What do I have to do to profess my EXTREME love for this book?! My obsession with this book, and my strong desire to force ALL my friends to read it, began on a hot June day when I volunteered as an author escort at Lit Fest. The day before I attended the festival meeting both John Green and Veronica Roth *insert intense jealousy here* but we are not talking about that right now.
Sunday was the day I signed up to volunteer and looking at the schedule I noticed Rachel Bertsche would arrive later that afternoon. To say I was upset for volunteering on the day that Rachel was speaking is an understatement but I focused on the positive- like escorting John Philip Sousa’s great grandson. After finishing up with John’s book signing I debated taking a lunch break, during which I planned to sneak into the library for Rachel’s interview pretending as if I had some very important job to do. It would be a stealth operation but I had the identification and confidence to make it happen. Despite my awesome plan, which would have worked, my conscience told me to check back with the boss for my next assignment. Once back, I was handed a sheet with my next escort assignment…
RACHEL BERTSCHE!!!
Not only did I get to see her speak but I would have the opportunity to spend some time with her! AHHH! There was another name on the escort list too though. Some chick named Jenny, whoever that was, who required copious amounts of diet coke. I soon realized I had seen her book at Target, more later on my love for Target, but had never read it. I acted like a crazy nerd fan as I introduced myself to Rachel and off I led Rachel, Jenny, a private escort, and the interviewer down the street to the Harold Washington Library for the interview. I was so nutzo about Rachel and I don’t actually remember if I introduced myself to Jenny. The interview was crazy and I almost died when Jenny read a scene from her book about the insane things that happen in HR- which I cannot even mention on here because I am a teacher and I would greatly prefer my own HR people to NOT come after me. I stayed with Rachel and Jenny through their book signing, which may or may not involved a very large pink tutu being tried on my all, and stopped by Target on my way home to purchase the book immediately. This purchase was followed a few days later by the audio edition as well… *hangs head*.
The book tells all about Jenny’s childhood and the start of her adulthood in a way that will cause you to laugh harder than you thought possible while reading a book. Jenny let’s readers into her life as she shares the good, the bad, and the ugly. There are plenty stories filled with adult humor juxtaposed next to ones about mental illness, miscarriage, and other life tragedies. There is an underlying life message of learning from your bad experiences and appreciating the good ones. I LOVED it!
Caution, this book should not be read in a quiet environment where unintentionally laughing out loud, uncontrollably would be frowned upon. Trust me- it WILL happen! You’re welcome!