by Jennifer L. Hunt ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 18, 2019
An inspiring tale that’s told with honesty and love.
Awards & Accolades
Our Verdict
GET IT
A debut author’s memoir unpacks her emotional baggage from having been raised in a family of drug users and abusers.
Born in 1971, Hunt grew up in and around California’s Central Valley, during which she gained plenty of experience with marijuana: “I was the (self-appointed) joint roller of my family. I couldn’t yet tie my shoes, but I could roll you a doobie and/or fix you up a ‘cocktail’ cigarette.” As a child, she was permitted to smoke with her parents and siblings, she says, but she did so only intermittently. In fifth grade, Hunt made a decision: She would no longer use drugs, even though marijuana remained a big part of her family members’ lives. Her two older sisters, she says, were taking amphetamine pills with their mother in their early teens. One began using methamphetamine at 14, and eventually began manufacturing it. The author, the youngest of her mother’s four children, didn’t learn that she had a different father than her siblings until she was 14. Years later, she contacted him and discovered that she had two more half sisters, with whom she established relationships. The number of people in this narrative can be dizzying, and include half siblings, stepfathers, stepsiblings, stepgrandparents, nieces, and family friends; several of the latter turn out to be drug dealers. As a result, readers are likely to have difficulty keeping them all straight. Still, the trajectory of Hunt’s life, despite a teenage pregnancy and an abusive, dangerous relationship with the father of her two sons, remained remarkably on track. Despite stumbles and backslides, she turned to therapy, not drugs, to help her work toward a successful career as a court stenographer and provide a safe home for her children. In well-crafted, often poignant, prose, she offers a jaw-dropping, insider’s view of substance abuse throughout three generations. This alternately disturbing and uplifting memoir suffers from some repetition and some confusing chronology, but ultimately, it’s a testament to Hunt’s resilience in the face of unfavorable odds. Black-and-white family photos add satisfying context to her account of her later years.
An inspiring tale that’s told with honesty and love.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-692-04051-5
Page Count: 300
Publisher: Smoke Rings Media LLC
Review Posted Online: Sept. 4, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Share your opinion of this book
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
Share your opinion of this book
More by E.T.A. Hoffmann
BOOK REVIEW
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson
BOOK REVIEW
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis
by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
Share your opinion of this book
More by Ludwig Bemelmans
BOOK REVIEW
developed by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
BOOK REVIEW
by Ludwig Bemelmans ; illustrated by Steven Salerno
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.