Call Me Gebyanesh

Will I ever belong here? Gebyanesh asked herself that very question on her first day in her new school in her new country. 

Her family had just moved to Jerusalem from Ethiopia, and already she was feeling unsettled by how different everything was. This was only made worse when her teacher could not pronounce her name—and wouldn't really even try. "We will call you Rakhel," the teacher said. That isn't my name, Gebyanesh thought. But she said nothing.

From then on, she was Rakhel at school and Gebyanesh at home. She didn't want to tell her parents about her struggles, but when they saw her Israeli name on some of her schoolwork, she couldn't hold her frustrations back anymore. She would need their help to learn more about her heritage, her name, and how to stand up for herself.

Gebyanesh Addisu teams up with co-author Arlene Schenker to turn her experiences as a young immigrant struggling in a new and strange place into a universal story about the importance of name to identity and being true to yourself and your culture.

Arlene Rosenfeld Schenker grew up in New York City. After receiving a degree in Child Development from Cornell University, she taught primary school in Brooklyn and then attended New York University Law School, receiving a Juris Doctor degree. Following a short career as an attorney, she worked as a divorce mediator and then committed her time to mentoring children, volunteering, community activism, and raising her two children. A book reviewer for the Sydney Taylor Shmooze blog, she is thrilled to debut as a picture book author with Call Me Gebyanesh. She has lived in Rochester, NY for 40 years.

Gebyanesh Addisu immigrated with her family from Ethiopia to Israel when she was a child. Call Me Gebyanesh, her debut book, was based on her experiences in school. She graduated with honors from Hebrew University and is now completing her masters degree at Hebrew University in History (2024). She lives in Jerusalem, Israel.

Chiara Fedele was born in Milan, where she attended art school and received a degree in Illustration at La Scuola del Fumetto. She has worked as a freelance illustrator since 2004 for Italian and international publishers. She uses a combination of mixed traditional media and digital art. She currently lives outside Milan with her family and pets.