Photo taken of “I’m Glad My Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy The Xavierite
Spoilers Ahead!
The release of “I’m Glad My Mom Died” by Jennette McCurdy has caused many surprised reactions and questions.
The title of the book stands out as both bold and shocking, and impossible to ignore, because it immediately causes interest in her story. Jennette McCurdy gained a lot of fame because of her Nickelodeon roles in “iCarly” and “Sam & Cat,” which made her one of the network’s leading child stars during her time on screen.
If you grew up watching Nickelodeon in the early 2000s, you’re most likely no stranger to who Jennette McCurdy is. She played the amazing character Sam, who was definitely a fan-favorite because of her tough and sarcastic persona.
Although the television character she played on screen had a tough demeanor, in reality, she experienced many pains in her life. She kept her past from the public for many years before sharing it through this book.
Since it has been released, “I’m Glad My Mom Died” has gained very impressive success. It has also gained a lot of attention, especially from people who grew up watching Jennette McCurdy and were curious about what such a bold title could mean.
The book was released on August 9, 2022. It completely sold out during the first 24 hours after its retail release, and achieved more than 200,000 first week sales. It was number one on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list and stayed on the list for a whole year. It was also number one on the international bestseller.
The book also received many positive reviews, including reviews from Time, Vogue, The Washington Post, and more. As of now, the book has also sold more than 3 million copies.
“I’m Glad My Mom Died” is a story that touches on many personal issues Jennette McCurdy went through, from the trauma she experienced growing up to the exploitation she faced and so on.
The book starts with Jennette thinking about her childhood and the beginning of her acting career. She started acting at a very young age because her mother, Debra McCurdy, wanted her to.
The book reveals that Debra wanted to become an actress when she was younger, but her parents stopped her from pursuing this dream. Debra then told Jennette that she wanted to provide her with the opportunities she did not get during her childhood.
According to the book, Debra then expressed her wish for Jennette to become an actress because she believed Jennette would excel in this field.
One moment in the book quotes her mother saying, “I think you should act. I think you would be a great little actress. Blonde. Blue-eyed. You’re what they love in that town.” At the end of that chapter, when Debra asks
Jennette if she wants to pursue acting, Jennette notes, “There’s only one right answer.”
The book also goes on to mention “The creator,” someone who put immense pressure on Jennette’s life while she was growing up. She mentioned many times in the book that she wasn’t comfortable with some of the tasks she was asked to do when starting her career.
One of these instances was when she was asked by “The creator” to wear a bikini. Jennette wasn’t comfortable with this because she didn’t want to be seen as sexual, especially at a young age. At one point, she even asked if she could leave it at the one she just tried, but her mother told her to try it on anyway.
The book also mentions how “The creator” put her in situations she didn’t want to be in, using the fact that the cast of “Victorious” was drinking on set as a way to pressure the “iCarly” cast into doing the same.
The book also goes on to mention many more things she had gone through during her time behind the scenes. She mentioned that she developed an eating disorder through it.
She talked about the many years she spent dealing with different types of eating disorders, saying, “the anorexic years, the binge-eating ones, and the current bulimic ones.” She also mentioned that she has never felt comfortable with her body, and that no matter what her size was, she always had an issue with it.
Overall, after reading about Jennette McCurdy’s childhood and the huge pressure she dealt with, I couldn’t help but feel really sad that she had to experience so many of these things.
It made me realize just how hard she had it, especially growing up with so many eyes on her because she was famous, but also having a mother who was trying to control everything she did. At times, many of us don’t really think about the struggles these stars go through because they only show us the good side of being famous, and they have these images they want to keep up with.
Another thing that really opened my eyes was actually the documentary “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” that shows how much childhood stars are going through behind the scenes and how we really didn’t notice it.
Now, when thinking about these shows from our childhood, we can’t help but wonder what darker side will be revealed next.