Nonfiction Navigators discussion

Everyone has felt like an outcast at least once in their life. However, being different is usually harmless, But what if being different was a crime? For Trevor Noah, this was his reality growing up during Apartheid in South Africa, a time with a brutal system of segregation and discrimination on the grounds of race. In his memoir “Born a Crime", Trevor Noah tells his story of growing up as a mixed-race child in South Africa.
The opening chapter begins with Trevor Noah being thrown out of a vehicle as a young child. It instantly makes for a captivating introduction. Trevor Noah was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother during a time it was a crime punishable by five years in prison. Due to Trevor Noah being a mixed-race child during Apartheid, he was forced to stay indoors for the earliest years of his life. He was bound to extreme measures his mother took to protect him from the government that could steal him at any time. Following the end of Apartheid, Trevor and his mom lived more freely, but Trevor’s struggle as a mixed child still existed. No one in his family looked like him. Trevor grew up with a fearless and extremely religious mother determined to save him from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse. Trevor tells these stories with his witty sense of humor, whether the stories are sad, funny, or of life and death situations. Preceding each chapter is a historical recount of Apartheid. It enables the reader to have a better understanding of the circumstances of living through such a time. It brings the stories of Trevor Noah to life. Trevor Noah writes his memoir beautifully, a love letter to his mom who overcame many challenges as a black single mother to give her son unconditional love and taught him that the world was far beyond their life in South Africa. Although Trevor Noah adds comedic flair to his writing, some parts will leave you hysterically laughing while other parts will have you sympathizing with the harsh reality of living in poverty, violence, and abuse.
Trevor does an incredible job of telling his stories in a way that keeps you engaged. He does so with his witty humor and his first-hand view of living through a terrible time in South African history. Despite Trevor Noah’s great writing techniques, the book fails to follow a direct timeline. This makes it hard for the reader to follow and have a clear understanding of the timeline of his stories. If one has watched Trevor Noah before, his political view is clear, and it may be a turn-off for someone who disagrees with his political stance. However, one can still enjoy the book's enthralling stories and historical accounts of Apartheid through the lens of a biracial child. Trevor Noah uses colorful language to add humor to his stories, and sometimes it makes the book not age-appropriate. This is unfortunate because the book would make for a good account of the apartheid era through the eyes of Trevor Noah.
This book entails a history lesson on Apartheid, humorous accounts from a South African childhood through the lens of a young biracial child growing up with a single black mother. It demonstrates Noah’s mother's desire to protect her son from the brutal systems of Apartheid. At the same time, while preventing her son from the cycle of poverty and a meaningless life for people of color in South Africa. If this sounds right up your alley, then I would recommend this book to you.