What can I say except what a privilege to have been able to read an advance copy of Wild Life, the absorbing memoir from debut author, Keena Roberts. Seriously, snatch this one up when it releases on November 12, 2019.
I'll be honest. I rarely, if ever, read memoirs. Every now and then, if it’s someone of great cultural/historical significance, then perhaps, or a celebrity I happen to admire, but I tend to stay away, especially if it’s just your average person. It’s a subjective thing, really, nothing against the genre of a whole. I'm much more of a fiction addict.
Wild Life, however, is a phenomenal example of the genre and I’m so happy that I was given the opportunity to read her ARC. She tells her story with depth, humor, and heart, and when you’re done, you can almost believe you were studying in Kenya or Botswana right alongside her. And boy can she give any celebrity a run for his money on a life well lived.
No, you will not want to put this one down. And you'll be sad when it ends, like when a treasured friend or relative leaves after a visit.
Roberts spent much of her life growing up in a variety of African settings with her primatologist parents. There she absorbed everything she could living among wild animals and often felt more at home with them than she did when she would return to her American schools. She could understand how and why wild animals acted, but she couldn’t wrap her head around the meanness of her classmates.
I'm not that much older than Keena, and I was amazed at what she was able to accomplish at such a young age--picking off snakes with rifles, being sent down croc-infested rivers with just her little sister, thrown into the midst of dangerous wild animals. My life, on the other hand, was a little more sheltered--I wasn't even allowed to go to Nature's Classroom!
I’m amazed at how much life she packs into less than 300 pages. Aside from learning about her fascinating upbringing, I learned even more about Africa, particularly the landscape and life in places such as Kenya, and Botswana—the animals, the people, their illnesses and struggles as well as their passions and humanity.
Through vivid descriptions, you will smell the rain, sweat in the 130 degree temperatures, feel the dust clogging your nose. This book is a triumph and as a YA-geared release, I can see its usefulness in a variety of academic settings. But anyone of her age bracket (and anyone else, really) will easily relate as well, as she writes about contemporary world events as they unfolded in her life. When she mentions the death of Princess Diana and 9/11, well, I was instantly transported to my teenage days too.
Put this book on you TBRs, folks. And definitely be on the lookout for her next release. I sure am.