A detailed look at a complex, sometimes-harrowing adoption experience.
A woman chronicles her and her husband’s journey to adopt a child in China.
Reicher (Reaching God’s Perfection, 2014), a former U.S. Marine and massage therapist, writes that she always wanted to have a family, but after a series of physical ailments (including removal of a gland following an infection), she and her husband, Norm, realized that they couldn’t naturally conceive. Reicher felt that she was “born with such an urge to rescue and be responsible,” and she and her husband decided to adopt a Chinese child. The pair traveled to Changsha, the province where their baby was born and where they would have to live for five days before the adoption could be finalized. Reicher describes her time in China in detail, including meeting her translator, Samuel, who guided her through the adoption process and whose “kindness, willingness, understanding and patience was unfathomable.” The couple finally met their new baby, whom they named Sarah QiQi. Sarah turned out to be very ill when Reicher and her husband first encounter her, so they oversaw her medical care at the orphanage. As Reicher told her family, “I could not turn down a baby. That would be ridiculous,” and she held true to that sentiment, diligently nursing her baby back to health. Overall, this is not a story that delves into the personalities of the people involved; indeed, readers don’t learn very much about either Reicher or her spouse. Rather, it’s centered on the nuts and bolts of a specific adoption, and, as such, it’s an illuminating look at an adoption process abroad. As a result, the narration consists mostly of summary, with some occasional dialogue sprinkled in, which gives the story a fast pace. At the same time, though, it often results in a lack of atmospheric and emotional description.
A detailed look at a complex, sometimes-harrowing adoption experience.Pub Date: Jan. 30, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5425-9908-5
Page Count: 194
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The heartbreaking story of an emotionally battered child delivered with captivating candor and grace.
The former iCarly star reflects on her difficult childhood.
In her debut memoir, titled after her 2020 one-woman show, singer and actor McCurdy (b. 1992) reveals the raw details of what she describes as years of emotional abuse at the hands of her demanding, emotionally unstable stage mom, Debra. Born in Los Angeles, the author, along with three older brothers, grew up in a home controlled by her mother. When McCurdy was 3, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Though she initially survived, the disease’s recurrence would ultimately take her life when the author was 21. McCurdy candidly reconstructs those in-between years, showing how “my mom emotionally, mentally, and physically abused me in ways that will forever impact me.” Insistent on molding her only daughter into “Mommy’s little actress,” Debra shuffled her to auditions beginning at age 6. As she matured and starting booking acting gigs, McCurdy remained “desperate to impress Mom,” while Debra became increasingly obsessive about her daughter’s physical appearance. She tinted her daughter’s eyelashes, whitened her teeth, enforced a tightly monitored regimen of “calorie restriction,” and performed regular genital exams on her as a teenager. Eventually, the author grew understandably resentful and tried to distance herself from her mother. As a young celebrity, however, McCurdy became vulnerable to eating disorders, alcohol addiction, self-loathing, and unstable relationships. Throughout the book, she honestly portrays Debra’s cruel perfectionist personality and abusive behavior patterns, showing a woman who could get enraged by everything from crooked eyeliner to spilled milk. At the same time, McCurdy exhibits compassion for her deeply flawed mother. Late in the book, she shares a crushing secret her father revealed to her as an adult. While McCurdy didn’t emerge from her childhood unscathed, she’s managed to spin her harrowing experience into a sold-out stage act and achieve a form of catharsis that puts her mind, body, and acting career at peace.
The heartbreaking story of an emotionally battered child delivered with captivating candor and grace.Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-982185-82-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
An intriguing approach to identifying and relating to one’s emotions.
An analysis of our emotions and the skills required to understand them.
We all have emotions, but how many of us have the vocabulary to accurately describe our experiences or to understand how our emotions affect the way we act? In this guide to help readers with their emotions, Brackett, the founding director of Yale University’s Center for Emotional Intelligence, presents a five-step method he calls R.U.L.E.R.: We need to recognize our emotions, understand what has caused them, be able to label them with precise terms and descriptions, know how to safely and effectively express them, and be able to regulate them in productive ways. The author walks readers through each step and provides an intriguing tool to use to help identify a specific emotion. Brackett introduces a four-square grid called a Mood Meter, which allows one to define where an emotion falls based on pleasantness and energy. He also uses four colors for each quadrant: yellow for high pleasantness and high energy, red for low pleasantness and high energy, green for high pleasantness and low energy, and blue for low pleasantness and low energy. The idea is to identify where an emotion lies in this grid in order to put the R.U.L.E.R. method to good use. The author’s research is wide-ranging, and his interweaving of his personal story with the data helps make the book less academic and more accessible to general readers. It’s particularly useful for parents and teachers who want to help children learn to handle difficult emotions so that they can thrive rather than be overwhelmed by them. The author’s system will also find use in the workplace. “Emotions are the most powerful force inside the workplace—as they are in every human endeavor,” writes Brackett. “They influence everything from leadership effectiveness to building and maintaining complex relationships, from innovation to customer relations.”
An intriguing approach to identifying and relating to one’s emotions.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-21284-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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