Everything Sucks: Losing My Mind and Finding Myself in High School Quest for CoolGenre: Young Adult Memoir
Publisher: HCI Teens
Pages: 256
Available Now: Amazon.com
Summary: When everything sucks, change everything . . . And that's exactly what Hannah Friedman set out to do in an ambitious attempt to bust out of a life of obscurity and absurdity and into an alternate world of glamour, wealth, and popularity. Being dubbed 'That Monkey Girl' by middle school bullies and being pulled out of sixth grade to live on a tour bus with her agoraphobic mother, her smelly little brother, and her father's hippie band mates convinces Hannah that she is destined for a life of freakdom. But when she enters one of the country's most prestigious boarding schools on scholarship, Hannah transforms herself into everything she is not: cool. By senior year, she has a perfect millionaire boyfriend, a perfect GPA, a perfect designer wardrobe, and is part of the most popular clique in school, but somehow everything begins to suck far worse than when she first started. Her newfound costly drug habit, eating disorder, identity crisis, and Queen-Bee attitude lead to the unraveling of Hannah's very unusual life. Putting her life back together will take more than a few clicks of her heels, or the perfect fit of a glass slipper, in this not-so-fairy tale of going from rock bottom to head of the class and back again.
My Review: Hannah Friedman, is hilariously witty and isn't afraid to admit her embarrassing moments growing up. Her life is definitely eccentric, she grew up in a home with her parents, her brother Sam and Amelia, which is a monkey. Yes, I did say monkey. Is that even legal? She always felt like an outcast in high school, however she did eventually find some people to click with. It's a fast paced book and I sometimes forgot that it was a memoir, I connected with all the characters and understood their personalities. Most of the time the writing was funny and sarcastic, but around the last 60 pages or so, the mood shifted. When Hannah starts using drugs you experience a more serious tone compared to the other chapters. I felt her pain and wanted Hannah to overcome her issues, which she eventually did. I truly enjoyed reading it, it was lighthearted and kept me smiling. I recommend it if you want to read something funny and definitely relatable with the whole high school scene....especially students who feel the pressure about getting into a prestige college.
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Author's Info:
Hannah is a writer/director from New York. She was one of the youngest people to have been published in Newsweek Magazine for her 2004 article "When Your Friends Become The Enemy" about the college application process. Friedman attended Yale University, graduating in 2008. In 2008 Friedman won the P&G/New York Television Festival Flying Solo competition, a hybrid reality show combining her footage with professional shoots. The show premiered at the NYTVF and on mylifetime.com, and chronicled the writing process for her first book Everything Sucks.
My Review: Hannah Friedman, is hilariously witty and isn't afraid to admit her embarrassing moments growing up. Her life is definitely eccentric, she grew up in a home with her parents, her brother Sam and Amelia, which is a monkey. Yes, I did say monkey. Is that even legal? She always felt like an outcast in high school, however she did eventually find some people to click with. It's a fast paced book and I sometimes forgot that it was a memoir, I connected with all the characters and understood their personalities. Most of the time the writing was funny and sarcastic, but around the last 60 pages or so, the mood shifted. When Hannah starts using drugs you experience a more serious tone compared to the other chapters. I felt her pain and wanted Hannah to overcome her issues, which she eventually did. I truly enjoyed reading it, it was lighthearted and kept me smiling. I recommend it if you want to read something funny and definitely relatable with the whole high school scene....especially students who feel the pressure about getting into a prestige college.
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Author's Info:
For more info on Hannah, check out her websites:
http://www.hannahfriedman.com/
http://www.writinghannah.com/
http://twitter.com/writinghannah
http://www.hannahfriedman.com/
http://www.writinghannah.com/
http://twitter.com/writinghannah
Check out the book trailer:
3 comments:
awww look @ the monkey... lol its so cute.
Awesome review! It don't really read memoirs. But this book looks really fun.
I want to read this! I love to read about all kinds of embarresing moments.
-Briana
This book has me intrigued. I've never heard of it before. Great review.
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