Let Me Stand Alone: The Journals of Rachel Corrie

One young woman's voice — intense and poetic — grapples with universal ideas as it chronicles a personal journey cut short.

How do we find our way in the world? How do our actions affect others? What do we owe the rest of humanity? These are the timeless questions so eloquently posed by Rachel Corrie, a young American activist killed on March 16, 2003, as she tried to block the demolition of a Palestinian family's home in the Gaza Strip. She was twenty-three years old.

Let Me Stand Alone reveals Corrie's striking gifts as a poet and writer while telling her story in her own words, from her earliest reflections to her final e-mails. Her writing brings 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. Corrie writes about the looming issues of her time as well as the ordinary angst of an American teen, all with breathtaking passion, compassion, insight, and humor. Her writing reverberates with conviction and echoes her long-held belief in the oneness of humanity: We have got to understand that they dream our dreams, and we dream theirs.

"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." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

One young woman's voice--intense and poetic--grapples with universal ideas as it chronicles a personal journey cut short.

"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.

Rachel Corrie was born in 1979 into a middle-class family in Olympia, Washington. She became politically active on what she called "anti-war/global justice issues," which homed in on US support for Israel against the Palestinians.