The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl

December 15, 2014
Rae is a rising star in the world of comedy and television as the writer, producer, and star of the award-winning YouTube series Awkward Black Girl. Here Rae expands on her favorite theme, awkwardness, by exploring her multicultural, trilingual, suburban, Internet-obsessed upbringing in Los Angeles, by way of Senegal and Maryland. Amid uproarious recollections of her after-school hours spent cat fishing dudes in online chat rooms, an ill-timed make-out session that led to her first brush with Senegalese corruption, the blatant lies she told to classmates about her ability to dance and her access to Missy Elliot's latest single, and her deep, deep love affair with food and eating alone, properly, Rae details her transition from desperate-to-be-cool Jo-Issa Diop to (awkward) girl-about-town Issa Rae. This charming, sparkling memoir is recommended for fans of Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out without Me? (2011) and Samantha Irby's Meaty (2013). Already a strong voice for diversity in media, Rae is someone readers of all stripes will love getting to know, however awkwardly.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2015
Writer, producer and director Rae, famous for her popular Web series, "The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl," channels her humor and attention to detail into this eponymous collection of personal essays about all the embarrassing moments that have made her who she is.Sharp and able to laugh at herself, the author writes as if she's unabashedly telling friends a stream of cringeworthy stories about her life. Having grown up with the understanding that laughing at and talking about people was a form of entertainment and bonding, Rae continues the tradition by inviting readers into her inner circle and making her own foibles her primary focus. Almost 30, she opens up about nearly everything in her life, from her lifelong fear of being watched while eating in public to acutely awkward experiences with Internet dating and cybersex. The theme that race plays in this book is integral, although Rae's approach, as with all of her subjects, is decidedly humorous and lighthearted; she veers, always, toward a personal tone as opposed to one that's political or polemical. Her unwavering candidness, the sheer energy of her voice and the fact that she clearly finds herself to be terrific material make her a charismatic, if occasionally exasperating, narrator worth rooting for. Having been in a committed relationship for seven years, Rae unpacks how her Senegalese parents' union contributed to her attitude (indifference) toward marriage. Some readers will find her proclamations and direct confessions offensive and be turned off; others may be offended but laugh out loud anyway. In Rae, her audience has landed on a singular voice with the verve and vivacity of uncorked champagne. An authentic and fresh extension of the author's successful Web series.

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