despite feeling sorry for Taja who questioned her beliefs and struggled to fit in with her ultra-conservative family. Taja was never able to ask her parents questions as they were forever giving her a sermon each time she did. Her friends weren't very helpful either, and I hated how Andre, her boyfriend, treated her at the end. Therefore, Taja's coming-of-age journey was a lonely one, but I think she was stronger by the end because of it.Basically, I found the writing choppy and since it had very little plot line making "Calling My Name" was a slow and tedious read most of the time.