February 3, 2022
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
#ThrowBackThursday
#BlackHistoryMonth
Genre/Categories/Setting: Nonfiction, Memoir, South Africa
In 2020, I decided to systematically revisit my older review posts and update them. On Thursdays, I’ll be re-sharing a few of these great reads. Today, I’m re-sharing a compelling memoir, Born a Crime by Trevor Noah.
I’m linking up today with Davida @ The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog for #throwbackthursday.
*This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
My Summary:
“Language, even more than color, defines who you are to people.”
“Trevor Noah’s life in Apartheid South Africa began with a crime. He was born to a white father and a black Xhosa mother. This had to be kept a secret because the relationship was punishable by five years in prison. In a racially divided country, Trevor spent most of his early childhood living behind closed doors because his light color would certainly give away the circumstances of his birth and place his parents (who were living separately) in danger. If the government discovered the circumstances of his birth, they could even take him away from his mother. At the end of Apartheid and later in his childhood, Trevor Noah faced the challenge of deciding with which group he would identify: white, black, or colored (mixed). He felt like an outsider for most of his childhood and young adult years. Trevor enjoyed a close relationship with his risk-taking, rebellious, and spiritual mother. He was intuitive and street smart but also incredibly mischievous. The essays that document his coming of age are humorous, insightful, honest, and at times disturbing.”
Compelling, humorous, gritty, and inspiring…
Continue here for my full review of Born a Crime…
QOTD:
Have you read Born a Crime or is it on your TBR?
Great! I read it as a readalong with other bloggers 5 years ago. Funny enough, I was looking at stats yesterday, and discovered this post is the one that got most views ever since my blog started 11 years ago: https://wordsandpeace.com/2017/02/20/born-a-crime-9-14-read-along-at-book-bloggers-international/
Here is my post for today: https://wordsandpeace.com/2022/02/03/throwback-thursday-january-2012/
That’s interesting! I love those evergreen posts that keep giving and giving! I’ll hop over and take a look…and bump your stats! Thanks for sharing!
I read and commented on both posts but it doesn’t look like they went through?
You’re definitely not the last person to read this! It sounds so good and I love Trevor!
I’ve heard the audio is wonderful!
I get it but i wonder why they would have a kid in the first place if it was prohibited, they’d have to know that hiding isn’t a great childhood for a kid 😳
It’s tragic for a child. 💔
I adored this audio! I found myself laughing out loud multiple times. What an incredible story!
I’ve heard the audio is great! At my library the audio was twice the wait, so I opted for print but I regret it now!
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