Out of Orange

May 15, 2015

Fans of Orange Is the New Black (OITNB) are unlikely to recognize the name Cleary Wolters, but they're certain to know Alex Vause. Their fascination with the fictional Alex will lead them to this memoir by Alex's real-life counterpart, although the book is less about the "real Alex" and more about Wolters--her quest toward a brief and unglamorous drug-trafficking career; an otherwise anticlimactic relationship with Piper Kerman, who wrote the account upon which the show was based; and ultimately, her incarceration and beyond. VERDICT Wolters's accessible and honest memoir opens the door and invites readers in. Patrons won't meet Alex Vause, the sultry drug-trafficking queen of OITNB. Instead, they'll meet Wolters--a woman with aspirations, whose missteps take her on unexpected journeys. Readers soon learn that those adventures differ greatly from those experienced by the show's oft-entitled protagonist, Piper.--Erin Entrada Kelly, Philadelphia

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2015
You may know only the gist of Orange Is the New Black, but Wolters is one of the characters portrayed in the Netflix series, a fact that shocked and surprised her once she discovered it and resulted, eventually, in her telling her own side of the story. It's a riveting tale, told well and full of lessons for those willing to listen. Like many prisoners, she paid a big price for some relatively dumb actions, taken when she was young (she helped smuggle heroin into the U.S.). Her life and loves then, her imprisonment to follow, and her way back to the free world are all detailed here in a voice that is heartfelt and honest, toughening when it needs to but remaining steadfast. Readers will learn much about the prison system and its inequities, the author's ability to hold herself together in difficult situations, and, in many ways, what not to do. Wolters notes that once she thought of writing Out of Orange, she hoped that it might save someone foolish from making her mistakes. That it might, and it might even show someone how to do the many good things Wolters has done, as well.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)