Book #9: “I’m Glad My Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy

I’m Glad My Mom Died

Jennette McCurdy

 Released: August 9th, 2022

(Blogger's Note: I originally read this book in late 2022.  I had not started the blog yet, and did not take the time to truly review it/take notes on what I had learned.  I reread this book in November 2024, and the following review will contain both the current review, and, as an added bonus, the Facebook review from the original reading in 2022.)

My 3rd bonus book for 2022 was Jennette McCurdy’s "I’m Glad My Mom Died".  (Reread and blog updated in November 2024)

This book was very interesting.  I was working overnight in Seattle at one point and we used to read books as we waited for the busses to spin around the fuel station.  A coworker had just finished reading this book and recommended it for me to read.  "You should read this book.  It's very f*cked up."  No kidding.  There was no book sleeve (he and his mom hated book sleeves on their books, and would toss them after buying them), just a blank book with the title "I'm Glad My Mom Died".  What a terrible title for a book.  My more traditional side was popping out at such a name, and I really didn't care to read it.  The coworker insisted, so I told him that I would read it after I finished my current book.

After finished my prior book, I was ready to start my next one, but this book kept sitting there, and I figured I would read it to get it over with.  I started reading it, and it was ok.  I found myself reading it a lot faster than I expected.  I wasn't sure if it was me just trying to get it over with, or if it was really that good (Spoiler Alert: It's really that good!).  I read the part where she mentioned going for the iCarly role when it dawned on me...this wasn't a work of fiction, but a biography.  I Googled "Jennette McCurdy" and sure enough, there popped up her bio and works.  I was floored.  I read the entire book in a day and a half.  It was very engaging, and while tragic, the tale was brilliantly told, and McCurdy really opens up into her struggles, navigating the entertainment industry, trying to please people, and really discovering her own self for the first time.

Another interesting thing to note is this, I took a job doing supported living about 4 months after I read this book the first time.  One of my individuals was a huge fan of iCarly and Sam & Cat.  As a result, I was subject to several episodes of each, and because of what I had learned in the book, it became something I enjoyed observing, and I've even watched the show in my spare time on occasion.  Parts of it feel like an updated, modern, Full House to an extent.  Goofy characters, silly situations, entertaining show.

I also watched the documentary Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV sometime in Spring 2024.  It featured some more insight into the conditions that McCurdy described in her book, and even mentioned McCurdy a few times.  It further validates her story, and reasons for walking away from acting.  If you read this book, I strongly encourage you to watch this documentary as both compliment each other exceedingly well.

Jennette McCurdy tells us the story of her life and career as a childhood television star.  She shares how her mom forced her into acting to have her daughter fulfill her own dreams, and ways that anorexia and other eating disorders adversely affected her.  She sheds light on the darker elements of kid's television, and her own personal growth with family, relationships, career, and personal demons in a highly engaging read of a difficult tale to tell.

Never judge a book by its cover.

Here is what I learned:

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• Nutter Butters soothe her grandma’s anxiety.

• She was nicknamed “Net” by her mom.

• At one point she weighed 89 lbs.

• Her mom saved a wrapping scrap from every present.

• Her grandpa eats Tillamook Vanilla Bean Ice Cream every night before bed.

• She grew up Mormon.

• Her mom was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer when she was 2.

• A Coogan account is something a kid can access when they are 18.

• Jennette’s first background work was on the X-Files.

• Her mom homeschooled her.

• Her mom read Woman’s World magazine.

• She grew up in Garden Grove, CA.

• Garden Grove is known as “Garbage Grove”.

• Her favorite church song is “Popcorn Popping.”

• Barbara Cameron is the mother of Kirk and Candice Cameron.

• Barbara took Jennette on as her agent.

• One of her first gigs under Barb was MadTV.

• Growing up, her favorite flavor was Nutty Coconut.

• Her dad worked at Home Depot and Hollywood Video.

• She changed managers from Barbara to. Meredith Fine because they felt Barbara was old news.

• Jennette lost a role in “Because of Winn Dixie” because she looked too “homely instead of ethereal.

• She got a standing ovation in the hallway at her audition for an episode of “Strong Medicine”.

• She later switched her manager to Susan Curtis.

• She became exceptionally skilled at “crying on cue”.

• Henry Road was her first screenplay.

• She prefers writing to acting.

• Her mom forced her into “calorie restriction”.

• Doctors suggested anorexia at a young age, and her mom lied about it.

• She considered her family “second-rate” Mormons.

• Her mother would shower her together with her fifteen-year-old brother.

• At 14, she landed her signature role as Sam Puckett in iCarly.

• After the pilot of a show is shot, network executives watch all pilots, and pick a third of them to get made into a series.

• iCarly got a 20-episode order.

• Her first kiss was on-screen.

• The “Creator” is implied to be Dan Schneider.

• The Creator drinks Old Fashioned’s.

• McCurdy was given her own show based off the success of her character on iCarly.

• Her character Sam used to beat people with a sock full of butter.

• She lamented fame, as it affected her anxiety.  Her mom loved watching her daughter achieve her own dream instead of Net’s.

• “Her happiness came at the cost of mine.”

• As her career progressed, her family stopped attending church.

• She had a country music career at one point.

• Her first single was “Not That Far Away”.

• She toured local shopping malls around the country on a radio station tour.

• It was her first time away from her mom.

• The kids on the show Victorious used to get drunk together all the time.

• Her mom essentially moved into her first solo apartment.

• She was in a relationship with Joe.

• She pretended to be with her gay friend Colton and would 3-way call with her mom to give the illusion.

• Her mom found out about her real relationship on TMZ

• She called her a slut, and other horrible names.  She blamed her for her cancer returning, and even went on to a fan site to try and encourage her fans to leave her.

• Her mom wanted her to sing “Wind Beneath My Wings” at her funeral.

• She used bulimia to prevent eating.

• Amanda Seyfried’s last name is pronounced [sigh-fred].

• Her first time being drunk was with her friend Colton in San Francisco.

• The world is divided into two types of people: people who know loss, and people who don’t.

• Her first successful attempt at bulimia was when her mom died

• The Celestial Kingdom is the highest kingdom of heaven in the Mormon faith.

• She had issues with Ariana Grande skipping work to pursue other career ventures and spend time with other celebrities.

• She doesn’t trust women.

• Liam becomes her first lover.

• She hasn’t had her period I. Years due to the eating disorders.

• Monday is her favorite day of the work week.

• Backstage politics prevented her from directing her own show.

• Net drove a Mini Cooper.

• She hates driving.

• She especially hates driving in the rain.

• She blocked her grandma.

• She was offered $300,000 to cancel her show under the condition that she never speaks publicly about her experience at Nickelodeon.

• The entertainment business is one where what is being said is rarely what’s being talked about.

• She considers Toronto, Ontario, Canada a clearer, friendlier New York City.

• Steven drinks Rye & Ginger

• Jack Astor’s is comparable to TGI Fridays.

• She starts a relationship with a guy named Steven in Toronto.

• He visits her in LA, and discovered the bulimia problem.

• He told her she needed to get help or he could not stay with her.

• Her spray tan smelled like burnt toast and dog piss.

• There is a 90% chance that any given camera operator’s name is Chip.

• She has a panic attack at the Teen Choice Awards.

• “This is what recovery looks like.”

• She relapsed into purging once when her therapist pointed out that her mother encouraging anorexia is abuse.

• Her dad was not her biological father.

• Steven believes he is the second coming of Jesus.

• LA to Sydney is a 14-hour flight.

• She lost her lower left molar from throwing up so many times on the flight.

• It takes a lot to be an “umless” man.

• Shania Twain is the only person in the world who should go near cheetah print.

• A pushover is a bad thing to be, but an opinionated pushover is a worse thing to be.

• If there’s ever a choice between dinner and another thing, Jeannette chooses the other thing.

• She turned down the iCarly reboot despite being offered the same amount as Miranda Cosgrove.

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Overall, this book was an excellent read.  There are some difficult things to interpret from it, and I fully understand why some might have difficulty reading the struggles she faced, but she is true to her word, and a lot of it makes a lot of sense.  I am giving this book my highest recommendation.  I have now read it twice, and both times hit its mark considerably well.

Highest Recommendation.

On to Book #10: "I'm Only One Man" by Regis Philbin.

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(Blogger's Note #2: As an added reading bonus, I will also include the original review of this book posted to my Facebook December 26, 2022.  It's fascinating because it details my initial thoughts and reactions vs. the more thorough one above.  Enjoy)

Bonus Book #3

Before I give my thoughts, I just want to say how much this book hit me at times. I know it affects some males too, but mainly, Ladies…do not ever let someone convince you that you are in any way lesser because of what you look like. If you feel imperfect, exercise healthily. Do not starve yourself. Choose healthy foods. Don’t throw your food back up. Do not let the evil stigmas of bulimia and anorexia consume you. Focus on health, not looks. It affects more than just weight. Your digestive system, your teeth, stomach acid, sleep, social life, all sorts of things become vulnerable. It will consume you alive. The people that lie to you and manipulate you into believing the falsehoods of being imperfect are the real villains. Please. Stop listening. Heal. You don’t need nor deserve this pain in your life.

This book is 305 pages. I read it in 28 hours. 180 pages the first day, and 125 the second day.

I read it after a coworker recommended it. Seemed like a disturbing read, “I’m Glad My Mom Died”. I know I’m not as close to my family as I have been in years past, but never have I sat there and thought something as morbid as that. As the reading went along, the title…in strange way, makes complete sense.

We often grow up questioning the motives of our parents. Usually, they just want us to grow up in their image. Learn all they have learned, and do what they do, only do it faster, better, with more tools, and greater resources. Naturally we all rebel, or in some cases, struggle to rebel. We want to spread our own wings and fly, but sometimes, either force or mental health prevent us from being as assertive.

This story details the life of an actress who grew up living her mother’s “dream” in the entertainment industry. As the book goes on, more and more disturbing truths about the actress’ life are uncovered, some heartbreaking, some requiring the endurance to overcome intense personal flaws and shortcomings. In the end, you see the struggle between the love of a mother and her child from the child’s perspective, while seeing how poor motivations can help in someways, and set a few horrific chains of events in motion.

Overall, very good read, though had to come to terms with developing a disorder that could destroy you in the end, because you are led to believe it is for a good rational reason. Recommended.

On the Bonus Book #4