Book Review: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

Such a Fun Age
by Kiley Reid (Reid)

Emira Tucker is a 25-year-old African-American woman living in Philadelphia and working as a babysitter. Alex Chamberlain is a white blogger/speaker with two young children; she is Emira’s employer. Emira, dressed for going out, had been in the middle of an evening with friends when she received an urgent call from her boss. Eager to help, she came over to get Briar (a toddler) out of the house for an emergency, and took her young charge to the store. Noticing a difference in race, a shopper and security guard questioned Emira to see if she had kidnapped Briar. The novel begins with an uncomfortable situation, and raises important questions about race. Which conversations should take place? Which conversations are offensive? Social media further complicates things. White privilege and several layers of minimization on the white supremacy pyramid are raised: tokenism, white savior complex, racial fetishism. This is a great book club book.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, All American Boys by Jason Reynolds & Brendon Kielyor Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano.]

[ official Such a Fun Age and Kiley Reid web site ]

Recommended by Jodi R.
Anderson and Bethany Branch Libraries

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