Call Me Gebyanesh

Gebyanesh Addisu teams up with co-author Arlene Schenker to turn her experiences as a young immigrant struggling in a new and strange place into a universal story about the importance of name to identity and being true to yourself and your culture.

Will I ever belong here?and wouldn't really even try. "We will call you Rakhel," the teacher said. That isn't my name, Gebyanesh thought. But she said nothing.

From then on, she was Rakhel at school and Gebyanesh at home. She didn't want to tell her parents about her struggles, but when they saw her Israeli name on some of her schoolwork, she couldn't hold her frustrations back anymore. She would need their help to learn more about her heritage, her name, and how to stand up for herself.