Join us on Thursday, August 7 at 7 PM as Jeannine Atkins talks about her memoir, 
Knocking on Windows.
About the Book
Acclaimed author Jeannine Atkins revisits her past in this brave and powerful memoir-in-verse about memory, healing, and finding her voice as a writer, perfect for fans of Amber Smith and 
Speak
.
Night darkens the window to mirror.
I’m back in my old bedroom.
Six weeks after the start of her freshman year of college, Jeannine Atkins finds herself back in her childhood bedroom after an unimaginable trauma. Now home in Massachusetts, she’s struggling to reclaim her life and her voice. Seeking comfort in the words of women, she turns to the lives and stories of Sylvia Plath, Maya Angelou, and Emily Dickinson. Through raw and poignant letter-poems addressed to these literary giants, Jeannine finds that the process of writing and reflecting has become not only a means of survival but the catalyst for a burgeoning writing career.
Inspired and ready to move forward, she enrolls in her state university, where she feeds her growing passion for writing in fiction seminars. But she finds that she’s unable to escape the pervasive misogyny of her classmates and professors, who challenge her to assert her own voice against a backdrop of disbelief and minimalization. This time, though, Jeannine is not willing to go down without a fight.
A searingly honest memoir told through gorgeous verse, 
Knocking on Windows
 stands as a beacon of hope and a celebration of the enduring spirit of survivors of sexual assault—and of writers.
About the Author
Jeannine Atkins is best known for her 
Girls Who Loved the Earth
 series, including 
Hidden Powers: Lise Meitner’s Call to Science
, which won a Massachusetts Book Award Honor, and 
Green Promises: Girls Who Loved the Earth
, published earlier this year. 
Knocking on Windows: A Memoir
 explores how Jeannine became a writer while recovering from a rape when she was eighteen. She chronicles silences, setbacks, and the support of friends, therapists, and faculty in the Five College area and includes letter poems to writers who inspired her, including Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, and Maya Angelou. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly called 
Knocking on Windows
 “a brave, searing autobiography.” Kirkus Reviews states, “An author known for highlighting courageous women shows herself to be among them.”
Information Source: Odyssey Bookshop | eventbrite

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