The Cameron Collegian - October 3rd, 2022

The

Quest Story for

Brittney Payette Managing Editor

Storytelling is a class that had not been previously taught at Cameron—until now. This semester, the class is from 11 to 12:15 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays in the Academic Commons.

Instructor and Director of Forensics Katie Stringer is teaching Storytelling for the first time.

She said the main reason why she wanted to teach this class was that she had taken a Storytelling class twice, once while pursuing her undergraduate degree and once while pursuing her master’s.

“I got to take this course at my varying Universities,” Stringer said. “Both times, it was my favorite class I took.”

Stringer said that storytelling is a passion of hers.

“I love storytelling,” she said. “It gives you the opportunity to tell things in a different way.”

Stringer said that people may not realize it, but they use storytelling every day.

“I would love for my students to take away the fact that storytelling is all around you,” she said.

Stringer said that there is a multitude of ways people use storytelling in their daily lives.

“Storytelling is not just telling kids a nighttime story,” she said. “Storytelling can be something like selling your good assets of a job interview, or simply doing something like telling your friends about your day. It’s all a version of storytelling. Storytelling is an intricate part of your everyday life. ”

Stringer said she would love to teach the class again.

“It is a really cool elective to take,” she said, “and a wonderful opportunity to get to have some knowledge about this thing that a lot of people find very intimidating when in reality, most of us do it, and we don’t even realize it. I would also like to teach it again to also give more students an opportunity to take it. Including some who are outside of the major.”

Stringer said she created the curriculum for the Storytelling class by combining her knowledge from the Storytelling classes she took, online research she did and using her imagination.

“If I was a student here at Cameron, what would I want to see,” she said. “What would I want to learn? What was something that I wish I had been taught? And so, I take all three of those things; I combined them into this class… overall, I’m pretty happy with the content.”

Stringer said her favorite part of teaching a class is toward the end when a student has what she calls an “I gotcha” moment.

“The moments when a student who has been struggling all semester to really make that connection with their stories all of the sudden does a performance, and they just blossom, and they grow.”

Stringer said what she sincerely wants people to know is that anyone can take this class.

“Whatever level of experience you have,” she said, “whatever level of life experience you have, all of us have a story. And all of our stories matter.”

Junior Accounting major Mikel Weatherspoon is one of the students taking the new class this semester.

“I decided to take this class last semester when I had a previous class with Katie,” Weatherspoon said. “She was teaching the professional speaking course, and the class

went very well, and she kept us engaged.”

Weatherspoon said he rated the new Storytelling class a 12 out of 10.

“Katie establishes a great atmosphere in the class,” he said. “A really safe learning environment. Everybody feels connected. She keeps it wellrounded. Shout out to Katie Stringer.”

Weatherspoon said he is looking forward to telling his Children’s story soon.

“I look forward to moving my body in ways that the people are not looking forward to seeing. I like to catch people off guard. She’s getting me very excited about doing so.”

Weatherspoon said he wants more people to take the class.

“I feel like people are really missing out on the opportunities they have at hand here,” he said. “The atmosphere Katie builds for the class is really welcoming. She keeps us engaged, and she makes it very clear that everybody matters.”

Junior Strategic Communications major Ki’Arra Williams is another student in the new storytelling class who says she is glad she took it.

“It’s exceeded my expectations,” Williams said. “Katie ties in a lot of like life lessons with it... She teaches us how its not just reading a children’s story or something you know. I’ve really enjoyed the class so far.”

Williams said more people should give the class a try.

“I would definitely recommend this class for sure,” Williams said. “You don’t have to be a Communication major or a JRMP, it’s great for eveyone.”

For more information about the class, contact the Communication, English, and Foreign Languages chair Dr. Von Underwood at vonu@cameron.edu.

Red Hot Chili Peppers concert

Live-action Pinocchio review

Diverse

“The moments when a student who has been struggling all semester to really make that connection with their stories all of the sudden does a performance, and they just blossom, and they grow.”

Graphics by Brittney Payette

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Tiffany Estes Copy Editor

At 7 p.m. on Sept. 18at the Globe Life Field/Texas Rangers stadium in Arlington, TX the Red Hot Chili Pepper ended their “Unlimited Love” world stadium tour. The band was firing on all cylinders as they have been doing with live performances for well over thirty years.

I attended this concert with my family, consisting of ten of us with all ages ranging from 7 years-old to sixty years. The tickets were a Christmas gift and we eagerly anticipated the show all year long.

Upon our arrival to Globe Life Field, thousands of people were descending upon the venue sporting their iconic Red Hot Chili Peppers logo shirts. All ages and ethnicities, including my family of ten, joyfully immersed themselves into the diverse music experience.

The concert was led by opening band, Thundercat. This three piece trio has an insane bassist, Stephen Bruner warmed the crowd with his psychedelic jazz riffs.

The second opening act, preceding the main performance, was The Strokes. Theirs was a dark and moody setup that almost forces the audience to listen with more intention to the band.

I was not familiar with either opening act but vaguely recognized a couple of songs performed. There was a solid following of Strokes fans repping the band with shirts and singing along with the lead singer, Julian Casablancas.

The headliner was without

a doubt the main event, as a never-ending sea of iconic red asterisk shirts filled the stadium.

The crowds at the various merch tables wrapped around the stadium; however, the lines moved fairly quickly. I stood in line for about half an hour before making my purchase.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers absolutely rocked! When they took the stage, the lights dimmed and the crowd roared. Excitement was heavy in the air and vibes were so positive and upbeat.

The Chili Peppers opened with an intro jam that bled into one of their hit songs “Can’t Stop.”

The band consists of lead singer, Anthony Kiedis (50), Bassist, Flea (59), lead guitarist and vocalist, John Frusciante (52), and drummer Chad Smith (60) who is well-known for having a strange resemblance to actor/ comedian Will Ferrell.

The bassist Flea was especially energetic as this 59 year-old rocker jumped around through the entire set

with the energy of a 20 year-old. Across his guitar was a large sticker that reads, “Support your local freak.”

The stage was spectacular with an oversized digital video wall, reaching well over 100 feet above the stage and spilling out over the edge of the stage.

This contributed to the visceral visual experience and light show that accompanied the intense jamming the Chili Peppers brought with them.

It was amazing to me the power and force a fourpiece band brought along. The sound was so full and this energy kept the crowd pumped up all night long.

The set list included such hits as, “Dani California,” “Snow ((Hey Oh)),” “Soul to Squeeze,” “Otherside,” “Give it Away,” “Californication” and ended with an encore performace of “By the Way.”

When the Chili Peppers took stage to perform the final song, lighters came out, cell phones lit up a dark sky with twinkling flames and blue-screen lights as the crowd sang each word from the heart.

This band has been rocking out since the 1980’s and still consists of mostly original bandmates who have been together since high school. They have survived through the decades and faced death and departure of some members, addiction and commercial success.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are still kicking out rock tunes just as hard as they did when they first started jamming together and made it big in Los Angeles back in the early 80’s.

The concert, for me, was a bucket list show. Both the vocals and live music performed at this concert were astronomical and the performance was authentic.

Keep calm and bead on

Photos by Tiffany Estes

Photos by Lindsey Edwards

BACK TO SCHOOL

By Tereasa Neeley, Voices Editor

I decided to back to school because I had a lot of free time on my hands after a lifechanging experience – Due to my age, I am considered an older adult.

Today we see more and more older adults going back to college. Although I am not trying to catch up on educational opportunities I had missed out on, there are many older adults who are going back to school for this reason.

Some decided to go directly into the work force out of necessity and were unable to go to college right away. Others may have felt intimidated about going to college.

I thought long and hard about my decision to go back to school, and when I finally decided to go back, I was already well into my second career and felt I would benefit from more education.

I knew taking college classes would give me the opportunity to learn more aspects of my job. With an already full schedule, I faced juggling work, home, and college classes.

I was aware there would be challenges with going back to college at an older age, however, I felt confident that I could overcome any obstacle sent my way.

Like many older adults, I already had a clear goal about what I wanted to study. After being accepted to Cameron University, I enrolled in my first classes during the fall 2019.

I was a little scared at first, but I found that going back to school was easier than I thought. I had already earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice during the spring of 1994.

I had set my sights set on a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in Creative Writing. I had always enjoyed writing and decided to study writing on a professional level.

As an older adult, I found English college classes were easier to attend. Many older adults feel out of place at first, and they may also have a hard time connecting with the younger adult students.

Eventually, older students come to realize that they have many advantages over younger adult students.

Many of these advantages come from more experience, positive perspective and increased focus, which allows older student to learn easier and achieve higher standards of success than they may have done as younger students.

I found that many older adults, like myself, are willing to share details about our unique work experiences in the classroom.

By sharing some of these struggles, challenges and successes stories, with younger students, I began to notice that some were eager to learn more about my own work experience and found it interesting to learn what I had done in my career.

Many younger students were surprised to learn that I was able to juggle college along with my professional and home life.

As an older adult student, I have found that I am learning a lot of things I never thought I would be learning about.

Throughout my career, I have learned how to keep up with evolving technology,

but have also discovered that there are some newer programs that I am not familiar with. There are also many older adults who are not familiar with the new technology and may struggle to learn new things.

I have found that if the older adults and the younger adults work together in study groups, this allows older adults to learn new skills and younger adults gain knowledge about work experience.

As an older adult, I feel I am more focused on my studies than I did when I was younger. I also feel like I am getting more out of my classes.

I tend to understand more about what the professors lecture about, and I am not as confused or afraid to ask for help.

I prefer the in-class instruction as opposed to the online class instruction, finding that face-to-face interaction with the professors is invaluable.

Cameron does offer online classes to older adults who are unable to attend traditional classes.

For me, when COVID-19 hit, I was at a loss with my classes. I felt I was not able to learn as much online as I would have in the classroom.

Now that classes are back to in-class instruction, I feel more at ease. I am more relaxed knowing I can ask a question in class and get an answer without the spotty internet interrupting my classroom experience.

As an older adult I would recommend to other older adults that if they have a desire to go back to school and learn something new, they should definitely do it. If nothing else, they will broaden their horizons and get a better understanding of what younger adults are learning today.

The

Our

and because the

student

not include

develop

free

the

students and student

only for themselves. Administrators, faculty, staff or other agents shall not consider the student media’s content when making decisions regarding the media’s funding or faculty adviser.

Photo by Blake Moren

as a non-traditional student

2022 International Festival

T. N. Estes

On Sept. 23, at 5 p.m. at Elmer Thomas Park in Lawton, OK, the 43rd annual International Festival kicked off, and ran through the weekend, ending the evening of Sept. 25. This free, three-day event began as a way for the Lawton/Fort Sill area to celebrate the diverse heritage within the community.

The festival was jam-packed with food, fun children’s games and activities, demonstration artists, vendors, music and other multicultural experiences that make the Lawton/Fort Sill area so unique.

The event began with an opening ceremony, including a naturalization ceremony for new American citizens.

Immediately following, was the Parade of Nations which began at 5:45 p.m.

Food is a major draw at the

International Festival. Vendors were on-site with a variety of food choices including, gyros, Greek food, street tacos, snow cones, funnel cakes, fried Oreos, tornado fries and whole turkey legs.

Pecos Pete’s was one unique vendor who had a wide variety of iced teas and beverages to choose from. For $25 a guest could purchase a commemorative jar, with unlimited refills all weekend long. Flavor varieties included hill country sweet tea, cream soda, fresh squeezed lemonade, round rock tea, huckleberry tea and root bear.

The spirits were lively around the area where music was performed. Cultural dance was being performed both on and off-stage. Many people danced and relaxed in their chairs and enjoyed the mild, fall-like temperatures.

Grammy-nominated orchestra group, Grupo Fantasma, was one of the musical headliners at the festival. They

delighted patrons of the festival until 9 p.m. The merchandise table for Grupo Fantasma was steadily busy with patrons who purchased their t-shirts in support of the group.

The International Festival gives local artists a chance to perform and be seen by the community. The community of Lawton/Fort Sill is given the opportunity come out and buy unique, locally made items. Over 70 vendors were present at the festival selling unique items such as jewelry, international flags, toys, t-shirts and art.

Vendor owner of “Dream Flutes,” Mike Elkins, had an amazing collection of Native American art, jewelry, dream catchers and leather works for sale.

Elkins described how he and his wife became involved with the International Festival.

“We’ve been coming here about ten or twelve years,” Elkins said. “My son used to dance in the Comanche Nation pow-wows and we followed him around the area when he performed. We would set up a booth with a few items for sale, which is how we got started working as vendors.”

Another vendor at the festival was Gwen Ponder, owner of the retail shop “Just Because,” located in Duncan, OK. The booth had a variety of eclectic goods, art and prints for curious-minded patrons to choose from.

Ponder has been attending the International Festival as a vendor for three years and talked a little about why she enjoys participating in this event.

“I enjoy everything about participating in the International Festival,” Ponder said, “I like the music, I like the people, of course the food and the money.”

The parking at Elmer Thomas Park was great and handicap accessible. There were no issues, even during busy peak times at the festival finding a place to park. All parking was free and walking trails guided patrons toward the center of festivities.

The City of Lawton provided free golf cart rides for the many patrons to and from the festival.

Traffic and parking should never be an influence which deters wouldbe festival goer from attending any event held at Elmer Thomas Park. The parking process flowed seamlessly.

Elmer Thomas Park and the City of Lawton planned very well for large crowds of people.

Plenty of seating was also available under the shade of a tree or canopy.

An artillery tank, which is a permanent staple at Elmer Thomas Park, was an ever-present reminder that Lawton is built around the military base. The military presence in the community is a major contributor to the multiculturalism of the Lawton/ Fort Sill area.

The International Festival occurs annually during the fall season in Lawton, OK. The community is encouraged to attend and learn more about the multiculturalism that is present in the community.

CU Garden Fall Harvest

LaShea DeSelle Staff Writer

Individuals from all parts of Lawton came together to enjoy a successful fall harvest.

CU Garden

The Cameron University Garden began plot requests in late March of 2022. Plots are typically in use for the entire summer and fall seasons. Students, staff, professors and the Lawton community are encouraged to request one of the 12 x 12 ft. plots that are available to reserve each March, on a first come first serve basis.

Anyone can reserve a plot simply by contacting the chair of the Department of Agriculture, Biology and Health Sciences Dr. Mike Husak through email: michaelh@cameron.edu .

Some of the many fall harvest goods

grown are rows of snap peas, okra, cantaloupe, kale, corn, spinach, tomatoes, and peppers.

The Agriculture, Biology, and Health Sciences department offer many opportunities for the students at Cameron University along with programs for high school students who intend on pursuing higher education.

The CU Aggie Club is available for students who take an interest in agricultural studies and research.

Assistant professor of Agriculture, Biology and Health Sciences, Alimamy Fornah provided more details of what the Aggie Club is all about.

“The Aggie Club is an agricultural student club, and we are planning to use the greenhouse to grow vegetables that we can sell, as a fundraiser during the farmers market event,” Fornah said.

Agriculture students and faculty

have access to two, 36 x 50 ft greenhouses attached to the science complex building. Each greenhouse is equipped with heating and cooling systems and a space for preparing and planting seeds. This area is also used by the Aggie Club in preparation for research or development.

The Aggie Club is an active participant in recruiting over 500 high school students to attend Cameron University during the National FFA Convention in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Currently the Aggie Club is working on ways to increase student participation.

CU students are encouraged to join by contacting the President of the Aggie Club, colby.gilpen@ cameron.edu, or the Vice President kinsey.black@cameron.edu.

Lawton FFA

Congratulations to the Lawton FFA chapter for winning 1st place in the agriculture communication event held during the Annual FFA interscholastic competition.

Future Farmers of America (FFA) is an extracurricular student organization for those interested in agriculture leadership. Cameron University also has a Collegiate FFA chapter that attends competitions and events such as the Cameron FFA interscholastic, which will take place on April 14, 2023, in Lawton.

The annual FFA interscholastic competition has begun taking submissions in various research areas.

For more information concerning the Annual FFA Interscholastic Competition,

Phil Hamilton by email at phamilton@ cameron.edu.

Scholarship opportunities are offered to students in programs such as STEM and OKLSAMP. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) is a program that has been widely discussed lately because the number of students pursuing STEM has dropped. Through STEM, students focus on hands on learning in college that they can carry on into diverse fields like aeronautics, biochemistry, and engineering. Students looking to join STEM must have a high school diploma in good standing, also requirements needed to join STEM varies depend on the department providing STEM research. Oklahoma Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (OKLSAMP) is a scholarship that provides $2,000 to minority students in any STEM program.

1st Place! Winning art submitted for the poster design contest at the 2022 International Festival.

Editor Photo by T. N. Estes

Photos by LaShea DeSelle

Aggie WOMEN’S

Cameron has a wide variety of players who can be difference makers this year. With a healthy mix of size, speed and shooting ability, the Aggies have an opportunity to be an even better team as they look to put togehter their third stragiht winning season for the first time since 1986. Coach Mahoney has a deep connection with his team and looks poised to keep them on the winning track. This team has the tools to get the job done but needs to find a way to put it all together .

Last year the Lady Aggies finshed with a 17-11 overall record, going 11-5 in conference play. The team was ranked third in overall offense in the Lone Star Conference (LSC) but struggled defensively finsihing as the eleventh ranked unit on that side of the ball.

The Aggies ended the year with their second straight first round playoff exit and will look to become more aggressive on defense to keep the game where they want it. The Aggies finsihed ranked first overall in three pointers made per game last year but will need to find a way to get more pressure in the paint on both sides of the ball and secure more rebounds, something the team has struggled with mightily allowing the most rebounds to opponents in the LSC while only managing to snag the eigth most offensive rebounds in their conference. Improving the game in the paint and the post will be one of the biggest keys to this team’s success.

Photos and graphics by Jimm Alley

This season the Aggies will have a new

Coach as former assistant Jeff

over

after

Last

LIVE - ACTION ‘PINOCCHIO’ IS ‘ LAZY AND UNINSPIRED ’

By Blake Moren A&E Page Editor

This review contains spoilers.

The original 1941 “Pinocchio” animated film is among my favorite Disney films. The animation, characters, story and music are all amazing. It is undoubtedly a classic animated film.

The new “Pinocchio” is the latest live-action remake of a Disney animated film.

Most of the live-action remakes have received very mixed or somewhat negative reviews, with one of the criticisms being that these remakes are shot-for-shot similar to the original films.

Another criticism that these remakes include unnecessary changes to the stories, and most of these remakes may be dismissed as nothing more than a pointless cash-grab.

I personally don’t hate any of these remakes, but I would not consider them “great” by any stretch of the imagination, with 2016’s “The Jungle Book” being somewhat of an exception.

When the trailer for the remake of “Pinocchio” was shown on social media, it looked very promising to me, but I was bit cautious due to my low expectations for live-action Disney remakes.

I was even more concerned when the Rotten Tomatoes score was revealed: 27%. The audience score is not any better, when ended up around 30%. I was genuinely shocked. How could a Disney film with Tom Hanks be terrible?

Well…

The acting is actually pretty good. Tom Hanks as Geppetto is among the few highlights of the film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance as Jiminy Cricket is fine; it just sounds like he’s trying to imitate Cliff Edwards, the voice actor for Jiminy in the original animated film.

Keegan-Michael Key’s performance as Honest John is another highlight of the film. Benjamin Evan Ainsworth’s performance as Pinocchio is also pretty good, but the performance is kind of bland.

Cynthia Erivo’s extremely brief appearance as the Blue Fairy is amazing, and her rendition of “When You Wish Upon a Star” is pretty great too.

Another positive of the film is that the musical score by Alan Silvestri is really good.

On the other hand., the jokes are extremely weak; a lot of them go on for way too long. Additionally, the pop culture references are completely out-of-place and cringe-worthy.

In regard to the story changes in this remake, some of them work and most of them feel unnecessary and nonsensical.

One of these changes is that Monstro is not a whale, but some kind of sea monster with tentacles. While this sounds interesting on paper, the CGI is so unfinished that any potential tension or fear towards Monstro is made nonexistent.

This is among the biggest problems in the film: the computer-generated imagery, also known as CGI. While it isn’t the worst I’ve ever seen, it looks

unfinished and strange-looking.

While the original Monstro is still quite frightening, the live-action version is not that scary to me.

Besides, the build-up toward Monstro’s appearance is so underwhelming and lazy that I did not feel any fear toward the monstrous sea monster.

Why the filmmakers did not use a real puppet for Pinocchio is a mystery to me. Using a practical, handmade puppet would have given Pinocchio a far more grounded, realistic and convincing appearance.

Instead, he just looks a CGI puppet trying to look like a real puppet. It doesn’t look real; nothing CGI in this film looks convincingly real. Figaro, the cat, also looks unfinished in terms of visual effects. The CGI ranges from terrible to average, but most of it needs a bit more work.

While the film tries its best, I found it hard to invest into the story. Additionally, the pacing and flow of the film’s story is best described as jarring.

While Monstro was foreshadowed halfway through the film, the coachman just flies into the story without any explanation, buildup or reason. The depiction of Pleasure Island was interesting though, if a bit overthe-top.

As for things that also don’t make any sense is the ending. I won’t spoil the ending, but I legitimately felt confused and insulted by this ending.

In conclusion, almost everything in this film feels lazy and uninspired. I do not recommend this film.

Rating: 2.0 /10

Former child star opens up about trauma in Memoir

Tribune News Service

figure at Nickelodeon. She also details her experiences with obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, and substance abuse.

The memoir is written in present-tense, which displays McCurdy’s feelings toward her mother at each chapter of her life. Though it is clear to the reader McCurdy is being manipulated by her mother Debra, McCurdy speaks with such love and admiration about her. McCurdy never had an interest in acting, only doing so to appease her mother, who herself was a failed actress.

“I’m elated. Everything’s going to be different now. Everything’s going to be better,” McCurdy says. “My mom will finally be happy. Her dream is coming true.”

Much of McCurdy’s time on Nickelodeon was a miserable experience for her. The memoir also brings to light the inappropriate behavior of Dan Schneider, who is simply referred to as “The Creator.”

McCurdy to dinners where he would allegedly provide her with alcohol and make advances on her.

By Victoria White Staff Writer

On Aug. 9, Jennette McCurdy released her memoir titled “I’m Glad My Mom Died.” McCurdy, once a child star who has since retired from acting, starred in the Nickelodeon television shows “iCarly” and “Sam & Cat.”

The book begins with McCurdy as a child whose mother Debra insists she get into acting at age six, and continues chronologically until

present-day, with a 30-year-old McCurdy ten years removed from her mother’s death and undergoing therapy to recover from the traumas both directly and indirectly caused by her mother.

“I’m Glad My Mom Died” is not an easy read. It covers a variety of issues which may require content warnings for some readers. McCurdy discusses not only the abuse she experienced at the hands of her mother, but also by a prominent

Readers see McCurdy’s perception of her mother change from blind adoration to contempt over the course of 300 pages.The memoir is both shocking and saddening, as it is the first time McCurdy’s issues have been made public to a mainstream audience.

Debra manipulated her into becoming an actress and continuing to act when it was not enjoyable.

Upon booking “iCarly,” McCurdy’s first series regular role, nearly ten years after being pressured into the acting world, she expresses genuine excitement, but not excitement for herself.

Dan Schneider created the shows “iCarly” and “Sam & Cat,” as well as other successful Nickelodeon shows like “Drake & Josh” and “Henry Danger.”

On set, Schneider was quick to anger and was known to lose his temper at any given moment. McCurdy recounts moments when he would scream at cast and crew, adults and children alike, if a scene was not to his satisfaction. In addition to the verbal abuse, McCurdy also details the inappropriateness of Schneider’s relationships with his female cast and crew members, namely McCurdy herself. Schneider created scenarios for the show in which she was put in compromising and uncomfortable positions. He would also invite

Upon leaving Nickelodeon in 2014, McCurdy was offered $300,000 by the network as a supposed “thank you” for her time with them. The only stipulation was McCurdy could never speak about the events that transpired behind-the-scenes during her time with the network. She did not take the deal. In 2018, Nickelodeon discontinued their relationship with Schneider.

A 2021 New York Times article recounted the internal investigation which led to the firing of Schneider.“Some former colleagues, in recent interviews, said they found him a controlling, difficult showrunner, prone to tantrums and angry emails,” the article states. “A man with a delicate ego who made some staff members feel as though they were always walking on eggshells.”

“I’m Glad My Mom Died” has been a massive success for McCurdy.

The memoir (initially only envisioned as a one-woman show) sold out on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Target

less than 24 hours after releasing. At the time of this publication, the memoir is still the number one bestseller on the New York Times nonfiction list, and the audiobook, narrated by McCurdy herself, is the number two bestseller on Audible.

McCurdy deserves the success this memoir has granted her. As the saying goes, “tragedy plus time equals comedy,” and it’s clear McCurdy needed those ten years of time to grieve and process, resulting in a memoir which somehow manages to be genuinely funny while still discussing heavy concepts and traumatic events.

Because this is a memoir and the content is highly personal, I don’t intend to give it a rating.

However, McCurdy’s writing is excellent, and she provides a muchunseen look into show business, particularly for young children.

While portraying a carefree teenager and young adult on Nickelodeon, McCurdy was dealing with major hardships and had to remain silent. This memoir was a profile in courage, and I encourage all who are interested in her story to read it.

When You Wish Upon A Star: Tom Hanks stars as the clock-maker and woodcarver Geppetto in Disney’s live-action 2022 film “Pinocchio.”