my name is tookie

"my name is tookie" is an intense, first-person narrative account of early childhood and adolescent memories by a fifteen-year-old survivor. This dramatic coming of age novella tells the shocking adversities and inhumane traumas Tookie suffered at the hands of the 'system' in charge of her protection. Due to some descriptive scenes that may not be suitable for those under the age of 13, parental guidance is advised. "These are my memories. This is my story--the past, the middle, and now. Sometimes, the line between each section of my life is jumbled up as I try to lay out everything in chronological order. I've been told it's a side effect of the drugs I was force-fed.

"I talked before I could walk.

"I read before I ever went to school.

"I sang in perfect pitch after hearing songs on the radio and television.

"I remember things that no one should remember.

"I've forgotten and relearned everything I once knew.

""I was given a second chance.

You don't get to hate me because I'm intelligent or talented. I keep those traits a secret. You don't get to judge me because I'm beautiful or live in a dream vacation locale. I'm here hiding in plain site from the experiences of my past.

"It might look and sound as if the proverbial deck was stacked in my favor, but I never had a chance. Not really. Maybe those traits would've had a significant impact if I'd been born to a different mother. Perhaps those advantages would've been more useful if I'd been reared in some other life or city, some other time and place. Those traits--the ones that others envy--didn't offer me any extra help or benefits. They were canceled out because I was born to Janetta Blackburn in the backwoods of northern Mississippi without a father."