A thought-provoking coming-of-age story.
A memoir of struggle in the city and discovering one’s purpose in life.
In this debut, educator Carmichael tells the story of his early years in an underserved community in Scarborough, Ontario, and of a trans-Canada bike ride he undertook in 2017 to raise money for youth programs. The book moves back and forth between two timelines, one beginning during Carmichael’s childhood in 2003 and the other during his bicycle trek, accompanied by a small group of supporters. The author describes growing up as the child of Guyanese immigrants in a community with a heavy police presence, and as he moves into adolescence, he recounts his growing awareness of how systemic racism affected every aspect of his life. Carmichael went away to college, where he earned a teaching degree, but he was an autodidact at heart, and it’s as a self-taught computer programmer that he discovered his passion; he’s the creator of an augmented-reality app that serves as a companion to the book (not reviewed). The author also found inspiration in Black Canadian and American writers and thinkers, particularly the late musician Nipsey Hussle, whose life he writes about in detail. Carmichael’s return to his hometown as an adult led to new insights about the nature of community and spurred him to plan his fundraising ride, which offers further learning opportunities as he visits regions that are totally different from urban Ontario. Carmichael has an offbeat and authentic voice that delivers emotion without a sense of melodrama and provides an intimate look into a tough childhood (“In human years I was seven; in block years I was 21”). He’s a thoughtful writer who does a fine job detailing his personal growth and his connections to North American Black communities. His stories are funny at times, as when he compares his adolescent bike-rental business to the mainstream, corporate bike-sharing programs of today, and poignant at others, as when he explains how crucial the rental income was to him. Overall, this is an intellectually and emotionally satisfying work and a meaningful and entertaining remembrance.
A thought-provoking coming-of-age story.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-7776840-0-6
Page Count: 291
Publisher: Synergy Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The book begins in Sri Lanka with the tsunami of 2004—a horror the author saw firsthand, and the aftermath of which he...
The latest from French writer/filmmaker Carrère (My Life as a Russian Novel, 2010, etc.) is an awkward but intermittently touching hybrid of novel and autobiography.
The book begins in Sri Lanka with the tsunami of 2004—a horror the author saw firsthand, and the aftermath of which he describes powerfully. Carrère and his partner, Hélène, then return to Paris—and do so with a mutual devotion that's been renewed and deepened by all they've witnessed. Back in France, Hélène's sister Juliette, a magistrate and mother of three small daughters, has suffered a recurrence of the cancer that crippled her in adolescence. After her death, Carrère decides to write an oblique tribute and an investigation into the ravages of grief. He focuses first on Juliette's colleague and intimate friend Étienne, himself an amputee and survivor of childhood cancer, and a man in whose talkativeness and strength Carrère sees parallels to himself ("He liked to talk about himself. It's my way, he said, of talking to and about others, and he remarked astutely that it was my way, too”). Étienne is a perceptive, dignified person and a loyal, loving friend, and Carrère's portrait of him—including an unexpectedly fascinating foray into Étienne and Juliette's chief professional accomplishment, which was to tap the new European courts for help in overturning longtime French precedents that advantaged credit-card companies over small borrowers—is impressive. Less successful is Carrère's account of Juliette's widower, Patrice, an unworldly cartoonist whom he admires for his fortitude but seems to consider something of a simpleton. Now and again, especially in the Étienne sections, Carrère's meditations pay off in fresh, pungent insights, and his account of Juliette's last days and of the aftermath (especially for her daughters) is quietly harrowing.Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9261-5
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Metropolitan/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 10, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011
Spears’ vulnerability shines through as she describes her painful journey from vulnerable girl to empowered woman.
A heartfelt memoir from the pop superstar.
Spears grew up with an alcoholic father, an exacting mother, and a fear of disappointing them both. She also displayed a natural talent for singing and dancing and a strong work ethic. Spears is grateful for the adult professionals who helped her get her start, but the same can’t be said of her peers. When she met Justin Timberlake, also a Mouseketeer on the Disney Channel’s updated Mickey Mouse Club, the two formed an instant bond. Spears describes her teenage feelings for Timberlake as “so in love with him it was pathetic,” and she’s clearly angry about the rumors and breakup that followed. This tumultuous period haunted her for years. Out of many candidates for villains of the book, Timberlake included, perhaps the worst are the careless journalists of the late 1990s and early 2000s, who indulged Timberlake while vilifying Spears. The cycle repeated for years, taking its toll on her mental health. Spears gave birth to sons Sean Preston and Jayden James within two years, and she describes the difficulties they all faced living in the spotlight. The author writes passionately about how custody of her boys and visits with them were held over her head, and she recounts how they were used to coerce her to make decisions that weren’t always in her best interest. As many readers know, conservancy followed, and for 13 years, she toured, held a residency in Las Vegas, and performed—all while supposedly unable to take care of herself, an irony not lost on her. Overall, the book is cathartic, though readers who followed her 2021 trial won’t find many revelations, and many of the other newsworthy items have been widely covered in the run-up to the book’s release.
Spears’ vulnerability shines through as she describes her painful journey from vulnerable girl to empowered woman.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781668009048
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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