Let Me Stand Alone: The Journals of Rachel Corrie

by Rachel Corrie

Overview

"A testament to how deeply we need the power and vision and energy of young women to transform the world."--Eve Ensler

Rachel Corrie's determination to make a better, more peaceful world took her from Olympia, Washington, to the Middle East, where she died in 2003 as she tried to block the demolition of a Palestinian family's home in the Gaza Strip. A twenty-three-year-old American activist, Corrie also possessed a striking gift for poetry, writing, and drawing. Let Me Stand Alone, a selection of her journals, letters, and drawings as chosen by her family, reveals her story in her own hand, from her precocious reflections as a young girl to her final emails. Corrie's words--whether writing about the looming issues of our time or the ordinary angst of an American teen--bring to life all that it means to come of age: a dawning sense of self, a thirst for one's own ideals, and an evolving connection to others, near and far.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393285208
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/30/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	803,743
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Rachel Corrie was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement who was crushed to death by an Israeli Defence Forces bulldozer during an attempt to protect a Palestinian home in the Gaza Strip.

Editorial Reviews

On March 16th, 2003, young American peace activist Rachel Corrie was killed while attempting to stop an armored bulldozer operated by an Israeli soldier near the Egyptian border. Although the exact circumstances remain intensely controversial, no one disputes that the 23-year-old woman was acting as a human shield to protect a Palestinian family home that she believed to be threatened with imminent destruction. Let Me Stand Alone contains selections from Rachel's journals and emails, enhanced by annotations and reflections by her family. A gripping memoir by a youthful idealist.

In 2003, while attempting to block the demolition of a Palestinian family's home in the Gaza Strip, 23-year-old American Rachel Corrie was killed by an armored Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer operated by a member of the Israel Defense Forces. This collection of her journal entries opens a window on the maturation of a young woman seeking to make the world a better place through social activism. The essays, poetry and drawings reveal Corrie going through the routine pangs of growing up, the development of her social consciousness and her love of language. Two events broadened Corrie's perspective beyond her childhood home of Olympia, Wash. A 1995 student exchange trip to Russia and the repercussions of 9/11 were formative events accelerating her desire to help those she felt were harmed by U. S foreign policy. Following Corrie's death, the British newspaper the Guardian published her e-mail accounts of what she'd witnessed in Gaza. This collection of essays, while uneven, contains thought-provoking ideas. (Apr.)

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Publishers Weekly

"[Corrie's] honest, sometimes scathing, renditions of the dark passages and fierce attachments of adolescence and young womanhood in the 1990s possess authenticity and power."

Adrienne Rich

Narrator Tavia Gilbert captures every facet of Rachel Corrie's journey from middle school in Olympia, Washington, to her death at 23 beneath a bulldozer blade in Palestine. Rachel's parents released this collection of their daughter's poems and journal entries to fulfill her wish to be a published author and to let the world know her for more than her tragic death. The family's poignant introduction is movingly presented in Edward Asner's deep tones and measured delivery. From the adolescent's wonder at life to the young adult's tears of anger and frustration at the world's injustices, Gilbert's talented shadings of tone and intensity convey all the passion and talent of this remarkable young woman. Rachel gives us herself through her words; Tavia Gilbert gives us her voice. M.O.B. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2013 - AudioFile