Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

A brilliant story of family: lost, found, and made is told through Rynn. Rynn was adopted as a baby and the only thing she knows about her mother is the name her mother gave her at birth. Though not yet 18, she longs to find her birth mother to ask her questions. Her relationship with her adoptive mother is not great, but she has made a place for herself in her farming community; but she just longs to find her mother. The characters were well developed and examined the complexities of relationships within families.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Adored it. Everything was perfection, from the story to the emotions, to the layout. Loved it.

The Name She Gave Me follows Rynn on her journey to discover exactly who she is. Culley perfectly captures the feeling of emptiness that is sometimes described by people who have been adopted, like they are missing a vital part of who they are by not knowing from whom they were created. The sisterly bonds created by Rynn and her biological sister are heartfelt and warming. This book may be short, but it deals with some very heavy topics. I highly recommend this book.

This was a touching, but tough read. The way that Culley plays with language was clever because it fit into the characters and how they were built, but also lent itself to the subject matter.

However, I felt like the style choice was odd given the straightforward nature of the text and its subject. I hoped it would have grown on me as I moved forward, but I didn’t find that to be the case.

I’d still recommend this text as its discussion of names, lineage, and family can really resonate with all of us and our search for self and identity.

While we get a fair number of stories about adopted characters, it's not often that these stories explore the emotional turmoil that can come from being adopted - the conflict between loving the parents who chose them and the desire to know where they came from. Even rare is what Culley has given us here. Rynn's adoption is not ideal. Her relationship with her parents is tense at best. While she feels loved (at least by her father) she also feels inadequate. She can't live up to her mother's idea of what a child should be. Her journey is fraught and as much about self discovery and learning to rely on her own strength as it is about the love of a family. The driving force behind this story is almost entirely emotional and quite limited to Rynn's perspective, so it's not a story for everyone. But if you enjoy contemplation this may be a good choice for you.

I loved the premise of this book as this is a real issue that so many adoptees deal with. Trying to find their birth parents and coping with issues with their foster parents. Identity issues are real and even more pronounced in these cases. Rynn's voice was genuine and real. However, I loved her sister's chapters the most. My only complaint is that Rynn is meant to be 16 but she is written to behave like a 12 year old. This book would be more suited for my tweens than for teens. Her sister on the other hand seemed to have a more mature voice than her described age. Besides these issues the story was entertaining and I hope it inspires more adoptee teen books to be written.

Reading this book directly after Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe, made this book suffer a little bit in comparison just because of how much I loved Goth Girl. However, Culley does an excellent job with this free verse narrative in delving into the adoption story, beyond the supposed "happily ever after" that so many paint adoptions with. The main character struggles with her relationship with her mother who has never seemed to accept her even as the mother continues to tell the main character that she (the mother) chose her (the main character). She loves her father but grows to see just how often he has ended up choosing his wife over her when he does not call her on how she treats their daughter. When the main character discovers that she has a sister, who after the death of their mother is now in foster care, she longs for a relationship with her but she also desperately does not want her parents to go through the foster to adopt process with her sister because of how toxic it has been for her. Things dealt with in this book often do not get discussed but they present an all too real reality for so many.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.

I like how this book is made into verse. The story recounts Rynn's journey to find her biological family. She was also born with medical conditions that left scars to remind her of what she was going through.

This is definitely a great read.

Thank you HarperTeen for an early copy to read and review. This novel in verse features a dual point of view between two half sisters who didn't know about each other and their journey toward union. The poems were full emotion and I enjoyed all of the characters. Definitely a good read about adoption and family.

The story of Rynn, an adopted teen who wants to find her family and who she is. We follow Rynn on her journey to discover the truth of her birth parents despite her adoptive mother. While her adoptive father is supportive and loving, her adoptive mother is harsh, cruel, and insensitive. On her journey Rynn discovers the identity of a biological sister she didn't know about. When the two meet Rynn is overjoyed but her adoptive mother hovers nearby and Rynn will stop at nothing to keep her sister out of her mom's grasps. A honest look into adoptive families not all being sunshine and roses, as well as the questions and feelings adopted children may have. A great read.

The Name She Gave Me is an incredibly impactful novel in verse and will speak to young readers looking for coming of age stories about complicated family dynamics and supportive friendships. You can tell from the writing that this is a topic close to the author's heart, and the novel is absolutely stronger because of this. Rynn (or Scheherazade, the name her birth mother gave her) is 16 and lives with her adoptive parents on a garlic farm in Maine, and she often wonders about her biological mother. Since her mom (who can be controlling, angry, and cold at times) won't sign a form to let her see her records before she turns 18, Scheherazade begins searching on her own and discovers she has a younger sister in foster care nearby. Things spiral from there as Scheherazade's desire to connect with her birth family drives her farther from her adoptive mother, and we also get sections from her birth sister's point of view. The themes of emotional abuse definitely made this book hard to read at times and it will certainly resonate with anyone who has a parent or family member like Scheherazade's mom.

I really admired how Betty Culley was able to capture Scheherazade's specific world view through her voice in poetry. It's something that always stands out to me when reading novels in verse because the sparseness of language allows you to see very clearly what our main character is focusing on and what motifs are central to her worldview. Scheherazade often compares her mother to a volcano, not knowing when her anger will erupt next, or thinks in terms of fairy tales (wishing her mother's behavior were like a spell that could be broken) since the name her birthmother gave her came from one. Scheherazade also wrestles with what name she identifies with, and by the end of the book she has a long list of names and nicknames that all capture different aspects of her identity.

The side characters also shine bright in this story and allow readers to see various other family dynamics that serve at times as foils to Scheherazade's struggles. She babysits Douglas, her toddler neighbor, and befriends Alexander, a boy visiting his dad and stepmom for the summer (I wasn't a huge fan of the romance that ended up happening but I didn't mind it). My favorite side-family had to be the Tibbetts: Scheherazade's best friend June has a huge family who all live in the same area. June's mom is caring and steps up for Scheherazade when things go astray with her adoptive mom, and I loved that Mrs. Tibbetts's go-to phrase when her kids do something crazy is "I did worse!" Scheherazade's birth sister also has a very supportive foster mother and their relationship was sweet to read about.

I actually think my favorite character was Scheherazade's father, and I almost wanted more narrative time to be spent learning more about him. He cares deeply about his daughter and wants to support her, but he struggles to do so because of the way his wife acts. He is also a charming garlic farmer, a helpful handyman who does work for the family Scheherazade lives with when she moves out, and a man with a mysterious past. As an adult reader, I was really curious to see more from his side of things, as he clearly wants to support his daughter but also still maintains his relationship with his wife, even as she was harsh and cruel, and to me it felt like the narrative mostly brushes over these complications by the end.

Overall, The Name She Gave Me was a wonderfully written, hard-hitting contemporary and shines as a novel in verse. I'd highly recommend this to young adult readers and anyone interested in these topics and themes, and I'd love to read more from Betty Culley in the future!

This lyrical novel was fantastic. Betty Culley has done it again. Rynn was adopted as a baby. The only she has left from her birth mother is the name Scheherazade. She longs to know more about her birth mother, but she's not able to access this information until she's 18. Her adoptive parents run a small garlic farm. As warm as her dad is, her mother is equally as cold.

Frustrated by her situation, Rynn begins to do her own research but will her finding uproot the only life she's ever known? Thanks to NetGalley and HarperTeen for this eARC. This book is out today! Don't miss this stunning lyrical novel.

I really liked this book, though I don’t think it was as good as Tell Me Three Things. There were certain things about some of the characters’ voices that didn’t ring true to me. However, still a really good read!

This is a novel told in verse about our main character, Rynne. She covers topics like adoption, family and finding herself. Rynn was adopted as a baby and doesn't really know anything about why she was put up for adoption in the first place. But like any kid in movies and books, she just really wants to find her birth mother and the secrets surrounding her adoption. Rynn has an adoptive mother who is cold to her and borders on being abusive. She seems to be close with her adoptive father, however. In her research, Rynn does find a half sister and her long-lost uncle and his family, A quick read that focuses on the need for family.

ARC from NetGalley - A quick YA read written verse. I enjoyed the sensitivity and realism with which Culley handled sensitive topics (family, adoption, sisters, self-doubt, emotional abuse, etc.) I will be recommending to some reluctant readers, as I am sure they will immediately get drawn into the story line and multiple points of view.

I loved this story. A novel in verse about adoption, self-discovery, family and longing. Rynn just wants to find her birth family, has a terrible relationship with adoptive mother and a close one with her adoptive father. When she finally does some research, she discovers a sister she didn’t know and a way to fill the hole in her heart and a birth mother who left bread crumbs to find her true self and her family. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

"The Name She Gave Me" was a novel that I have been anticipating ever since I read, and loved, Betty Culley's novel, "Three Things I Know Are True". Unfortunately, I did not love this novel compared to her previous novel in verse. However, the one constant between both novels, is how Culley's prose is beautiful and makes a reader feel. Although this novel was not my favorite, I will still read more of Culley's work in the future.