On Becoming Me

Memoir of an 80's Teenager

Non-Fiction - Memoir
310 Pages
Reviewed on 08/06/2022
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Author Biography

I saved those diaries and letters for a reason, I suppose. I was prolific at documenting growing up. Not many people do, let alone save them. I don't consider it brave to share, but necessary because looking inside a teenager mind in those moments is rare.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Maria Victoria Beltran for Readers' Favorite

As the title suggests, On Becoming Me: Memoir of an 80's Teenager by Kirsten Hegberg Pursell is a memoir of a Gen Ex teenager. It is a diary-style memoir that chronicles her life from 1977 to 1986. As the story unravels, we get to know a young girl starting to become interested in the opposite sex. What follows is her journey to her adolescent years and diary entries that speak of her obsessions with boys, weight, acne, and the desire to fit in. A prolific diary writer and journal keeper, she also writes poems and letters to friends and lovers. She attends Denver University for college and deals with a long-distance relationship with her first serious boyfriend. As she continues to deal with the changes in her life and journeys from childhood to maturity, we get to know the most intimate details.

Kirsten Hegberg Pursell's On Becoming Me: Memoir of an 80's Teenager is a unique and engaging memoir. The author recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period in her diary, letters, poems, and journal. Some readers may find the unique format of the book a challenge. By turns sympathetic, tender, and amusing, her accounts offer an enthralling look at growing up as a member of Generation X. This book should be an eye-opener for young readers during a period when there were no mobile phones, laptops, computers, and long-distance communication was done through snail mail. With no holds barred, Kirsten shares her journey, and it couldn't get as credible as this. This memoir is a compelling self-portrait of a spirited and sensitive woman when she's the most vulnerable. Highly recommended!