Earth Hates Me

October 1, 2017

Gr 9 Up-For 16-year-old Karp, life consisted of going to school, practicing for the ACT, performing improv comedy, and writing this book for her peers to help them navigate high school. Karp uses her story as a template for those who want to make it out of their teens with their dignity and self-esteem intact. Raised by a single mom, Karp is Jewish, lives in Manhattan on the upper west side, and attends a huge public arts school in the city. She states quite frankly that she can only speak to what she knows and what she has experienced, but she provides advice on many subjects including: social media and bullying; love and unrequited love; pressure from family, school, and peers; feminism; friendships; and family life. She encourages readers to find their own voice and use it to be a changemaker; she has strong opinions and does not fear expressing them. The writing is clear and straightforward with a voice that will appeal to young people. There are many current pop culture references as well as mentions of older TV shows and movies that Karp loves. VERDICT Teen readers seeking an irreverent memoir/self-help book written from the perspective of a fellow high schooler will find this work captivating.-Elizabeth Kahn, Patrick F. Taylor Science & Technology Academy, Avondale, LA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2017
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Sixteen-year-old Karp has already earned her cred as an author and stand-up comedian, two skills that come together beautifully in this compassionate self-help book. She has a lot to say to fellow teens about the pressures of growing up in the twenty-first century. Consider, for example, those awkward middle-school years preserved forever in tweets and Instagram posts. What adult can understand that? Then there is the competition for acceptance into a good middle school that morphs into competition for acceptance into a good high school, all leading up to the big test of college acceptance. Karp understands this all too well. And she's not going for platitudes such as, It all gets better, because teens need help in the moment. Adopting a self-deprecating humor that is the trademark of stand-up comedy, Karp uses her own experiences to illustrate the suffocating stress caused by various pressures. If not every reader can relate to the intensity of Karp's high-profile performing arts high school, they can certainly get Ruby's Five Step Plan for Getting Over Someone (Who Doesn't Deserve Your Excellence). Generous, insightful, and funny, Karp is an excellent life coach for contemporary high-school students.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)