Wishful Drinking

Title: Wishful Drinking               Author: Carrie Fisher           Hardcover: 163 pgs.       

      This book is quite a departure for me; I don’t think I had read any Hollywood celebrity memoirs before picking up this autobiography.  But, informed about how great it was in the earlier review on this blog and being a fan of her comedy, I thought I’d give it a try.  I was not disappointed.

     Fisher, the now-deceased actress who will forever be Princess Leia to legions of Star Wars fans, had a very hard life.  She was born a Hollywood princess, the daughter of celebrities Eddie Fisher, a famous singer in the 1950’s, and Debbie Reynolds, an actress remembered largely for her role in Singin’ in the Rain.  The first, and perhaps most profound, misfortune to befall the author was the divorce of her parents after her father’s affair with Elizabeth Taylor.  She writes that she dreams (as an adult) that he would come back home to give her a good upbringing, but her wish never came true— her parents never got back together.  She very seldom even saw him.  It exemplified to me the power of fathers in their children’s lives— power both to bless and to curse.  When she grew up, Fisher, like so many Hollywood stars, struggled with substance abuse.  More unusually, she was also afflicted with a mental illness: bipolar disorder.

     But as serious and tragic as these bare facts may sound, this is truly a book of comedy.  The actress suffered so much, presumably, that the only way she could stay sane was by making light of her troubles, as she does in this writing.  I found these memoirs hilarious and very clever, often making me laugh out loud!

     The only major issues I had with the book were that the writing rambled to some extent (it’s very colloquial) and that the author used some crude language.  For the latter reason, I wouldn’t recommend it for children or grown-ups who are very sensitive to vulgar language.  But, for me, the comedy more than made up for all this, so I would still recommend it to most adults.

 - John W.

High

High by David & Nic Sheff, 260 pages

“Just Say Know!  With drug education for children more important than ever, this nonfiction book draws on the experiences of the NY Times bestselling father/son team of David and Nic Sheff to provide all the information teens and tweens need to know about drugs, alcohol, and addiction. From David Sheff, author of Beautiful Boy (2008), and Nic Sheff, author of Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines (2008), comes the ultimate resource for learning about the realities of drugs and alcohol for middle grade readers. This book tells it as it is, with testimonials from peers who have been there and families who have lived through the addiction of a loved one, along with the cold, hard facts about what drugs and alcohol do to our bodies. From how to navigate peer pressure to outlets for stress to the potential consequences for experimenting, Nic and David Sheff lay out the facts so that middle grade readers can educate themselves.”  I thought that this was a decent account of how drug addiction can negatively impact lives. It was a little dry in places but I still felt like it was worthwhile and something that some teens might pick up on their own.

Traffick

Traffick by Ellen Hopkins, 505 pages

“Five teens victimized by sex trafficking try to find their way to a new life in this riveting companion to the #1 New York Times bestselling Tricks from Ellen Hopkins, author of Crank.  In her bestselling novel, Tricks , Ellen Hopkins introduced us to five memorable characters tackling enormous questions: Eden, the preacher's daughter who turns tricks in Las Vegas and is helped into a child prostitution rescue; Seth, the gay farm boy disowned by his father; Whitney, the privileged kid coaxed into the life by a pimp; Ginger, who runs away from home with her girlfriend and is arrested for soliciting an undercover cop; and Cody, whose gambling habit forces him into the life.  And now, in Traffick , these five are faced with the toughest question of all: Is there a way out? How these five teenagers face the aftermath of their decisions and experiences is the soul of this story that exposes the dark, ferocious underbelly of the child trafficking trade. Heart wrenching and hopeful, Traffick takes us on five separate but intertwined journeys through the painful challenges of recovery, rehabilitation, and renewal to forgiveness and love.” This is gritty subject matter, as always with Hopkins’s books, but handled almost gently.  While some of the stories may shock some teens, this is a subject that should be addressed, as many teens have the potential to become victims or to know someone who is or has been a victim.  I would recommend this for teens who like realistic fiction, especially in poetry form.