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Gabourey Sidibe - "Gabby" to her legion of fans - skyrocketed to international fame in 2009 when she played the leading role in Lee Daniels' acclaimed movie Precious. In This Is Just My Face, she shares a one-of-a-kind life story in a voice as fresh and challenging as many of the unique characters she's played onscreen.
With full-throttle honesty, Sidibe paints her Bed-Stuy/Harlem family life with a polygamous father and a gifted mother who supports her two children by singing in the subway. Sidibe tells the engrossing, inspiring story of her first job as a phone sex "talker". And she shares her unconventional (of course!) rise to fame as a movie star alongside "a superstar cast of rich people who lived in mansions and had their own private islands and amazing careers while I lived in my mom's apartment."
Sidibe's memoir hits hard with self-knowing dispatches on friendship, depression, celebrity, haters, fashion, race, and weight ("If I could just get the world to see me the way I see myself," she writes, "would my body still be a thing you walked away thinking about?").
Irreverent, hilarious, and untraditional, This Is Just My Face will resonate with anyone who has ever felt different and with anyone who has ever felt inspired to make a dream come true.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
December 15, 2023 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780544786905
- File size: 5442 KB
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780544786905
- File size: 5747 KB
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- Lexile® Measure: 810
- Text Difficulty: 3-4
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Reviews
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November 1, 2017
Teens who pick up this memoir by Sidibe will feel as though the actress is sitting in a room with them, chatting and telling stories. Her reflections about her high school hair mishaps and her rumored Internet death are laugh-out-loud funny, but Sidibe also shares poignant moments. Her father's Senegalese ways often confused her. Her mother's hopeful ambition, coupled with her lack of time and money, molded Sidibe and gave her character, but the author was responsible for her own happiness. Her strength comes through as she discusses forgiveness: of haters, of her family, and especially of U.S. culture. Sidibe understands that though she may have detractors who criticize her because of her weight, she has two options: run and hide, or find a way to make people see her as she sees herself. What teenager can't relate? This humorous work that details the actress's rise to fame, her trials with self-image, and her belief in herself will resonate with readers. This is a journey not to be missed. VERDICT An immersive, honest, and funny read for fans of Sidibe or celebrity memoirs.-Pamela Schembri, Horace Greeley High School, Chappaqua, NY
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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January 1, 2017
Actress Sidibe, most recently of the TV series Empire, gives readers a glimpse into her childhood in Harlem, NY, and Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn; her early work talking on a phone-sex line; and her rise to fame with the 2009 film Precious.
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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