My Time Will Come ★★★★★

My Time Will Come: A Memoir of Crime, Punishment, Hope, and Redemption (Click Here To Buy)

★★★★★

My Time Will Come: A Memoir of Crime, Punishment, Hope, and Redemption by Ian Manuel is a memoir about a 13 year old sentenced to life in prison.

I read this as an audiobook checked out from the library and read by the author.

When Ian Manuel was just 13, he shot a woman in the face while trying to rob her in Florida with some of his friends. After being tricked into admitting to the crime, he was sentenced to life in prison. Over the course of the next 26 years, Ian grew up behind bars. Because he was a child in an adult prison, much of his sentence was spent in solitary confinement. Instead of letting this consume him, Ian turned to poetry, which he interlaces throughout the book. Finally, after the Equal Justice Initiative fought to get the laws changed for minors sentenced to life, Ian was able to have his sentence reduced and eventually be released.

This is a powerful story and I feel blessed that Ian Manuel shared his experiences with the world - I especially enjoyed his poetry. We cannot let these stories go unheard and we need to continue to fight to reduce the number of children being sentenced to adult prisons - it’s absurd. My recommendation is you look up the Equal Justice Initiative and if you have a few extra dollars, donate it to them, they are doing amazing work.

Bonus: Brian Stevenson wrote and read the introduction.

If you liked My Time Will Come, I also recommend The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton, A Knock At Midnight by Brittany Barnett, Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson, and The Autobiography of Gucci Mane by Gucci Mane.

Happy reading,

Ms.Bjork