My Time Will Come

A Memoir of Crime, Punishment, Hope, and Redemption

By: Ian Manuel, Bryan Stevenson - introduction

Narrated by: Ian Manuel

“My story has been told many times and by highly regarded experts in their fields—judges, prosecutors, juvenile probation officers, sociologists, journalists. But I would like to try to tell it to you myself. I have reason to believe the experts may be wrong about me. You see, today, thirty years later, I am neither in prison nor dead.” —from My Time Will Come

The United States is the only country in the world that sentences thirteen- and fourteen-year-old offenders, mostly youth of color, to life in prison without parole, regardless of the scientifically proven singularities of the developing adolescent brain—a heinous wrinkle in the scandal of mass incarceration. In 1991, Ian Manuel, then fourteen, was sentenced to life without parole for a non-homicide crime. In a botched mugging attempt with some older boys, he shot Debbie Baigrie, a young white mother of two, in the face. But as Bryan Stevenson has insisted, none of us should be judged only by the worst thing we have ever done.

Capturing the fullness of his humanity, here is Manuel’s powerful testimony of growing up homeless in Central Park Village in Tampa, Florida—a neighborhood riddled with poverty, gang violence, and drug abuse—and of his efforts to rise above his circumstances, only to find himself, partly through his own actions, imprisoned for two-thirds of his life, eighteen years of which were spent in solitary confinement. Here is the at once wrenching and inspiring story of how he endured the savagery of the United States prison system and of how his victim, an extraordinary woman, forgave him and bravely advocated for his freedom, which was achieved by a crusade on the part of the Equal Justice Initiative to address the barbarism of our judicial system and to bring about “just mercy.”

Full of unexpected twists and turns as it describes a struggle to attain the glory of redemption, My Time Will Come is a paean to the capacity of the human will to transcend adversity through determination and art; in Ian Manuel’s case, through his dedication to writing poetry.


Cover design by Linda Huang, based on an original image by Glenn Paul for the Equal Justice Initiative

Critic reviews

“His story is heartbreaking and hopeful and needs to be told.”
—Booklist

“This is a stunner.”
—Publishers Weekly [starred review]

"Manuel’s account is both heart-wrenching and uplifting.... Manuel vividly captures the terror of an adolescent thrust into adult incarceration and the added trauma of solitary confinement. He portrays the prison bureaucracy as arbitrary in its amplification of punitive measures, including routine beatings and tear-gassings... A disturbing, vital, necessary eyewitness addition to debates about the mass incarceration epidemic in the U.S."
—Kirkus Reviews

a must read

This is a fantastic book. It is well written, well narrated and a story you won't soon forget. This book taught me a lot.

A well written and inspiring reading.

I read this book with tissues handy, with the realization that my difficulties are far less dramatic and cruel that many of those unjustly punished that remain in jail. Mr. Manuel, please receive my admiration.

Thoroughly Enjoyed

Ian does a great job telling his story. I especially loved hearing his poems.

Spellbinding

Ian Manuel’s circumstances from age 15 onwards must be felt by every human being. How he handled his harsh incarceration makes for a compelling true life story. He touched my soul to its core.

Ian’s endurance during his time in prison.

He was treated like an animal by his enemies but also as a human being by his loved ones.