Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Lonely Angry Child

Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy

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A well-written and shockingly honest but very tough read for me. I just kept whip lashing between enraged and sad. Seventeen year old Waldo is a high school senior with a dead end job and not much else. She lives with her single mother who is never actually home. She is starving- for clothes, sugar, love, attention, anything… for her creative writing teacher Mr. Korgy. He complements her unique voice and seems to see her in a way nobody else does. He is twice her […]

Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy

Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy

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I went back and forth on this one. And ultimately, I settled on three stars, not because of the subject and how graphic the sex scenes are, but honestly, it just peters out at the 60 percent mark. After that, I really had a hard time believing the Waldo (main character) we have been following and their obsession with Mr. Korgy was the same person. McCurdy perfectly captures the obliviousness of Waldo at 17 and 18, but after graduation somehow she has morphed into a […]

Too Close to Home

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

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I guess I’m posting this for other children/daughters of abusive narcissistic parents. I’m Glad My Mom Died is a great book, but I didn’t enjoy it. It’s very funny, but I didn’t laugh. I was mostly terrified for Jennette and heartbroken that her life was so derailed, and my heart and guts sank for her over and over. The book mainly had me analyzing my own life and trying to figure out how I escaped my mom’s house without her completely taking over my identity […]

Memoir of a Child Star

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

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Wow. This one was brutal. Jennette McCurdy is an excellent writer and draws you in from the very beginning of her memoir. I’ll admit, I had to put this down many times and opt out of reading it at night just becuase I couldn’t stop thinking about the things I read. McCurdy is a survivor of trauma at the hands of the industry and at the hands of her own mother. She paints a vivid picture of the abuse and exploitation she suffered, able to […]

Mommy Dearest

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

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I saw a short interview with Jennette McCurdy about her new memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died (2022), and it sounded interesting. But then my friend mentioned she had read the book, and argued that we should outlaw child actors altogether. I didn’t completely disagree with her, but it seemed like an extreme statement. I wondered what in the book had made her feel so strongly. So, I picked it up on audiobook from the library. I thought it was fascinating. I never got bored, and I […]

The Title Says it All

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

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God damn, Jennette McCurdy picked one startling title. I’m not entirely out of tune with pop culture or the long arm of Nickolodian, so I’m aware of  both iCarly and Sam and Cat, even if I was too old to be the target audiance for either of these shows. But like everyone else who is not completely detached from pop culture, I am not blind to the issues that are running rampart in the industry concerning young kids. But for what little protection a child […]



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