Knocking on Windows: A Memoir

Jeannine Atkins' "Knocking on Windows" is a searing memoir-in-verse for young adults, chronicling her journey of healing and self-discovery after experiencing sexual assault during her freshman year of college. The book follows Jeannine as she returns to her childhood home, seeking solace and inspiration in the words of literary figures like Sylvia Plath, Maya Angelou, and Emily Dickinson. Through deeply personal letter-poems, she navigates her trauma, finding that writing becomes her means of survival and a path to a burgeoning career. The narrative also addresses the pervasive misogyny she encounters in her university's writing programs, highlighting her fight to assert her voice against disbelief and minimalization. This powerful and honest book is a beacon of hope, celebrating the resilience of survivors and the transformative power of creative expression. It is ideal for mature young readers ready to engage with complex emotional themes and a lyrical narrative style.

Acclaimed author Jeannine Atkins revisits her past in this “brave, searing” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) 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.