This Is Really Happening

April 24, 2017
BuzzFeed senior writer Chack debuts with a collection of 11 evocative stories mined from her personal life. In the opening entry, “Girl-Shaped Tornado,” a 19-year-old Chack attempts to tell her friends about her cancer diagnosis, often with awkward results. “Why I Can Never Visit Egypt” ventures into the world of menstrual cups, necessitating a work call-in when removal goes awry. And “Don’t Read the Comments” is all but self-explanatory: “I thought by now, after years of receiving countless emails, Tweets, Facebook messages, Instagram DMs, and—yes—even a text message saying that I am the dumbest, ugliest, most worthless flesh puddle to ever seep onto the Internet, that I’d have grown a thicker skin.” Chack writes with self-awareness and sarcastic wit, tackling emotionally resonant subjects. In “Greener Pastures,” she muses, “People love to couple cancer survivors and bravery, but they get the relationship between them wrong: Cancer doesn’t make you brave; it only helps you to see the depth of the bravery you’ve always had.” This wide-ranging collection should win Chack many fans. Ages 12–up. Agent: Tina Wexler, ICM.

March 15, 2017
Chack cut her teeth as a writer for BuzzFeed, crafting articles like -29 Things You Should Never Do When Banging a Dude,- and now offers this episodic memoir.The white, blonde New Jersey native reveals how she met her best friend abroad, a curious incident with a menstrual cup, and the time she went camping with some friends and encountered a bear. There isn't any discernible narrative throughline, nor is there apparent rhyme or reason to the order in which the stories are presented. The author jumps back and forth through time, skirting around her bout with cancer and her decade-plus relationship with her boyfriend. The surface to these aspects of her life is only briefly skimmed, which is a shame, as there's enough heft there to make readers wish she'd gone deep. The background characters tend to blend together: they all seem to speak in the same singsong, hip-to-skip rhythm. Regardless, the stories are light and breezy, reminiscent of the tales shared among college roommates when they're up far too late on the night before the big test but can't bring themselves to actually study. There's a pleasant nature to these casually amusing tales that makes the book engaging for all its superfluity. Amusing stories to share late at night. (Memoir. 14-adult)

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April 1, 2017
Gr 9 Up-Chack, a senior writer at BuzzFeed, pens a smart, fast-paced exploration of her later teen years in this collection of short personal stories. From first periods and loves to college and a cancer diagnosis at age 19, Chack chronicles her experiences with wit and honesty, presenting an unromanticized look at her illness and her own mortality. However, it is her passion for her work that shines through: -Don't Read the Comments- is a highlight for its succinct account of daily life at BuzzFeed, from compiling wacky spaghetti-themed lists to dealing with the unending line of trolls in her inbox. Chack's job is interesting, and, more important, so is she. Readers will laugh, cheer, and internally groan at relatable awkward moments as the author invokes nostalgia and excitement for young adulthood. VERDICT Full of crossover YA/adult appeal, this is for fans of intelligent, sassy writers and books such as Sarah Andersen's Adulthood Is a Myth, Issa Rae's The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, or Maya Van Wagenen's Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek.-Jessica Bratt, Grand Rapids Public Library, MI

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2017
Grades 9-12 As a senior writer at BuzzFeed, Chack's covered everything from 14 Times Spaghetti Lived by Its Own Damn Rules to 29 Things You Should Never Do When Banging a Dude. In this quick-witted debut collection of 11 personal essays, Chack turns the lens inward, spotlighting memorable mishaps (two of them urine-related), marvels (the magic of a Manhattan rooftop), anxieties (cruel commenters), and achievements (a dream come true job). Opening with her struggle to inform loved ones of her cancer diagnosis in Girl-Shaped Tornado and closing with recollections from a particularly pivotal dinner party in Memento Mori, Chack also talks dating in the age of AOL Instant Messenger, soulmateswhich she likens to two carrots entwined in an orange-y double helix and death, which she believes matters only to those who remain. With a knack for infusing the most dire or painfully awkward circumstances with a heaping dose of humor and infectious enthusiasm, Chack and her candidly conversational, meandering approach will quickly convert readers into chuckling confidants. A heartfelt celebration of goofiness in all its glory.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)