It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

 

Last Friday, I finished reading It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah. This memoir is about the experiences of Trevor Noah, the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, as he was growing up in South Africa during apartheid and the aftermath. In South Africa, black people were not supposed to get married to or have children with white people. Mixed children were not supposed to exist, but Trevor did after his black South African mother decided to have a child with a white European who was living in the same apartment building. He was literally a crime. Living under a racist government was not easy for Trevor, but he overcame great obstacles with the loving support of his mother and using his smarts and sense of humor. Although he often misbehaved and got into trouble, Trevor was able to create opportunities for himself to set himself up for success in life.

I read the original version of this memoir, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, around two years ago, so the story of Trevor Noah's childhood was already familiar to me as I was reading the young reader's edition. I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time. Although there are funny moments because he was definitely a wild child, Trevor's life story is also compelling, enlightening, and dramatic. The suspense is ramped up in the last chapter when Trevor goes into detail about his mother's life and what happened soon after he left home. I knew it was ominous when his mom started dating a man, Abel, who had anger issues after drinking. They soon got married and had Trevor's half brother, Andrew. While things would be fine for long periods of time, as the years went on, Abel would beat his mother more frequently and the conflict reaches an explosive finale. I feared for Trevor's family because the situation was terrifying. Throughout the book, I also saw the parallels between racism and segregation in our own country and apartheid in South Africa, even though there are some differences, such as people of different races not being seen as equal and laws being nationally-based in South Africa. It was all very interesting because I only really knew a little bit about apartheid from the Disney Channel Original Movie, The Color of Friendship, and hearing about the political leader, Nelson Mandela, from time to time. It's Trevor Noah is a fascinating choice for anyone who wants to learn more about Trevor Noah and South Africa's racial history.