Tag / Sam & Cat

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Book 16 (of 52) – Half His Age

Half His Age – Jennette McCurdy

Waldo, a 17-year-old high school senior, is drifting through life, living with an absentee mother, a dead-end job, and a boyfriend she doesn’t really care for.  Her new creative writing teacher, however, touches something deep inside of her, giving her feelings she’s never had before.  She goes after him, initially willing to put up with the limitations of their affair but eventually realizing that she wants, and ultimately deserves, more.  After graduation, and after he leaves his wife for her, Waldo reaches the end of her rope, finally realizing it is time to take control of her life.

Former teen actress Jennette McCurdy, who came to fame starring in children’s shows on Nickelodeon like iCarly and Sam & Cat before taking the literary world by storm with her memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, in 2022, returns with her first work of fiction.  Half His Age, I guess, is a tale of growth, as Waldo eventually learns that she can only blame her upbringing for so much and that, eventually, it is up to her to decide where she wants to go and to get herself there.  I assume these lessons were also ones that McCurdy herself had to learn as she dealt with her own mother issues.  This was an intriguing, if not great, book and I’m interested to see where she turns next.

 

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Book 44 (of 52) – I’m Glad My Mom Died

I’m Glad My Mom Died – Jennette McCurdy

In I’m Glad My Mom Died, the new memoir from former teen actress Jennette McCurdy, she details the struggles she has been through and how, after coming to terms the abuse she suffered, she has come through the other side healthy and ready to move on.  An emotionally and physically abusive relationship with her mother, who pushed her into acting as a young child, taught her to become anorexic as a way to delay puberty, and showered her into her mid-teens, ended when her mother died of cancer. But the repercussions from those actions, which, at the time, McCurdy did not recognize as abuse, impacted the next decade of her life, leading to bulimia, alcoholism, and unhealthy relationships with men.

McCurdy, who came to fame starring in children’s shows on Nickelodeon like iCarly and Sam & Cat, pulls no punches in this memoir.  She had previously turned down hush money from Nickelodeon, so she was able to talk about the uncomfortable feelings she had when dealing with “the creator” aka Dan Schneider, who had seen his teen show kingdom shut down over accusations of inappropriate behavior.  She was oblivious to her mother’s abuse, yet was able to recount it in a way that made it obvious to outsiders.  That she was managed to survive it all and, hopefully, continue to thrive moving forward, is a bit of a miracle.