![]() ![]() ![]() I have to admit, before reading this, I was only vaguely aware of Trevor Noah, in that I knew his name and knew that he hosted The Daily Show in the US, but I’d never heard any of his comedy. Some spirits are more easily crushed.BECHDEL TEST: N/A (since this is a memoir)Ĭontent Warnings: Racism, discussions of Apartheid, shooting, domestic abuse, racial slurs, violence, animal cruelty, classism, poverty, alcoholism, physical abuse, child abuse, misogyny, police brutality, mentions of slavery and colonialism, anti-semitism, animal death, pregnancy, medical and hospital content, bullying, blood, sexual assault ![]() The book tells such a good story and offers so much insight into apartheid that I learned a lot and wish I had waited several years before offering this to my son. At times it did so, but young children today who live in a less harsh world can have a harder time understanding parenting methods of a more traditional time and the violence of another context. I'd read that it was very funny so I thought this would offset the darker themes. Most kids wouldn't have responded that way but I usually find Common Sense Media provides a good metric for me to gauge whether it's age appropriate for us or not. I'll have to finish it on my own because after one tearful break he recovered from, he broke down a second time several more pages in and hurled it across the room. ![]() I have a highly sensitive child - nearly eleven - and he's not nearly ready for it. I think highly of the book but wish we'd waited a few more years. Fans of Noah's stand-up comedy or The Daily Show will find plenty of his trademark sharpness and self-effacing humor even as he relates memories of suffering poverty and abuse. Trevor describes the petty crimes he committed as a young adult, as well: He and his friends were loan sharks and music pirates before Trevor began his career as a comedian and television host. Abel, the stepfather, is frequently drunk and has a history of marijuana use. Noah, who was a mischievous kid, makes a distinction between the corporal punishment he receives from his devoted mother and the callous violence of his stepfather. The publisher's epilogue on the history of Apartheid mentions the Sharpeville Massacre, when white police opened fire on a crowd of unarmed black protesters, killing dozens of people. There are incidents of disturbing violence against Trevor and his mother, who's beaten and shot by his stepfather. The book explores gender roles, and the relationships between different factions within the black community, as well as between blacks and whites and "colored" (mixed race) people. Noah grew up as the ultimate outsider: the son of a black South African mother and a white European father, at a time when laws under Apartheid made it illegal for mixed-race couples to marry or have children. Parents need to know that It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood is an adaptation for younger readers of comedian and Daily Show host Noah's 2016 memoir Born a Crime. ![]()
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