Such A Fun Age

Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid

This book has been getting lots of hype.  And I have to say, I was a little under-whelmed while I read it, but now I keep finding myself thinking about it after the fact (a sure sign of a good book).

The Premise:  We have a privileged white family (Alix, Peter and little Briar), employing a black babysitter (Emira).  Things get a little crazy when, on an outing with Briar, Emira is accused of kidnapping a white kid. Someone films the altercation on their phone and later it is shared on social media and goes viral. There is more to this story than meets the eye, and more than once I wondered how much I could actully trust what the narrators are saying.

This book opened my eyes to things I hadn’t previously considered.  Being a fairly privileged white woman myself, I am aware of big displays of racism, but I quickly realized that there are many small, subtle ways people exhibit racism (all people, not just white people) that I have been oblivious to.  I feel the book helped open my eyes to see things differently. As an avid reader, this is one of the best gifts of reading! Reading opens the mind…you get to experience things you won’t normally experience in your own life and meet people you wouldn’t otherwise get a chance to meet!

I urge you to pick up this book and give it a read.  This is one that will definitely go on my To Be Re-Read list, because I know in the next read, I will see even more.