Busted: A Memoir of Teenage Years

by Phianna Rekab

From author Phianna Rekab comes her deeply personal memoir of her teenage years, Busted. An American story of migrating from the Caribbean and growing up in Brooklyn, New York in the 1980s amidst the scourge of rampant sex, drugs, alcohol and how she found a way out of her poor neighborhood in search of her dream to become American.

Genres: Nonfiction

168 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 11, 2018

Reviews

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author writes of her experiences immigrating to America from the Caribbean with her family. They end up settling into a small space in a building in Brooklyn, where Phianna tries to fit in. Being a teenager is hard enough without adding all the challenges of a new country too. Not your typical memoir, I enjoyed reading it. A 3.5 of 5 stars read.

[Jatana Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must start by saying, thank you Phianna Rekab for writing this personal memoir of your teenage years. It really opened my eyes to so many things. Things that we as Americans don’t even consider important or that we just take advantage of and don’t realize how wonderful we have it here. But to see how you easily understood the working of American from jobs, the different class, gentrified neighborhoods etc.

I won a kindle copy of this book from Goodreads for an honest review and I would recommend it to everyone.

[Mx Phoebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phianna Rekab's teenage voice clearly shows through this memoir of those years from her travels from her home in the Caribbean to the dreamland called America. Her voice changes from the child hiding under the table sipping sweet milk to the disillusioned yet still oddly hopeful American immigrant. Coming to America in the 1980s, Rekab's family came at a period where you would have thought all of the strife of hard living would have passed, but it never does if you are a non-white. She indicates this through her stories of her family, friends, and herself. She holds the mirror up to everyone - including herself. It is a familiar tale, unfortunately, but I think it is one that every teenager should read and should be part of a high school reading list because it gives the point of view from her at that age and Rekab's voice is perfectly shown for that time period. When I first started reading this book, I had no clue that Rekab had written other books and I thought this writer needs to continue to write she has a voice that should be heard - and then I looked her up (laugh) and she has been writing. If you have not had a chance to read one of her books, try this one first.

#Memoir #Emigration #BlackHistory #PhiannaRekab #BustedAMemoirofTeenageYears #PhoebesRainbowWorld #FlippingRainbows

[Lourdes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A life of growing up in the United States and going through ups and downs of life. 1980's. an Era.

I really enjoyed the book.

I won this book through Goodreads, but I would definitely recommend it. Short but a way of life!

[Sara Downard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

h chapter begins with a quote and I found the book to be an easy read. Thankyou Author for sharing your story.