Maya Smart

  • About
  • Books & Authors
  • Parent Resources
    • Book Lists
    • Literacy Activities
    • Book Crafts
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Events
  • Contact

Best Books of 2018: Kiese Laymon

December 13, 2018

Book Review: Heavy by Kiese Laymo

Emphatic and unsparing, Kiese Laymon’s Heavy explores the weight of wellness in a culture obsessed with lean. His expansive intelligence and fluid prose bear up to haunting family secrets and American deceptions with deep, potent wells of beauty, humor, and empathy.

Initially conceived as a weight-loss story chronicling his family’s struggles with food and violence, the writing of Heavy, which was recently named a finalist for the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Nonfiction, got murkier when relatives sidestepped his interview questions or lied altogether. “We’re a family, like most families, of addicts, but we never talked about the addiction,” he says. “We would talk about losing weight or gaining weight but we never talked about why. We never talked about particular memories around domestic, sexual, and racial violence.”

He became convinced that no one in his family wanted to reckon with the weight of where they had been or do the work of freeing themselves of it. “You need to keep that for your journal,” his mother would say of the revealing material he wished to mine for the book. “Nobody else needs to see that kind of writing.”

Make reading aloud more rewarding for the whole family.

Learn More

Click here to read the full post at KirkusReviews.com.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Leave a Comment · Author Interview, Books & Authors

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hey There, I’m Maya!

Maya Smart

I’m Maya Payne Smart, a journalist, book lover, and literacy advocate. I split my time between deep reading and slow writing, often about dynamic women who lift as they climb. My focus? Promoting a #litrich lifestyle for families and individuals. I aim to show parents what it takes to raise fluent readers and to connect people of all ages to great books and authors. I also share productivity tips, interviews, and more, when inspiration strikes.

About   |   Why I Blog   |   Austin Woman Cover Story

Popular Posts

  • DIY Book Craft: Elegant Book Page Flowers
  • DIY Book Craft: Origami Book-Page Butterfly
  • DIY Book Craft For Kids: Make Your Own Bookmark with Supplies You Have at Home
  • The Ultimate Outdoor Scavenger Hunt for Kids from A to Z
  • DIY Book Craft: Literary-Themed Paper Hydrangeas

Copyright © 2021 · Maya Smart. All Rights Reserved. · Privacy Policy · Terms & Conditions · Comment Policy.

Learn More