Call Me Athena bookcover

Call Me Athena

Girl from Detroit
4.9/5.0
21,000+ Reviews
Bookshop.org has the highest-rated customer service of any bookstore in the world

Description

An enchanting novel in verse, Call Me Athena captures one young woman's struggle for independence, equality, and identity as the daughter of Greek and French immigrants in tumultuous 1930s Detroit.

Mary lives in a tiny apartment in Detroit in the 1930s with her Greek and French immigrant parents, her brothers, and her twin sister, and she questions why her parents ever came to America. She yearns for true love, to own her own business, and to be an independent, modern American woman--much to the chagrin of her parents, who want her to be a "good Greek girl."

Mary's story is peppered with flashbacks to her parents' childhoods in Greece and northern France; their stories connect with Mary as they address issues of arranged marriage, learning about independence, and yearning to grow beyond one's own culture. Though Call Me Athena is written from the perspective of three profoundly different narrators, it has a wide-reaching message: It takes courage to fight for tradition and heritage, as well as freedom, love, and equality.

Call Me Athena: Girl from Detroit is a beautifully written novel in verse loosely based on author Colby Cedar Smith's paternal grandmother, creating a historically accurate portrayal of life as an immigrant during the Great Depression, hunger strikes, and violent riots.

Product Details

PublisherAndrews McMeel Publishing
Publish DateAugust 17, 2021
Pages576
LanguageEnglish
TypeBook iconHardback
EAN/UPC9781524865603
Dimensions9.1 X 6.1 X 1.7 inches | 1.7 pounds

About the Author

Colby Cedar Smith grew up in the Midwest, and she still dreams of the cold northern woods and the smell of lake water. She holds degrees from Colorado College and Harvard University. She has been a finalist for the The Iowa Review Poetry Award, the New Letters Poetry Prize, and the Colorado Prize for Poetry, and a semifinalist for the 92Y "Discovery" Boston Review Poetry Prize. In 2020, Colby received a NJ Individual Artist Fellowship in Poetry. Her poems have been published in Bellevue Literary Review, Harpur Palate, Mid-American Review, Pleiades, Potomac Review, Saranac Review, and The Iowa Review. Colby lives with her husband and two children in Hopewell, New Jersey, and teaches creative writing at the Arts Council of Princeton. You can read more of her work at www.colbycedarsmith.com.

Reviews

Awards and Recognitions
  • JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD GOLD STANDARD SELECTION
  • AMERICAN BOOKSELLERS SEPT/OCT 2021 KIDS' INDIE NEXT LIST
  • 2021 GOODREADS CHOICE AWARDS POETRY NOMINEE
  • 2022 CYBILS AWARD FINALIST
  • 2022 MICHIGAN NOTABLE BOOK
  • 2022 INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER (IPPY) BOOK AWARDS
  • SILVER MEDAL FOR YA FICTION
  • GOLD MEDAL FOR AUDIOBOOK FICTION
  • 2022 SILVER NAUTILUS AWARD - LYRIC PROSE CATEGORY
  • 2022 KID'S BOOK CHOICE FINALIST - BEST STELLAR STORYTELLER
  • 2022 MIDWEST BOOK AWARD -- FICTION, YA
(Awards)

Earn by promoting books

Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.sign up to affiliate program link
Become an affiliate