LITTLE BOY, I KNOW YOUR NAME
FULL BOOK TITLE: Little Boy, I Know Your Name: A Second-Generation Memoir from Inherited Holocaust Trauma
AUTHOR NAME: Mitchell Raff
PUBLISHER NAME: River Grove
LINK: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Know-Your-Name-Second-Generation/dp/1632997630/
A Testament to Survival and the Shadows of the Past.
In Little Boy, I Know Your Name, Mitchell Raff delivers a haunting and deeply introspective memoir that spans decades of personal and inherited trauma. From the very first pages, it is clear that this is more than just a life story—it is an exploration of the weight of history.
Raff was raised by four Holocaust survivors, each carrying wounds too deep to articulate. His early years were shaped by their suffering, their unspoken grief, and their desperate attempts to shield him from horrors they themselves could not escape. But the past does not simply fade. When his mother—whom he barely remembered—suddenly reappeared and took him from the fragile stability he had known, his life veered into chaos. What followed was a harrowing journey that spanned continents, disrupted identities, and left lasting scars.
One of the most striking aspects of this memoir is its structure. Rather than unfolding in a linear fashion, Raff moves fluidly between past and present, mirroring the way trauma refuses to stay confined to any one moment in time. Flashbacks intertwine with flash-forwards, offering glimpses of what is to come before revealing the painful steps that led there. The effect is both disorienting and immersive, pulling readers into Raff’s fractured reality, where the past is never truly in the past.
His adulthood, though seemingly a world away from his childhood turmoil, is still shaped by the damage done. Addiction, loss, and self-destructive behaviors become recurring cycles, even as he builds a life as a husband and father. Yet amid the darkness, there is a persistent thread of hope. Through therapy, self-reflection, and an unrelenting will to survive, Raff slowly begins to unravel the tangled web of pain he inherited and inflicted.
At its core, Little Boy, I Know Your Name is not just about one man’s struggles—it is about the generational impact of trauma and the ways in which suffering manifests differently for each person who carries its weight. Raff does not offer easy answers or neatly tied resolutions, but he does offer truth—the kind that is raw and deeply affecting. His willingness to confront the most painful corners of his life makes this memoir a powerful and necessary read. This is a story of survival, but more than that, it is a story of reckoning. It is about finding a way to live with the past without being consumed by it, about confronting demons that have been left unnamed for too long. Through his unflinching honesty and evocative storytelling, Raff reminds us that while pain may be inherited, so too is resilience.
Author Bio:
A second-generation Holocaust survivor who grew up in Los Angeles. As a child, he was kidnapped and taken to Israel where he lived for a year and a half before the private investigator hired by his family located him. This led to a lifelong connection with the Jewish homeland, and as a young man, he returned to Israel to serve in the Israeli Defense Force.
A former business owner, Mitchell now resides in Southern California and is the owner and director of an outreach charity, Clothing the Homeless. Little Boy, I Know Your Name: A Second-Generation Memoir from Inherited Holocaust Trauma is his first book, and it is an intensely personal examination of how he survived being the child of survivors.
AUTUMN IN WOLF VALLEY
FULL BOOK TITLE: Autumn in Wolf Valley
AUTHOR NAME: Ed A. Murray
PUBLISHER NAME: Ed A. Murray
LINK: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DZJ59Q18/
Autumn in Wolf Valleyby Ed A. Murray is a haunting, introspective novel that explores grief and the fragile process of healing in the aftermath of tragedy. This is a work of fiction that feels so much like the real thing, a testament to Murray’s immersive style.
The prologue sets the story’s deeply personal tone, introducing Howard Lynch, a man recently bereaved by the death of his wife, Amber. What begins as a routine assignment to write an anniversary article on a forgotten flood tragedy slowly morphs into a more profound and unsettling journey—one of rediscovery and confronting the painful remnants of a life shattered.
Murray’s writing has a literary quality that gives Autumn in Wolf Valley a Southern Gothic feel. The story smoothly shifts from a journalistic assignment to a personal journey through grief, making Howard’s emotional struggles feel natural and compelling. What sets the novel apart is how it blends Howard’s personal loss with the valley’s history of flooding, showing the connection between individual and collective trauma. As he uncovers the town’s past, he also begins to make sense of his own pain. His realization that Amber once rescued their dog, Coby, from the same farm as another stray he later encounters highlights the novel’s themes of fate and connection. These discoveries unfold gradually, just as Howard pieces together both the town’s history and his own sense of self.
The conclusion of Autumn in Wolf Valley brings Howard’s journey to a quiet but powerful close. As he walks through the woods with Coby and rebuilds his home, he clings to the familiar in a world forever changed. His determination to restore his house isn’t just about reclaiming a space—it’s about finding stability after loss. As the town slowly recovers, so does Howard. The floodwaters may have receded, but their impact lingers, much like the grief he carries. Yet, in the small moments of survival—the rescued books in his attic and Coby’s steady companionship—he finds a path forward.
Tender and introspective, Autumn in Wolf Valley explores the quiet strength it takes to move forward—reminding us that healing lies not in forgetting, but in carrying memory with grace.
Author Bio:
Ed A. Murray is an author, ghostwriter, business leader and University of Michigan alumnus. Autumn in Wolf Valley (2025) is his fourth book, all of which are set at least partially in his home state of Michigan, where he lives with his wife, two daughters and their mini Australian shepherd.
