Rating: 
Summary: A universal story "writ large"
Review: "Not Even My Name" is an extraordinarily powerful book that forced me to understand the Pontic, Assyrian, and Armenian genocides it describes in individual, human terms. After all, it's much easier to distance oneself from a holocaust than from the individuals who are its victims. In addition, the book has provided me with an important analog to the history of my own family, Greek Jews, many of whom suffered their own holocaust. I intend to read this book with one of my classes, not only because it is a fine piece of literature, but also because it will remind us in a very compelling way how foolish it is to try to prove that one holocaust was bigger or more important than another. We all suffer from the "It's my dead rat" syndrome, a foolishness this book exposes fearlessly. Equally important, the structure of the book, framed by a double odyssey and complex exodus, provides the experiences of the author, Thea Halo, and her mother, Sano, nee Themia, with just the right context to make the journey very worthwhile for the reader as well as for its two main characters. Halo's descriptions are beautifully drawn, and her inferences are understated, which is what makes them so powerful. This is a universal story "writ large" and passionately. It took me almost no time to see that it is also my story, placed in a different context, but one that I could recognize easily, in small ways as well as large. How fascinating, for instance, to discover that the Pontic Christians celebrated Easter with egg-breaking contests almost identical to the Greek-Jewish tradition during the Passover Seders. The book is extremely well written and incredibly moving. I broke down and wept quite often as it drew me into the lives, the joys and tragedies, the incredible bravery of people we shamefully know almost nothing about; yet the cause of my tears was never the result of mere sentimentality or sensationalism. The bare facts themselves, powerfully recounted, are enough to make any reader weep for "Man's inhumanity to man," even as Sano, a character with her own imperfections, whose very name has been obliterated, triumphs over adversity, little by little; and reminds us that we can overcome even senseless acts of mass violence and our own dark side by following the example she sets of unending kindnesses and care for the "Family of People."
Rating:
Summary: A searing story, well written
Review: A courageous story of a loving daughter writing the memoirs of her mother's early tragic life in Turkey, under the leadership of Gamel Ataturk. ...BR> What is so amazing about this sad story, is that Thea Halo does not ask for pity for her mother. She just tells it the way her mother told it to her, almost like a mother handing down a valued recipe. Ms. Halo described talking to a young Turkish boy of 14, comparing modern Turks living in Bulgaria who were expelled, to what the Turkish Government did to the Greeks and Armenian Nationals in the past..."without emotion---more with the objectivity of a journalist..." The incredulous young boy denied it and exclaimed that it never happened. Ms. Halo answered, "It did happen. They just didn't teach you about it in school. But it's important that you know your country's history." To me, this story could be about any country's inhumanity to humans. What is important is that it is told. Thea Halo does it intelligently and with sensitivity. A beautiful, well-written book. I strongly urge everyone to read it. You won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: Heartwrenching
Review: This book is going on my list as one of my favorites. Theas descriptions of the suffering of her mother and family touched me deeply. After losing her family Sano went on to live life to the fullest, devoting herself to her children and husband. Sano is a remarkable woman and a real inspiration.
Rating:
Summary: What a wonderful read!
Review: This incredible story is worthy of the shelf of any serious library. How moving it was to read about Thea embarking on a journey with her Mom to trace her roots back to that mysterious land, Asia Minor. Her superb knowledge of the land of her ancestors and its peoples is astounding. She makes it strikingly and shockingly clear why the oppressive Turkish government eliminated so many of her ancestors. The reader is also given a vivid picture of her journey as she describes many Greek customs, dishes, and clothing. This is a wonderful story, free of any partisanship, honoring her mother's tragic experiences. The book is invaluable for those who are not very familiar with the region or its history. What an interesting and turbulent time period has been captured through a child's eyes. It is written with so much feeling and honesty. That such experience has been conveyed through a book is a great tribute to the author and her mother.
Rating:
Summary: WOW! God Bless Themia(SANO) and her courage to go on
Review: This book is incredible. Themia's life was filled with beauty and surrounded by love and happiness. Her beautiful and innocent life was drastically snatched from her at the tender age of 9. Thrust into exile by a military regime hell bent on cleansing Asia Minor of its indigenous Christian population. A race of people who had survived 2,000 years of wars and oppression could not survive the Butchery of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The loss of her entire family during the Genocide did not stop Themia from continuing. She lived only by the grace of God and raised 10 beautiful children....In the U.S. free from persecution from the Turkish government. This book is of the same caliber as the Dairy of Anne Frank. It should be required reading when teaching the history of the 20th century. Especially since the events that Themia suffered thru were the impetus for Hitler's campaign of Genocide. This is a very precious book and its significance is beyond comprehension. God has blessed us by protecting little Themia (SANO) and sharing with us her life story.
Rating:
Summary: A Book of Honor
Review: My name is Kyriaki and I am a Greek American living in Manhattan. "Not Even My Name" touched my heart, my mind, and my soul. I couldn't put the book down!!! I wanted to finish it so I could know all that happened but when I finally finished it I was devastated that there was no more to read!!! This book made me appreciate even more what I have. It made me appreciate even more my own parents and grandparents who lived during wartime Greece - WWII and the Civil War that followed. Most importantly this book honors those who lost their lives and those who experienced the tragedies in Asia Minor after WWI. Thea Halo has done a great honor to them!!! We cannot forget the past for if we do it is as though it has never happened.
Rating:
Summary: An important story
Review: I am so grateful to author Thea Halo for putting down in words the tragedy that her mother endured as a young child in Asia Minor. My grandmother's own childhood was shattered by similar events, when she fled from the Ottoman Army as they burned her home town to the ground. I'd listened to her horrific tales of survival my whole life countered with the denial of the Turkish government. When genocide is 'swept under the carpet', it's just a matter of time before the same tragic history repeats itself.
Now Ms. Halo has enabled the reader to truly grasp the scale of this tragedy by interspersing Themia's sad personal story with her very thorough research.
I found this book to be haunting, yet inspiring.
Rating:
Summary: More than a piece of history, it is an inspiration.
Review: A little girl's life is shattered when an evil of grand scale took place. One of the first massacres of the century; a holocaust denied by the perpetrators even today. Sano was caught in that whirlpool of madness that took everything away from her. Her family, her childhood, her land and way of life, even her name. Hardship, loneliness and unkind people tormented a child that should be living the carefree life among her family. For a long time, all she had on this earth was the clothes she was wearing and her will to survive in an cruel and strange world. Something that should be an inspiration to us all. Now stop for a moment and consider that she was one of the lucky ones for she lived to tell her story.
The book can be divided into two parts, the survival in the old country and the new life in America. Even when her husband appeared and took her to America, it was still not a walk in the park. Raising a large family with little money through the depression was a difficult time not unknown to many American people. At times I wished this book was in the fiction section because knowing that all this really happened, I often felt a lump coming to my throat. When you think that life is unkind to you, please, read this book and understand how difficult it can really be. But it is not simply an account of murder and hardship. You will be inspired by Sano's struggle to survive and her will to be someone in this world.
Rating: 
Summary: Genocide is not a happy subject, but...
Review: Almost unknown in the all-too-common annals of the tragic history of genocide is the annihilation of Greeks who had lived for 3000 years in the mountains near the Black Sea. After WWI, the entire population of one village, including 10yo Sano Halo, was forced on a one-year death march to Syria. Sano became separated from her family and even lost her name when she was purchased by a man three times her age. Eventually she and the man, by then a married couple, moved to NY, and there Sano raised 10 children, including the author.
A tale of resilience and grace, lacking the anger and regret so often found in such survivor stories.
Rating: 
Summary: Quite a biased book..
Review: This material in front of me is quite biased.There are no historical data, proofs but rather "memories"..It is quite a read for its story line..But not its "facts".Just four question is enough: Why were the Greek soldiers on the soils of Turkey after World War I had finished? What was their their purpose in trying to invade Asia Minor? Can it be Megali Idea? And what can be the consequences if you attack to someone's homeland?
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