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Title details for Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid - Available

Such a Fun Age

by Kiley Reid
Nicole Lewis
Audiobook
1 of 5 copies available
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1 of 5 copies available
A Best Book of the Year:
The Washington Post • Chicago Tribune • NPR • Vogue • Elle • Real Simple • InStyle • Good Housekeeping • Parade • Slate • Vox • Kirkus Reviews • Library Journal • BookPage
Longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize
An Instant New York Times Bestseller
A Reese's Book Club Pick 
"The most provocative page-turner of the year." —Entertainment Weekly
"I urge you to read Such a Fun Age." —NPR
A striking and surprising debut novel from an exhilarating new voice, Such a Fun Age is a page-turning and big-hearted story about race and privilege, set around a young black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both.
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," and the complicated reality of being a grown up. It is a searing debut for our times.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    December 31, 2019

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593107072
      • File size: 287266 KB
      • Duration: 09:58:28

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 2, 2019
      In her debut, Reid crafts a nuanced portrait of a young black woman struggling to define herself apart from the white people in her life who are all too ready to speak and act on her behalf. Emira Tucker knows that the one thing she’s unequivocally good at is taking care of children, specifically the two young daughters, Briar and Catherine, of her part-time employer, Alix Chamberlain. However, about to turn 26 and lose her parents’ health insurance, and while watching her friends snatch up serious boyfriends and enviable promotions, Temple grad Emira starts to feel ashamed about “still” babysitting. This humiliation is stoked after she’s harassed by security personnel at an upscale Philadelphia grocery store where she’d taken three-year-old Briar. Emira later develops a romantic relationship with Kelley, the young white man who captured cellphone video of the altercation, only to discover that Kelley and Alix have a shared and uncomfortable past, one that traps Emira in the middle despite assertions that everyone has her best interests at heart. Reid excels at depicting subtle variations and manifestations of self-doubt, and astutely illustrates how, when coupled with unrecognized white privilege, this emotional and professional insecurity can result in unintended—as well as willfully unseen—consequences. This is an impressive, memorable first outing. Agent: Claudia Ballard, WME Entertainment.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Nicole Lewis hooks listeners with her lively pacing and vivid characterizations in this gripping debut audiobook on race, privilege, and money. In an upscale Philadelphia grocery shop, 25-year-old black college graduate Emira is improperly detained by a security guard who refuses to believe that she is the babysitter of her white employer's 3-year-old daughter, Briar. Lewis superbly captures the fallout from this disturbing encounter--Emira's growing unease; intrusive behavior from Alix, Emira's employer and Briar's mother; and complications from Emira's romantic entanglement with Kelly, a young white man who filmed the incident. Lewis skillfully delivers the snappy repartee between Emira and her best friend, Zara, and the "Sex and the City" vibe of Alix and her New York City friends, Tamra, Jodi, and Rachel. M.J. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
    • BookPage
      Briskly told and devilishly well-plotted, Such a Fun Age follows a young black babysitter and her affluent white employer in the months following a racially motivated public altercation in an upscale grocery. Although strewn with emails, tweets, blogs and texts, Kiley Reid’s game-changing debut novel is rooted in classic dialogue-driven storytelling and is a marker for precisely where our culture is today. Alix Chamberlain and her family have recently relocated to Philadelphia. Alix makes her living as a blogger, and now with an established brand, LetterSpeak, she has speaking engagements and a book contract. Emira is the babysitter for Alix’s precocious and sensitive toddler, Briar. Almost 26, Emira is frustrated by her lack of money and direction. Even more so, she fears the imminent loss of her health insurance. When a security guard in an upscale grocery store accuses Emira of kidnapping Briar, a crowd gathers. A white bystander named Kelley films the altercation, then offers to send the video to the local news. Emira is mortified, but she and Kelley begin dating, while the existence of the video remains a sore point between them. When the news that Kelly and Alix had a relationship in high school comes to light, Emira feels even more uncomfortable. Despite assurances from her boyfriend and employer that they are acting on her behalf, it’s not clear who speaks for Emira and why she can’t speak up for herself. Such a Fun Age hits every note just right—from Alix’s self-righteous frustration to Emira’s ambivalence about accepting help. What takes the book to the next level is its willingness to go beyond where the story naturally leads. This is a tale without a heroine or villain; instead it’s a clear-eyed look at the complex transactional relationship that exists between mothers and nannies, while never shying away from the tender closeness that often grows between babysitters and their charges. Smart, witty and even a bit sly, this penetrating social commentary is also one of this year’s most enjoyable novels. ALSO IN BOOKPAGE: Kiley Reid shares the three things you must know before reading Such a Fun Age.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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