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wishfulfillment's review against another edition
1.0
DNF. It was not pulling me in enough to keep reading. Also, the therapist is HORRIBLE at the beginning.
simplyselicia's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked listening to this book so much, and it's definitely one that made me wonder at various times if we lived the same life. I find myself grateful to Morgan Parker for fictionalizing her own experience for this because I really felt a mutual understanding and the honesty throughout. However, I do worry that those that might not have that or can't put themselves in that place might have a hard time liking the characters or the themes because there is a feeling of lack of structure and disconnect to "the way teenagers talk/behave". It just might not click for everyone and that's okay!
So much of my life experience with trauma, "token black", self discovery, depression, and so on has just made my existence often feel like it has no structure and disconnect though so I fit right in! For anyone out there that's not afraid to cast themselves in their own production to explore themselves even if it's uncomfortable sometimes could potentially find something healing in this book.
So much of my life experience with trauma, "token black", self discovery, depression, and so on has just made my existence often feel like it has no structure and disconnect though so I fit right in! For anyone out there that's not afraid to cast themselves in their own production to explore themselves even if it's uncomfortable sometimes could potentially find something healing in this book.
readmoreyall's review
4.0
Funny, nostalgic, emotional , relevant. I know so many Teens that news this book! I’m a 30 year old white teacher but I still connected to the main characters struggles with feeling like she doesn’t fit, her depression, and her friendships.
roses_are_rosa's review against another edition
3.25
I find this very hard to review. The themes that were explored were very interesting and I know it’s mostly based on the author‘s own story, but I still felt very lukewarm about it.
gcrkl's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jwinchell's review
4.0
This is an important novel about being one of the only black kids in a white, conservative Christian California suburb. Morgan, much like the author's real life experiences, is struggling with newly diagnosed anxiety and depression at age 17. She was suicidal the summer before, 2008, and the book takes place the fall that Obama was elected. So there is a thread of "hope" throughout the novel, taking fledgling steps toward being ok when existential threats abound. There's an author's note at the end, in which Parker thanks her real life friends for inspiring this book and in which she reaches out across her 12 years since high school to recount how writing this book is her destiny.
I was puzzled by this book's rating by School Library Journal as 8th grade and up. It has been my impression that books with a substantial amount of drinking, pot, smoking, and some references to sexual acts would be rated 9th grade and up. I learned that maybe SLJ considers the scope of a novel, this one including the author's note and the uniqueness of this voice, when it rates what is appropriate at the middle school level. As my colleague says, we have students who are almost 15 and are on their way to high school.
I was puzzled by this book's rating by School Library Journal as 8th grade and up. It has been my impression that books with a substantial amount of drinking, pot, smoking, and some references to sexual acts would be rated 9th grade and up. I learned that maybe SLJ considers the scope of a novel, this one including the author's note and the uniqueness of this voice, when it rates what is appropriate at the middle school level. As my colleague says, we have students who are almost 15 and are on their way to high school.
aoosterwyk's review
4.0
Both eye-opening and familiar, this story brought me back to what it was like to be in high school and struggling to find acceptance, but with some added perspective.
I loved the embedded music and have put it into a playlist on Spotify.
I loved the embedded music and have put it into a playlist on Spotify.
yesenianavaa's review against another edition
5.0
I really like the characters, Morgan was honest about her feelings and she was vulnerable with the readers. James was funny and charming and even Maggie with her slightly problematic views about race was a good reliable friend and so you found yourself not only rooting for Morgan but also for the entire group of friends. It was also interesting to hear about Morgan’s experience with depression mostly because we don’t hear a lot of black voices when it comes to mental health. There’s still a lot of stigma in the black community and communities of color about needing help and I like how it was explored in this book. I also like the exploration of race within Morgan’s high school, she experienced a lot of overt and covert racism with her interactions in the classroom I think a lot of her experiences were really relatable especially being the only black person or the only person of color in a mostly white space and on top of that it was very religious so there was a lot she had to overcome. Morgan had to deal with how to define her Blackness in an all white space and seeing herself as Black even though the white people around her would say things like "you're not like the other black people" or "but you're not Black-Black"
I felt sorry for Morgan most of the time because she was always so hard on her self for having so many emotions and I recognize how she came to that conclusion especially because as a society we tend to shame people who express themselves and are true to their emotions but it was still very difficult to watch her do that to herself because her emotions were incredibly valid and were justified by by what was going on around her. I would have liked to have seen more on her and her family. Mostly her parents. there was a lot of tension between her and her parents especially her dad and I wish there was more of an exploration of that relationship of all the over time.
I liked the love interest aspect that didn’t necessarily overtake the plot. In the beginning I was kind of rooting for David. I liked him he seemed cute it looks like the characters had a meet cute but only later she meets his cousin son and they seem to have a little fling going on. and it doesn’t really seem to go anywhere by the end of the end and I was a little disappointed about that until she got to the author's note and she said that the story was more than that but this story transcends the basic components of what you think a young adult novel is and I think hearing that exclamation put things into perspective for me and allowed me to see that yes the story was more than just a love story about a young black girl dealing with depression and mental health. and her friends were dealing with mental health issues as well I also thought added to a well-rounded plot. because's Morgan's depression and anxiety were the most intense, especially when you take into account her suicide attempt. But her friends were dealing with a lot of other pressures that cemented the idea that everyone is going through their own fight.
the authors note: I like how honest she is and how she talked about the cyclical nature of life. there are going to be challenges that you face and you might be able to come overcome those but even after that there are going to be new challenges and I think in today’s society we often don’t think about that. we glorify the short term without recognizing that yes they suck they suck right now and they they can get better but they might get worse and that’s a reality that we have to come to terms with and also prepare for. I didn’t realize how much this related to the authors personal life but I was glad to get a glimpse of it
I felt sorry for Morgan most of the time because she was always so hard on her self for having so many emotions and I recognize how she came to that conclusion especially because as a society we tend to shame people who express themselves and are true to their emotions but it was still very difficult to watch her do that to herself because her emotions were incredibly valid and were justified by by what was going on around her. I would have liked to have seen more on her and her family. Mostly her parents. there was a lot of tension between her and her parents especially her dad and I wish there was more of an exploration of that relationship of all the over time.
I liked the love interest aspect that didn’t necessarily overtake the plot. In the beginning I was kind of rooting for David. I liked him he seemed cute it looks like the characters had a meet cute but only later she meets his cousin son and they seem to have a little fling going on. and it doesn’t really seem to go anywhere by the end of the end and I was a little disappointed about that until she got to the author's note and she said that the story was more than that but this story transcends the basic components of what you think a young adult novel is and I think hearing that exclamation put things into perspective for me and allowed me to see that yes the story was more than just a love story about a young black girl dealing with depression and mental health. and her friends were dealing with mental health issues as well I also thought added to a well-rounded plot. because's Morgan's depression and anxiety were the most intense, especially when you take into account her suicide attempt. But her friends were dealing with a lot of other pressures that cemented the idea that everyone is going through their own fight.
the authors note: I like how honest she is and how she talked about the cyclical nature of life. there are going to be challenges that you face and you might be able to come overcome those but even after that there are going to be new challenges and I think in today’s society we often don’t think about that. we glorify the short term without recognizing that yes they suck they suck right now and they they can get better but they might get worse and that’s a reality that we have to come to terms with and also prepare for. I didn’t realize how much this related to the authors personal life but I was glad to get a glimpse of it