The Heart and Soul of Nick Carter: Secrets Only a Mother Knows

by Jane Carter, Nick Carter (Introduction)

You know him as a superstar who's won awards and appeared in videos and pulls all those great moves onstage. But long before he was a Backstreet Boy, he was my boy--and I want to share his whole exciting story with you.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Childrens, Music

182 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1998

Reviews

[no elle]

this is a weird book for kids in 1998 like if i was a child then which i was and i came into possession of this which i very well could have fully expecting to learn nick carter's secrets and was instead treated to a book about his mother idk i would've been very upset. i do like that the ghostwriter was clearly deranged based on sentences like "Dreams are not like instant cocoa. They take time." and "Would Nick trade in his Skechers for army boots?" also as a teenager this blonde woman painted a picture of a blonde child and these mfs really captioned it "A premonition?????" yes what else could that possibly be clairvoyance is the only answer. also there's a paragraph about hitchhiking and getting killed by a serial killer which felt weird again as a book for children but i guess the 90s were just built different. there is a little multiple answer quiz in the back and the grades are "roll with it" if you failed, "as long as you love me" if you fall in the middle, and "rock your body" if you truly passed. clearly i scored 100 because i read this book for children as a woman on the cusp of 30 and am fully capable of retaining information designed for baby brains so i will now be rocking my body as instructed. oh also one other thing there are photos of a preteen nick that are captioned "Hot!" which was gross like imagine ur the graphic artist assembling this book and someone says "ok great work now can you put a big HOT and SEXY right here next to this photo of a child" barf! i simply must reiterate this is a book that seems geared for children but i grimaced now that i myself am no longer a child. i mean it makes sense jane/her ghostwriter are waxing philosophical about her sexy sensual child based on a career where he sings thinly veiled promises of fucking so it all ads up i just think maybe we let things go too far!

[Sara Salih · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is not about the heart and soul of Nick, it's all about his mother, the author.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know, I know, but please try and keep your snickers and snide remarks to yourself, I know it's hard to.

I'd always wanted to read this book as teen but never got around to it. The book itself is fairly well-written; must have had a decent editor. Jane Carter paints herself as an extremely hard-working, dedicated mother with her kids' best interests at heart. I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt.

There were a lot of things in the book about Nick's beginnings that were new to me, things about his baby years and how music has always been at the very core of his being, even as a toddler. But you'll be disappointed if you were really looking for "secrets". It's not a tell-all. It's just a mom writing about her kid. And herself.

Fast forward to present day though, Mrs. Carter is all but estranged to her blond angel-boy. The Carter family has suffered many losses and heartaches over the past few years. Jane makes a remark in one of the later chapters which struck me, "...I do hope with all my heart that all the Carters live happily ever after" (141). If only you knew Jane, if only you knew. The optimist in me is still hoping for a grand reunion soon.

Whatever the case, this girl's still keeping that Backstreet pride alive, laugh if you must.

[KT · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book written by a fame-hungry stage mother who pushed her kids into the entertainment industry to be groomed and abused. Her narcissism is off the charts.

[Jaime K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am rereading this for the first time in at least 20 years, if not more. I wondered why I don't recall reading it more as a child--who was "IN LOVE" with Nick--and I could obviously see the narcissistic, self-absorbed side of Jane Carter even then.

As another reviewer pointed out, it's pretty gross that there is a photo of pre-teen (or super early teens) Nick that is captioned "HOT." Another is captioned "young dreamboat." This book is supposed to have been written by his mother, not teenage fans.
What is also annoying is that in the second section of photos, too many just say "Nick" in lettering like it's a teenager's scrapbook. We are well aware this is Nick, how about some context?

I understand that she would paint their family life as non-dysfunctional, but even the depressing moments (like them barely able to live paycheck to paycheck, if they even had income) are painted in a good light. Jane essentially says "I'm a good mother, so I made sure I did everything I could to make my children happy" when it truly was first about Nick and then, when she could no longer control him, about Aaron. To hell with her daughters, am I right?

It's also definitely less focused on Nick and about her being a parent to Nick. It's cool to learn about his genealogy, but Jane too often treats it like his pedigree. Also too often she paints herself in a light that doesn't make sense even for 1998. She said her parents were like the leading roles in a play for each other, but earlier said they got divorced. She said that she never pushed Nick and would never push Aaron, but she never let Aaron at least decide what to do. Her contradictions are a joke.

[Ebster Davis]

'When you care for older and sick men and women, you see firsthand that the opportunities and the dreams each one of them once had have slipped away. It is the nature of those who have reached old age to look back. Once someone gets to that time in life, they always look back with longing and sometimes also with regret. Some have more regret than others and point to the roads they should have taken, the people to whom they should have said "I'm Sorry."'

This book is written in a quippy-style, like it could have been a series of magazine articles. There's even a little quiz at the end like those types of teen/tween magazines would have had.

I do get the feeling that the author is conveying her and her family's lives through rose-tinted glasses, which isn't entirely inappropriate, but it was refreshing when her eldest son and daughter gave her a reality check.

This is definitely a novelty book, but essential if you're addicted to the Carter Family's Dirty Laundry saga.

As flawed as it is, she's giving us a perspective that her children can't. Some of their most formative experiences are ones they can barely remember, but obviously, they still had a powerful impact.

You can definitely see how Nick has tried to pass the positive things his mom did for him along to his own children.

PS

I wish she could've told us more about Grandpa Spaulding. Nick really seems to love him.

Also, when I first knew of this book's existencene I thought it was creepy that a parent would so readily share their kid's baby photos with the world.
Wow, how things have changed these past 26 years!

[Janna]

Heart and the soul of the nick carter share some songs on this that has good rating among the all formation to read. I need to have all of these details that was on https://edubirdie.org/ this has the all information that was useful to read among all of them that was good to read.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book years ago when it first came out. Nick was my ultimate crush at the time and do recall thinking this book was good.
But fast forward, I’m a woman in my 30’s who has learned a few things about this family over the years and the recent death of Aaron Carter, I am unsure if my adult self would think the same.
So, that’s why I’m only giving this 4 stars.

[Ellion Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book but with some difficult concepts. Jane Carter has been instrumental to the success of her son, Backstreet Boy Nick Carter. Managing his early career, keeping a close watch over him, and forever reminding him to keep the values with which he was raised, Jane Carter has been sought out by the media for interviews for years. Now, as the author of The Heart And Soul Of Nick Carter, she tells all--as only a mother can. There are many essays at https://onlyassignmenthelp.com/tag/ma... about this author. A complicated writing assignment can scare both a freshman and a final-year student. We are confident enough to say essays do not scare us at all. We started writing papers from scratch back in 2008. Today, numbers speak for them.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

ok,so jane carter may be known for being a bit of a stage mother to poor nick and aaron carter (more aaron), but this book shows just how much she loves her son, and how they gave up everything for nick's big chance to become a star (nick is now a member of the biggest selling boyband of all time, the backstreet boys).

jane seems to be quite a good writer, and has a lot of insight to a life that her son never showed in public (eg, nick was bullied at school).

Nick seems to approve of this book, seeing as he wrote the prologue to it.

I personally really like nick carter, so a book by the woman who probably knows him best was a definate favourite for me!!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

sadly, i actually do own this book. and sadly, at one point in my life i probably did think it was really amazing. bsb for life.

[Marlana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I remember LOVING it as a teenager. lol

[Sama]

Ugh! I don't even know why even read it! I guess back when I was 14 I was pretty naive..

[Andrea Celeste · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pure crap.