We may be different, but our hearts beat the same. In southern Africa, there is a belief called ubuntu ― the idea that we are all connected. No matter where we’re from or who we are, a person is a person through their connections to other people. This picture book is a celebration of friendship and kindness, showing children the many ways that we are all one.
Jennette McCurdy was only six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, "and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called calorie restriction," eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive makeovers at home while Mom chided, "Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?" She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, her email, and all her income.
McCurdy recounts all of this in unflinching detail — just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in an American teen sitcom called iCarly, she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi ("Hi, Gale!"), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues get worse when her mother dies of cancer soon after Jennette takes the lead alongside Ariana Grande in Sam & Cat, an iCarly spinoff. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.
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