Grace After Midnight: A Memoir by Felicia Pearson
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Book Reviews of Grace After Midnight: A Memoir
Book Review: Very Inspiring
Summary: 5 Stars
Felicia "Snoop" Pearson life was hard and she took some wrong directions but turn her life around still at very young age. Her life story is very inspiring. We all can turn our lives around no matter the situation.Book Review: My thoughts
Summary: 5 Stars
I thought this was a great book. I loved the wire and was really excited to read this book and she is from my town (B-More). I think it was to short though, I wanted to read more.Book Review: VERY GOOD BOOK
Summary: 5 Stars
I LOVED THE BOOK.... I LOVE SNOOP. IT WAS VERY GOOD I READ IT IN 2 DAYS...
SNOOP I WILL SEE YOU AROUND.....WINK
Book Review: Where Television Mirrors Life
Summary: 4 Stars
Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, from HBO's drama The Wire, gives it to you straight with no chaser in Grace After Midnight. From birth she had a spirit of survival. Death almost consumed her as the drugs her mother ingested caused her to be born a "three-pound, cross-eyed crack baby," she described. That was the first time she escaped death and it was apparent she had escaped it many times though it filled the streets of her East Baltimore roots. From simply observing her surroundings with eight year-old eyes, she was able to invade the drug world with a wisdom that usually came from playing the game and age. She had mentors who recognized her street talents and taught her the ropes. She had mentors who prayed for her and wanted her to leave the streets alone. She also had foster parents who accepted her for what she was, whatever she was. The wild and wicked ways of East Baltimore was where she felt natural and alive. She received a healthy dose of reality when she was sent to prison for murder. While there, the game changed. She learned about trials and tribulations. She learned to appreciate life beyond bars while still incarcerated. She even learned more lessons about death as it snuck up on her and threatened her sanity. It was in the penitentiary that she also learned about love and grace.
Felicia Pearson's story is engaging and real. She does not want readers to feel sorry for her and I applaud her for that. She wants to tell her story because it is a story of hope for souls lost in street life; especially children's souls. Written in a matter-of-fact way, she simply explains the mindset of a child that is not quite lost but falls prey to what feels right even though it is wrong; gangster life. Her demeanor in a bar is what got her recognized for the role of "Snoop" in The Wire but it is not your everyday rise to fame. Yet, she offers hope. She offers a glimpse into someone's life who was born to die but did not. She triumphed over what appeared to be her destiny and wanted to give others a small glimpse into what can happen, even if not very often. The more I read, the more I wanted. The conversational tone of the book was very comforting and easy to read. The language was simple yet complex because it stirred my emotions. Something about Pearson's eyes on the cover made me want to know her. I recommend Grace After Midnight to readers who enjoy autobiographies, memoirs, urban fiction fans, and teenagers who think street life is the only life.
Reviewed by Darnetta Frazier
APOOO BookClub
Book Review: Amazing Grace saved her
Summary: 4 Stars
GRACE AFTER MIDNIGHT is the striking autobiography of Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, star of the critically acclaimed HBO series, The Wire. In the short but poignant memoir written with David Ritz, Snoop recants her upbringing in the tough streets of Baltimore, the place that both raised and almost killed her.
Born with cross-eyes and crack in her system thanks to a drug-addicted mother, Snoop had much to overcome in the first moments of her life. She was no more than three pounds at birth, but surpassed the grim expectations placed on her. After years in foster care, she was taken in by a loving older couple, Cora and Levi Pearson. They offered her a good home with Christian values and worked to make sure Snoop had a better life.
By her pre-teens, Snoop had her first taste as runner whose quiet strength took her far in the game. At 12 years old, she was witnessing murders, drug deals, shakedowns, and way too much for a girl her age. One of her mentors, a man known as "Uncle," took Snoop under his wing and tried to get her abandon her dangerous behavior, but it was too little too late when Snoop ended in the Jessup State Penitentiary at 14 for murder.
While there she turned her life around, gaining a new appreciation for doing the right thing. With Uncle's help, she left there feeling like she could do anything - and quickly found her good intentions weren't worth much. That is, until she met Michael K. Williams from The Wire, landing the role of a lifetime with no acting experience.
The rest is history.
Snoop's story is compelling and heart wrenching. You see the innocence of a child wanting her mother and a heart growing cold from rejection. You also glimpse a woman truly turning her life around, trying to obtain the grace after midnight she found in prison. And you also witness a woman true to her sexuality, being openly gay all her life.
For that, she should be applauded.