A Piece of Cake

Cupcake Brown was dealt a horrendous hand in life. When she was 11, her mother died. Her "daddy" was not really her daddy, so she was placed with her biological father. He was looking for Social Security checks and insurance. So begins a life of violent foster care, alcoholism, drug abuse, prostitution, and gang-banging. At 25, after a four-day bender behind a dumpster, Cupcake begins the road to recovery (12 steps), goes to college, and even graduates from law school. Bahni Turpin's sensitive performance treads a fine line between depicting the seemingly endless downhill slide and maintaining a light enough touch to keep the listener engaged. Turpin deftly expresses a wide range of emotions--from outrage and misery to healing and optimism. A.B. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

April 3, 2006
Brown reads her own horrific memoir of childhood paradise lost, sexual degradation and drug-fueled bad times with a surprising twinkle in her eye. Having made it through to the other side and a stable life, Brown revisits the ugliest places in her past, her matter-of-fact voice refusing to shy away from any of the brutal details. Brown does not milk her story for sympathy (although that is implicit in its very telling); she merely chronicles its twists and turns, its tragic losses and terrible indignities, choosing to honor her past by exposing it in its entirety. Brown's voice is measured and wry, exposing the foibles of her own stunted good sense at the same time as she documents the heinous callousness of the adults who by turns mistreat and neglect her after the untimely death of her mother. Her reading lacks something in emotion and professionalism, but its no-nonsense quality is the mark of an unhurried, self-taught storyteller. Simultaneous release with the Crown hardcover (Reviews, Nov. 21, 2005).

Orphaned, abused, rejected, and forgotten, young Cupcake Brown could have become a casualty of a gravely flawed child welfare system. However, anyone who listens to this riveting audiobook will hear the voice of a strong, clear-eyed survivor tell an unforgettable story of innocence lost and success found. Brown narrates her memoir with candor and irresistible appeal as she reveals the horrors of addiction and the cruelties that a child can suffer. Despite the gravity of Brown's story, her voice is far from self-pitying or preachy. Instead she paints an ultimately inspiring portrait of herself, and that person is one any listener would want to get to know. L.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

October 15, 2006
Brown is a survivor; she was born into a happy family with a loving mother and a father who, though he lived away from her, was very much a part of her life. She then discovered her mother dead, a victim of a seizure. The author is then taken away from the only family she has ever known and given to her biological father, who promptly puts her in the hands of a violent foster mother whose only desire is to cram her house with children and take their benefits. Brown decides to run away and ends up in a world of prostitution, alcohol, and drugs. After finding herself behind a dumpster, addicted to crack and alcohol, Brown finds a way to turn her life around. With the help of a new support system of friends and the family she had once lost, she becomes clean and sober and decides to go to college and become a lawyer. Listening to the story of how she juggled school and work and dealt with a world she never thought she could be part of is uplifting and inspirational. Bahni Turpin is a good reader, but her voice is a bit too immature for many sections of this book. For public libraries and those with collections on addiction and recovery."Danna Bell-Russel, Library of Congress"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.