An honest and insightful account of living with Type 1 diabetes.
A woman with Type 1 diabetes describes living with the condition and offers advice to others in Novak’s memoir.
The author was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 7. She inherited the condition from her father, who was diagnosed with the disease when insulin treatment was relatively new. Fiercely independent, he chose not to share with others that he had the condition. Novak also felt compelled to keep her illness a secret outside of the family. As the author grew older, the hormonal swings of puberty made it more difficult to maintain stable blood sugar; this complication was exacerbated when Novak began drinking alcohol at college and neglected her blood sugar monitoring. Even more serious complications arose when she later became pregnant, and in later life, she suffered several strokes and seizures. “Diabetes is simply a fact of life for me,” states Novak. Her approach to writing is equally clear and matter-of-fact, as when she takes issue with the term “bad diabetic,” referring to those with the condition who break lifestyle “rules”: “that way of thinking really isn’t fair, and it doesn’t help people move forward with their lives in healthy and productive ways.” Novak’s exploration of how having diabetes has shaped her identity proves both illuminating and empowering, emphasizing positive character traits she's developed in response to the disease, which has taught her “how to be strong, adaptable, and resilient. I think it has helped me develop empathy for people in difficult circumstances.” Useful fact boxes highlighting subjects such as the symptoms of low blood sugar make it easy for the reader to glean important information. Novak describes some events, such as her vacations, in digressive detail, such as when she recalls the baboons who liked to break into camp and steal beer and Snickers bars out of the fridge. While this provides levity, it also dilutes the narrative’s focus on living with the condition. Still, this is a sharply written memoir that will inform and inspire other sufferers.
An honest and insightful account of living with Type 1 diabetes.Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2023
ISBN: 9781633310803
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Disruption Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
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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