Such a Fun Age

Reese's Book Club (A Novel)

By: Kiley Reid

Narrated by: Nicole Lewis

Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

A Best Book of the Year:

The Washington Post • Chicago Tribune • NPR • Vogue • Elle • Real Simple • InStyle • Good Housekeeping • Parade • Slate • Vox • Kirkus Reviews • Library Journal • BookPage

Longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize

An instant New York Times best seller

A Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine Book Pick

"The most provocative page-turner of the year." (Entertainment Weekly)

"I urge you to read Such a Fun Age." (NPR)

A striking and surprising debut novel from an exhilarating new voice, Such a Fun Age is a binge-worthy and bighearted story about race and privilege, set around a young Black babysitter, her well-intentioned employer, and a surprising connection that threatens to undo them both.

Alix Chamberlain is a woman who gets what she wants and has made a living with her confidence-driven brand, showing other women how to do the same. So she is shocked when her babysitter, Emira Tucker, is confronted while watching the Chamberlains' toddler one night, walking the aisles of their local high-end supermarket. The store's security guard, seeing a young Black woman out late with a White child, accuses Emira of kidnapping two-year-old Briar. A small crowd gathers, a bystander films everything, and Emira is furious and humiliated. Alix resolves to make things right.

But Emira herself is aimless, broke, and wary of Alix's desire to help. At 25, she is about to lose her health insurance and has no idea what to do with her life. When the video of Emira unearths someone from Alix's past, both women find themselves on a crash course that will upend everything they think they know about themselves and each other.

With empathy and piercing social commentary, Such a Fun Age explores the stickiness of transactional relationships, what it means to make someone "family", and the complicated reality of being a grown up. It is a searing debut for our times.

©2019 Kiley Reid (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

Winner of the African American Literary Award

Finalist for:

The New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award

The Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award

The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award

The NAACP Image Award

The Athenaeum of Philadelphia's Literary Award

A Book Club Pick:

Vox • Marie Claire #ReadWithMC • Buzzfeed • Book Girl Magic • Well-Read Black Girl • WNYC Get Lit With All of It • Nerdette

“Reid constructs a plot so beautifully intricate and real and fascinating that readers will forget it’s also full of tough questions about race, class and identity….With this entertaining novel, Reid subverts our notions of what it means to write about race and class in America, not to mention what it means to write about love. In short, it’s a great way to kick off 2020.”—Washington Post

“A complex, layered page-turner…This is a book that will read, I suspect, quite differently to various audiences—funny to some, deeply uncomfortable and shamefully recognizable to others—but whatever the experience,....Let its empathetic approach to even the ickiest characters stir you, allow yourself to share Emira’s millennial anxieties about adulting, take joy in the innocence of Briar’s still-unmarred personhood, and rejoice that Kiley Reid is only just getting started.”—NPR

“[Such a Fun Age] nestl[es] a nuanced take on racial biases and class divides into a page-turning saga of betrayals, twists, and perfectly awkward relationships....The novel feels bound for book-club glory, due to its sheer readability. The dialogue crackles with naturalistic flair. The plotting is breezy and surprising. Plus, while Reid’s feel for both the funny and the political is undeniable, she imbues her flawed heroes with real heart.”—Entertainment Weekly

Lovely Book with Unfortunate Circumstances

Such a Fun Age is a shocking (although it shouldn't be) tale of a young black girl who is a nanny to a young white girl. She gets accosted and racially profiled when she takes the little girl to a store during and evening. A passerby sees this happen and he tells the world of her plight.

The babysitter loves the little girl she sits for and she has to face the truth in that she is not treated equally and she will never be when it comes to being a part of a privileged black family. She also experiences personal growth as she tries to figure out who she is, what she wants, and how to be comfortable in her own skin.

The prose read like a melody that is melancholy, happy, fast paced, and tragic. This book is beautiful and holds so many lessons for the reader. I would highly recommend.

-Wendi

great read

I thoroughly enjoyed hearing this book. I think you'll love it or not it won't be your cup of tea. I couldn't wait to get back in the car for more.

great read

This was such a fun book to listen to. Great story line and characters. Many twists and turns you didnt see coming.

A Millennial grows up

loved this book. it gives a good view of a young generation growing up today. yes, it includes the women's movement, black rights and issues, along with romance, jealousy and good story.

Interesting read.

At times I could not put this book down. However, I was wanting more from the ending.

If your gonna go there- then go there

Filled with vulgar language and stereotypes. It’s as if the author had something to say but could just never get to it. The constant dancing around the subject of racism without taking a stance was exhausting.

You can’t be on both sides of the fence. At the end of the day all the main characters were self righteous and ignorant.

Great reading

I loved this performance except for the fact that the little girl sounded like a strange drunk. That was weird, although it might have also had to do with her written dialogue. Otherwise great. A fun story that I thoroughly enjoyed, but that also had a lot to say.

As awkward as navigating life

This book is beautifully awkward. I felt anxiety mingled with inward reflection and curiosity from cover to cover. It’s amazing to experience through the characters the awareness (or lack there of) of the story we tell ourselves versus what is playing out in real life. This book is a great reminder to not let ego and personal goals overpower our need to genuinely connect with others and break down systemic power struggles.

irresistibly engaging....

I loved this book. The narration was perfectly in sync with the author’s words. They both have done a beautiful job unfolding the emotions of the main character in such a graceful way. I also really appreciated Ms. Reid’s approach to a very relevant depiction of the world we live in. It’s a must read.

Superb Narration!

Nicole Lewis did such a great job with the telling of this story! The book was engaging and easy to listen to. The story was relevant, and again, the narration was top notch!