I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

 I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jannette McCurdy - 304 pages

A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life. 

Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarlyspinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.

This was an eye opening book about what this mother did to her child, for her own idea of fame.  Watching her grow up in iCarly, and Sam and Cat, I now have a different appreciation for her talent 

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

 I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, 304 pages

I'm Glad My Mom Died is autobiographical tour through Jennette McCurdy's formative years, wherein her narcissist mother's dreams of being a Hollywood starlet were imposed on the daughter. With an unflinching, offbeat voice, expertly weaving humor and heartbreak, McCurdy details her life as a child star, the abuse she suffered at the hands of her codependent mother, and the eating disorders she developed.  

I don't read a lot of nonfiction or biographies, but I couldn't put this book down. I never watched iCarly so I was only tangentially aware of Jennette McCurdy. It is a testament to the openness of the narrative that non-fans can just pick up the book and connect with it. 

Finding Mr. Brightside by Jay Clark

Finding Mr. Brightside by Jay Clark - 218 pages

Juliette and Abram meet while both are getting their prescriptions filled at the CVS.  They know of each other but have avoiding one another since their parents died together in a car crash and it came out they had been having an affair.  Juliette knows she should avoid Abram, but yet she can't seem to stop running into him.

This book has everything in it -- depression, prescription pill addiction, eating disorders, parental abandonment, and more.  Even with way too many things stuffed into a short book, it was interesting to read.  I'm looking forward to seeing what else the author writes.

"Hunger" by Jackie Morse Kessler

"Hunger" by Jackie Morse Kessler, 177 Pages

Hunger is quite the serious read. I absolutely loved it.  Lisabeth Lewis is anorexic. After being teased for her weight, she started on the road to anorexia. Her boyfriend and her best friend see the signs and try to help her. When Lisabeth has enough, she attempts suicide. Death awaits her and offers her the role of Famine - one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. As Lisa takes on the mantle of Famine, she discovers much more about herself than she imagined. This book gives good insight to how the mind of a person with an eating disorder works. Interestingly enough, the author was once a bulimic herself. This is a really quick read and worth every minute. It does have language and adult content.