KIRKUS REVIEW
Advice for teens is gleaned from the life of 16-year-old UCB Comedy performer Karp in this memoir.
Beginning with a Q-and-A session between Karp and Broad City actress Ilana Glazer, this offering goes on to discuss everything from white, Jewish Karp’s embrace of humor and feminism to her explanation of FOMO, or “fear of missing out,” which she feels is experienced by young people in regard to their use of social media and the difficulty many have in disconnecting themselves from it. She also parses bullying, pointing out that it’s rarely as clear-cut as is portrayed in popular culture, and frankly discusses sex education, advocating for the inclusion of much more instruction around rape. She displays a self-aware understanding both that some of her worries are problems of privilege but also that they are unfairly dismissed by some adults as teen angst. Teens will appreciate and easily identify with this multilayered experience of cultural power even if at times the writing feels a bit clichéd, as when she exhorts her readers to “Live your life the way you want to be living it” or to “Be the change.” Yet overwhelmingly, Karp’s conversational narrative is positive, direct, and embedded with a confidence that will appeal to like-minded youth.
A thoughtful blend of encouragement and entertaining personal stories. (Memoir. 12-18)
