... powerful and energetic.

... [Henderson] renders her family with searing honesty and wit.

Henderson recalls growing up in 1980s upstate New York, usually as the only Black kid navigating a sea of whiteness, with focus, crystal clarity, humor, and care. New York City beckons teenage Henderson with its possibilities, and her hilariously no-nonsense grandma, who young Henderson thought was 'the meanest, craziest person I’d ever met,' becomes the fiercely loving heart and undisputed star of this book. A story of learning to survive trauma and an inventory of love’s many guises, Henderson’s memoir ends as she starts college, leaving readers hoping there’s much more to come..

[A] book chock full of jokes, funny anecdotes and crackling dialogue.

Henderson’s personal journey, from wounded uncertainty to determined self-confidence, is moving, and her skill as a writer lets her balance the darker moments of her childhood with diverting recollections of all-day banishments from the house during the summer and catastrophic teenage trips to concerts in New York City. The narrative moves seamlessly from childhood to adulthood, and Henderson recounts her college years with a combination of fondness and regret. Ending with a chapter about the memory of her grandparents, she writes powerfully about the slow reversal of their roles, with Henderson eventually becoming her grandparents’ caretaker.

Henderson vividly and heartbreakingly describes her experiences.