Today I am gonna review a book I just finished reading. It's called Everything Sucks : Losing My Mind and Finding Myself in a High School Quest for Cool, written by Hannah Friedman. I didn't know a thing about this book when I picked it up for $3 at Ollies (discount warehouse). I was looking in the inspirational section and this was just sort-of laying there on top of a stack of books so I flipped it over and read the back and scanned through it. It sounded interesting so I decided what the heck, it was only $3. Once I started reading it, I was sure it was probably not in the right section at the store, but no matter, I kept on, and I am glad I did. This book was an easy read for me. The author, Hannah Friedman, was young when she wrote this book (she is still young) but even younger still when she was published in Newsweek. She was still in highschool then. She'd written a personal essay piece about high-schoolers filling out college applications. It is clear early on how that came to be. Her writing is so honest, witty, and just so easy to read.
This is a biography of her life. Hannah, like so many, didn't have a glamorous childhood and at times she hated her life, well, in fact, most of her life she felt she wasn't good enough. This is the same thing that so many kids feel and go through and the way she writes about it, it's just so pure and honest, and yes, I could associate with her and her life. My childhood was certainly not glamorous. The book is about discovery. Hannah hates this or that about her life and makes attempts to change them, granit, the changes are not always the best choices, but much of that stems from her very poor self image. How many of us can associate with that?
In her middle school years Hannah was bullied for being different than everyone else. It wasn't just she who was different, but her family too. They didn't have much money, she had a sister who was a monkey - yes, a monkey - a younger brother she didn't really like, a mother who was outspoken, independent, and practical and often embarrassed Hannah; and she also had a father who was a starving musician trying to put his dreams into reality. Early in the book Hannah describes a period in her life where her dad decided to pack up the family and put them on a tour bus and try to tour around Europe with his music and sell albums. Along the way he hired a band. Hannah may have been happy not to be around the school bullies anymore, but life on a bus wasn't bliss for a 12 year old girl.
Hannah Friedman uses a lot of humor to tell her story, whether intentional or not. It's hard not to laugh at some of the things that frustrated or embarrasses Hannah in the story because even though you may have had a similar nightmare in your youth, it's easy to look back and laugh at it now. As the story went on however, Hannah's self doubts and yes, I think her parents lax parenting style put Hannah into more serious situations. Hannah finally experiences love and heartache while attending a prestigious private school that Hannah was sure would change her life. It did. She was no longer bullied or called names for being different. She was accepted, even if she really wasn't being herself most of the time. She became popular instead of un-noticed. This is what she thought she wanted from life, but again, as the story goes on, Hannah realizes that she was stifling herself. She finds a new world and changes again.
One thing that did bother me about the book was this - Hannah does tell you all about her eating disorders she developed and her drug habits she picked up (all while attending this private highschool) but at books end, there is no mention of her either admitting the problem to her parents or a counselor or attempting to get help with these things. I was left thinking, well, does she still to this day have these issues or did she get help? Or are we to believe that once she graduated said school that the eating disorders and drug habits went away? It's sort-of refreshing how honest she was about those details of her life, but I would have liked to know what happened in regards to those things. Since this is a book geared toward young-adult readers, I think there should have been more mention of the consequences of those things and how maybe to seek help. I don't think she was trying to glorify eating disorders or drug habits in any way, but it was just something I felt was missing at the end. And while I'm on that topic, teen sex also occurs in this book, and as a Christian I don't condone this and have very strong feelings against it, but not everyone who picks up this book will feel the way I do. Hannah Friedman was only being honest about things that happened in her life.
So with the moral issues aside, Hannah Friedman in my opinion wrote an excellent biography. Not everyone can just sit down and write about their childhood and sell copies, because not everyone's lives are that different or interesting than anyone else. While much of the general issues are the same, Hannah was able to tell it differently because of her own unique style and her unique life and family. Being different isn't a curse, and this is something that Hannah learned. Accept who you are, don't pretend to be something you're not. If there's an area in your life that you are not happy with, than change it. Everything may suck now, but it doesn't have to be that way.
I would definitely recommend reading this book if you too can put aside the moral issues that you may not agree with. On the back of the book it tells you a bit a bout Hannah Friedman, the author, and provides a blog link and youtube link. There isn't much there at her blog but if you visit her Blogger page, there is more, but still the last entry was from 2009.
http://www.writinghannah.blogspot.com/
http://www.hannahfriedman.com
http://www.youtube.com/writinghannah
And in case you are curious about her article of interest she had published in Newsweek, here it is: http://www.newsweek.com/2004/04/18/when-your-friends-become-the-enemy.html
If you read the book, you'll know that her publishing this essay didn't go over well with students or faculty. She didn't set out to publish this though according to the book, it was a teacher who submitted it and Hannah than agreed to publish it.
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