a HS English teacher, I think this one is Better than The Hate You Give because it touches on the same topic and so many others with a a focus on music that grabs all students regardless of background.
Powerful, moving, and just great, Absorbing comingofage story about a teenage girl in Far Rockaway, Queens, as she navigates life on the economic and geographic margins of the city and carves a life for herself as a young mother.
The author based her novel on the life of a friend, whom she met while involved in an independent film project, I had some concerns about the author's use of the vernacular to tell someone else's story, but it's respectfully and thoughtfully done, and the story flows like butter.
I wondered if being "based on a true story" was a bit restrictive, and Weyer felt overly bound to be truthful, but I enjoyed it all the same.
I think this would also be a great read for high school students,.stars. Very good. Graphic sex surprised me. A main character you want to succeed, Thinking about it further. I dont really care for the way the book makes it appear like AnnMarie “became gay” due to the failed relationship with Darius, Perhaps its just beyond the scope of the book but I feel like her bisexuality could have been explored further, I found this extremely hard to read, follow and understand due to the way it was written, I really wanted to like it but street talk is something I'm not familiar with, I hope others like it better than I did, Books written in vernacular don't typically sound like the thoughts and voice of a real person, but On the Come Up so does, I have a ton of admiration for Weyer's ability to capture her friend's voice and let that be the center of this book, I wanted to know more about her when I was done, where her life ultimately went after enduring such ups and downs,
It's about a girl growing up in a housing project, poor and pregnant young, yeah, but it never slips into being overly sentimental or like caricature.
It's very clearly "based on a true story" because it's nothing but real, A good novel about a young girl who struggles to move out of poverty, I enjoyed the book and felt the events where handled realistically, I did however, feel that one too many things happened to the main character, I usually like a true story but I didnt like this one, I grabbed this at the library because the name was the same as another book I previously read so I was seeing if it was just a different cover or a totally different book.
I loved this beautiful coming of age story, After I got used to the ghetto vernacular lol it got really good, See my Vine review on Amazon, I didnt really enjoy this book but it may be a preference not a reflection on the author, I didnt enjoy the book being written how the main character would speak, Ive read book written in the characters dialect but this book didnt hit the mark, I found I had to reread several sentences because I didnt get the correct meaning on the first read, I find that makes the book less enjoyable, I also didnt feel any connection to the characters, I feel conflicted about this book, On one hand, I liked the structure, the writing, the characters, the plot, the vague feel that seemed to me to capture lifemovingquickly, On the other hand, the element of exploitation really bothered the hell out of me,
The author is the wife of the reallife "Dean" in the book, making her onehalf of an indie filmwriter/filmmaker power couple, AnnMarie is based on her friend, Anna Simpson, who told her life story to the author but only gets credit in a few, quick sentences in the author's Afterward.
That this older, privileged woman fictionalized the life story of a younger black woman, telling the other woman's story for profit and fame, does not sit well with me.
Second time trying to read this book and got through it this time, Ending is worth the long, monotonous parts of the story while AnneMarie is still figuring out herself, I didn't get the hype, On the Come Up had even been described to me as today's Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah by a fellow reader, Now I wonder, what was she reading Clearly she had not read Coldest Winter Ever or she hadn't read it in a long time,
Anyway, Weyer's narrator was weird to me and I felt that if we'd heard the story only from AnnMarie, it would have been better, I really liked the plot, but I don't feel that Weyer really made me connect with the characters, Surprisingly, I didn't feel AnnMarie, Blessed, Darius, Niki, Raymel, Star, or even Lu, And I feel that the power in this book would have been the connection I felt to the characters,
It's a young adult work with some serious material, like domestic abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and I think homosexuality is considered serious material these days, so I recommend it for older or mature teens,.
Semi interesting read. I was never clear which direction the story was going, Why AnneMarie dealt with Darius all those years was just sad This was not a book I would have chosen were it not for playing Book Bingo at my library.
I needed a book where the author and I share the first name, . . hence, Hannah Weyer's first novel,
I'm glad I read it however, One of the benefits of being a reader is the fact that reading opens our minds to new and different worlds, mindsets other than our own and forces us to walk in another's shoes.
On the Come Up is so far from my reality that it accomplished all of the above, I am white, Southern, rural and while I have been poor, I have never experienced true poverty,
The main character, Anne Marie, is black, urban, and becomes a teenaged, single mom, She has been raised in true poverty, in a cycle of poverty that is unending, Her story is one worth knowing, Her strength of character and her ability to move through her life are admirable,
The importance of this novel and it's ability to inspire is exceptional, I am sure that it is more relative to the lives of many than it is to mine, I am thankful that there are books such as this available,
I really enjoyed this book, One of the topi've read this year, Based on a true story, an impassioned and propulsive debut novel about a headstrong girl from Far Rockaway, Queens, who is trying to find her place in the world
Written in an urban vernacular thats electrifying and intimate, On the Come Up introduces a heroine whose voice is irrepressible, dynamic, and unstintingly honest.
Thirteenyearold AnnMarie Walker dreams of a world beyond Far Rockaway, where the sway of the neighborhood keeps her tied to old ideas about success, While attending a school for pregnant teens, AnnMarie comes across a flyer advertising movie auditions in Manhattan, Astonishingly, improbably, and four months before shes due to give birthshe lands a lead role, For a time, AnnMarie soarsacting for the camera, flying to the Sundance Film Festival, seeing her face onscreen, But when the film fades from view and the realities of her life set in, AnnMaries grit and determination are the only tools left to keep her moving forward.
Told with remarkable compassion and based on the reallife story of Anna Simpson, whom the author met during the filming of the awardwinning Our Song, Hannah Weyers debut novel is an incredible act of literary ventriloquism that powerfully illuminates the lives of the urban unseen.
Won ARC from Goodreads giveaway
Plot
Written in urban vernacular, On the Come Up is a coming of age story about black teen, AnneMarie Walker.
While attending a school for pregnant girls, she spots an audition flyer for a movie, After landing the role, she must balance pregnancy, homelife and a rocky love life, Based on a true story,
Thoughts
First, full disclosure, I tend to stay away from books where the main character is a downtrodden black woman/girl, The new book releases have been so disappointing this year because the ones featuring black female protagonist tend to always be so depressing, As a black woman, I really am burnt out reading yet another story where someone like me is a slave/maid/servant/downtrodden, However, I gave this one a try because the blurb described it as "moving and funny, " A little bit of tears and a little bit of laughter That I can do!
AnneMarie is an extremely likable character, She is drawn so realistically probably because she is based on a real personthat you can't help but empathize and root for her,
The book is written in an urban vernacular, a task that is not a very easy, On the Come Up does it with both success and failure, Once you get into the rhythm, the narrator will slip out of the vernacular, This is really evident when the author uses analogies, Also, some of the slang became repetitive, like the use of mad, Since the story is told over a period of aboutyears, the slang should have changed with the times, If you are going to write in vernacular, you have to fully commit to it, It may have been more successful if the book was written inst person, through AnneMarie's eyes,
The characters dialogue, however was very believable, Hannah Weyer is credited as a screenwriter, which explains why the book reads more like a play or movie,
The story itself is somewhat predictable, Although there was a plot twist in the last fifth of the book that came out of nowhere, It really ruined one of AnneMarie's the most beautiful and supportive relationships, On the Come Up lacked a lot of the humor that was described in the blurb, Too much despair for me,
Last quibble, I initially thought the book took place in the earlys because of some of the slang and pop culture references, But, some scenes seem to be set in the earlys, One that sticks out is the girls arguing over the best girl groups: En Vogue, SWV, TLC, Destiny's Child, It was odd because the firstgroups were popular in the earlymids, while Destiny's Child didn't really breakout until the ''DC was one of the last popular RampB girl groups.
I was a huge fan of RampB girl groups in thes that scene stuck out to me :P
Conclusion
AnneMarie is a great, realistic character.
However, the story tends to be more downtrodden than humorous and uplifting, As I read the blurb on the back of the book closely, I see that they related AnneMarie to the Sappire's Precious Jones, If you like Push, you'll like this, If you are like me, and really have burnout on Push type stories, proceed with caution, Beautifully written, and very affective, I would recommend this to a high school curriculum, women and juvie resource programs, and for fans of sitelinkThe Coldest Winter Ever, This innercity female narrative is both literary and accessible, "She thought about how she'd made Darius it , the number one beall, endall, Even with making the movie and getting out in the world, she'd tethered herself to him, first for love, then for Star, then simply for the sameness of it.
There'd been a comfort in the sameness, She'd never had the guts to tell him down, Five years, coming and going, He could punch her. F her. Kick her in the head, She'd get up Yeah, she'd get up but she'd say, Come on in,
She didn't speak these words aloud, But she understood them suddenly and in a deep way, having gone out into the world and come back again, seeing her life as a map with lines and markings, . . all the boundaries to cross and the ones she'd accepted, All the markings scratched out by petty beefs and
throwdowns, the want of attention and money, by having a baby too young, The weight of an arm confused with a promise,
It came to her just before sleep, an idea crystallizing in the darkhow maybe the size of your world ain't what matter, whether it expand or shrink up or expand again.
Hurdles to jump. You jump. Erase the lines, draw new ones, Chart a course and follow, "
Meet AnnMarie Walker, She's a tween in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, New York, She doesn't know her dadhe was a violent drunk who her mother escaped from when AnnMarie was a baby, Escaping involved fleeing Trinidad for New York, and sleeping in homeless shelters while trying to eke out a live for herself and her child, Along the way AnnMarie spent time in various foster homes until her mother could provide a stable home environment, Now AnnMarie is nearing her teen years, and back with her mother, We meet her as she heads down the beach to sell Popsicles and other frozen treats to fund her back to school clothes,
We see her navigate her neighborhood, and the various joys and threats it contains, She has friends who are years older and are trying to form a girl's rap group, Through them she is introduced to Dariushe poses as a gobetween for up and coming artists with recording studios, Most likely though, he is a thug, AnnMarie falls for his looks and smooth talking manner, Predictably, she becomes yet another human face to the teenage pregnancy statistics, Not so predictable is her response to challenge, and her fierce love for her daughter which gives her a reason to live,
Bottom line: Weyer breathed life into AnnMarie, Her personality is drawn in great detail, and I loved watching her grow and change when faced with adversity, Hers is not a "Cinderella" story, She was given opportunities, but realistically, an Indie film did not change her life excessively, Instead, it gave her the self esteem and motivational tools to change her own life if she should choose to do so, Grab this book if you are looking for a summer read with a heroine to cheer for, Givenor a rating of "Excellent", Recommended!
Another favorite quote: "So they did the scene, walking through the courtyard, the three girls from the movie, Crown Heights kids by the icecream truck, mad quiet, listening to the lines and waiting for their cue.
And they had only had to do it three times, Dean bought ice cream for all the kids out there that day and AnnMarie was about to tell him about Blessed doing the same thing a long time ago but she thought, Nah.
I'm good. Right here, right now, staying in the moment with Sonia and Melody and all the other kids whose names she didn't know but who'd come up with a scene about bleeding without spilling a single drop.
"
Stuff I learned: Here's a link to a great article about Far Rockaway, It describes the natural beauty of the area, while briefly mentioning the Redfern houses that AnnMarie and most people she knew steered clear of late at night, sitelink curbed. com
And here's a link to a discussion on the pro's not many and the con's of separate schools for pregnant high school students, The example school is similar in many ways to the one that AnnMarie attended, sitelink nytimes. comed .