Such a fun age

Locations
Call Number: Display, Fiction / Reid, Kiley, Adult Book / Fiction / General / Reid, Kiley
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Traverwood Branch

Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living, with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains' toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store's security guard, seeing a young black woman out late with a white child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right. But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix's desire to help. At twenty-five, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix's past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves, and each other. With empathy and piercing social commentary, Such a Fun Age explores the stickiness of transactional relationships, what it means to make someone "family," the complicated reality of being a grown up, and the consequences of doing the right thing for the wrong reason.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Such a fun read. submitted by AGAPHD on June 13, 2020, 7:48pm Loved this -- sharply observed characters and an engaging plot. A fun, fairly quick read.

Great book submitted by russelan on June 19, 2020, 12:47pm This was so good. It sucked me in from the beginning. I loved Emira and her friend group. This book explored important topics in a way that was easy to read but sometimes difficult to digest.

Super good submitted by kirterry on June 19, 2020, 9:19pm This book blew me away. Yes, one of the main plot drivers involves a far, far-fetched coincidence, but for me the book was more about character development. There are laser sharp observations about -- above all -- race, privilege, and class, but also social media culture, post-college indecision, friendship, and the idiosyncrasies of life with a toddler.

Witty ... and somewhat awkward of a Social Satire submitted by sVfGI7Glt2pz7GZgVB90 on July 14, 2020, 7:39am A humorous, fast-paced social satire about privilege in America. When 25-year-old college graduate with no real future Emira Tucker is mistakenly accused of kidnapping a child in her care, a series of events unfurls raising questions about class, race, parenthood and morality.

The ending is absurd ... as if the author got bored or just wanted to end the distress of the book. Very superficial overall.

Doesn't Stick the Ending submitted by evelyn on August 3, 2020, 9:52am I liked this book and thought it was funny and smart. But like the above reviewer said, the ending just didn't work. It was so abrupt I actually flipped to the afterword, expecting more. I liked the characters but found that Alix became more and more one dimensional as the book went on, which wore on me. Overall, it was a quick and engaging read and I'm glad I read it, but don't expect amazing things from the ending.

Amazing submitted by nmrhoads on July 21, 2021, 8:03am This was so good. I couldn’t put it down in the second half. It honestly was a little suspenseful or maybe I was just really into it.

Great for seeing the world from other perspectives submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on June 11, 2022, 10:53pm This book is brilliantly written and told, sharing the story of a 20-something Black woman who babysits a fantastic little human, the oh-so-progressive-and-thinks-she’s-enlightened rich White mom, and the White boyfriend with the fascinating crossover history. Wonderful side characters abound adding humor, perspective, and depth to the story. It’s a great book for seeing the world from other’s viewpoints, and I must admit that one of those viewpoints drove me crazy. (I don’t read a certain style of book because I deliberately want a more diverse reading pile than that!) But in the end, it was exactly the worldviews of each character that made the whole of the story come together into the great climax that it did.

Smooth and Engaging submitted by aklisz on July 9, 2022, 11:39pm The writing style of this book felt so unique and captivating. The plot moves at a great pace and reads really easily. Unlike a few of the other reviewers, I found the ending scene to be really enjoyable and a well-connected conclusion to the story.

pretty :) submitted by graytabby on August 7, 2022, 8:36pm it was such a great read, cover to cover.

Excellent submitted by leah karr on August 11, 2022, 10:26pm Fast moving, thought-provoking, emotional and wonderful

Just didn’t love it submitted by courtneyhooper on August 12, 2022, 11:58pm I couldn’t tell if it’s because I’m a mother or old and cranky but I just thought it felt brittle. Angry and fragile in a way I couldn’t understand

On the ending submitted by bfields on December 21, 2022, 8:56am It's a quick read, driven in part by hopes that the characters grow in certain ways--which mostly doesn't end up happening. Maybe that explains why some readers are frustrated with the ending. But that choice was one of the things that made the book more interesting to me.

ok submitted by sseaver on June 11, 2023, 8:15pm characters were well developed and overall the plot was thought provoking. didn't love the ending, it just felt flat to me

Such a Fun Book submitted by wendylv on June 12, 2023, 11:55am I resisted starting this because I thought it was going to be preachy and predictable. By page 5 I was hooked--the characters and plot had nuance and layers. It was entertaining but also had something new to say about race.

Wow! submitted by Xris on June 17, 2023, 3:32pm Wow! This book takes on the topics of race and privilege/affluence. I'm glad it got all tied up in the end, but maybe the author would do a book about how Briar turned out?

Good read submitted by JennJenn on June 29, 2023, 8:12am This book does a good job of making one think about race and privilege in a thoroughly engaging story.

Expecting much more submitted by elenalibro on July 2, 2023, 7:03am The reading was engaging and it was indeed difficult to put the book away until maybe 80% of the book. But then I found it very predictable since the plot was stuck and the characters flat, no one had a strong personality. I could also read a lot of stereotypical remarks in the book that at the end I found more biased than it should have been. I was expecting much more from reading the book reviews.

A Fun Read submitted by lizgiessner on July 31, 2023, 8:20pm I liked the examination of people's motivations, racial sensitivities, and the responsibilities/priorities of "growing up".

thought provoking but still just ok submitted by gw on August 18, 2023, 12:54pm This story does a good job of illustrating how not black and white people's decisions and reactions are in situations--there are so many factors and previous experiences that affect them. The main white character rubbed me the wrong way but seemed very realistic. The story is a "good" story but I didn't really enjoy it.