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Wild Life: Dispatches from a Childhood of Baboons and Button-Downs
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight meets Mean Girls in this funny, insightful fish-out-of-water memoir about a young girl coming of age half in a "baboon camp" in Botswana, half in a ritzy Philadelphia suburb.
Keena Roberts split her adolescence between the wilds of an island camp in Botswana and the even more treacherous halls of an elite Philadelphia private school. In Africa, she slept in a tent, cooked over a campfire, and lived each day alongside the baboon colony her parents were studying. She could wield a spear as easily as a pencil, and it wasn't unusual to be chased by lions or elephants on any given day. But for the months of the year when her family lived in the United States, this brave kid from the bush was cowed by the far more treacherous landscape of the preppy, private school social hierarchy.
Most girls Keena's age didn't spend their days changing truck tires, baking their own bread, or running from elephants as they tried to do their schoolwork. They also didn't carve bird whistles from palm nuts or nearly knock themselves unconscious trying to make homemade palm wine. But Keena's parents were famous primatologists who shuttled her and her sister between Philadelphia and Botswana every six months. Dreamer, reader, and adventurer, she was always far more comfortable avoiding lions and hippopotamuses than she was dealing with spoiled middle-school field hockey players.
In Keena's funny, tender memoir, Wild Life , Africa bleeds into America and vice versa, each culture amplifying the other. By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, Wild Life is ultimately the story of a daring but sensitive young girl desperately trying to figure out if there's any place where she truly fits in.
Keena Roberts split her adolescence between the wilds of an island camp in Botswana and the even more treacherous halls of an elite Philadelphia private school. In Africa, she slept in a tent, cooked over a campfire, and lived each day alongside the baboon colony her parents were studying. She could wield a spear as easily as a pencil, and it wasn't unusual to be chased by lions or elephants on any given day. But for the months of the year when her family lived in the United States, this brave kid from the bush was cowed by the far more treacherous landscape of the preppy, private school social hierarchy.
Most girls Keena's age didn't spend their days changing truck tires, baking their own bread, or running from elephants as they tried to do their schoolwork. They also didn't carve bird whistles from palm nuts or nearly knock themselves unconscious trying to make homemade palm wine. But Keena's parents were famous primatologists who shuttled her and her sister between Philadelphia and Botswana every six months. Dreamer, reader, and adventurer, she was always far more comfortable avoiding lions and hippopotamuses than she was dealing with spoiled middle-school field hockey players.
In Keena's funny, tender memoir, Wild Life , Africa bleeds into America and vice versa, each culture amplifying the other. By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, Wild Life is ultimately the story of a daring but sensitive young girl desperately trying to figure out if there's any place where she truly fits in.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published November 12, 2019
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4874 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 199 reviews
December 13, 2021
Upon finishing this book I felt a bit of envy, she experienced things most people never will. Certainly I won't. I also felt a deep sympathy. It was incredibly difficult going from Baboon Camp in Botswana, where she knew the dangers and was treated like an adult, to a private school in Pennsylvania, where she was treated as a bit of a freak. Called monkey girl, she didn't know how to fit in, didn't know the current culture and had few friends. In and out of school, she didn't have the time to catch up nor learn how to act differently. Assimilation was beyond difficult.
In time, as she grew older and spent whole years in school in the States, she would try different things, but it wasn't until 911, that she knew where she finally belonged. This book also covers, and is something that Keena worked at, the horrible AIDS crisis in Botswana.
Lastly, I felt a great deal of awe at the things this woman both overcame and experienced.
In time, as she grew older and spent whole years in school in the States, she would try different things, but it wasn't until 911, that she knew where she finally belonged. This book also covers, and is something that Keena worked at, the horrible AIDS crisis in Botswana.
Lastly, I felt a great deal of awe at the things this woman both overcame and experienced.
December 14, 2019
In this engaging memoir, teenage Keena Roberts’ parents studied baboons in an Island camp in Botswana. Keena spent her time either there, or in a fancy private school in Philadelphia. Which do you think was harder for Keena to adapt to? This was like a real life Mean Girls crossed with a life in rural, wild, Africa. I loved this. Wild Life is about culture. Fitting in. Coming-of-age. Keena has an insightful, relatable story to tell.
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher.
Many of my reviews can also be found on instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher.
Many of my reviews can also be found on instagram: www.instagram.com/tarheelreader
August 25, 2019
I was fortunate to be able to read an advanced copy of Wild Life. This is the kind of memoir that surprises, the kind you can't put down. It's going to appeal to a broad audience — will please both adults and the YA crowd. I absolutely loved this book. Keena's strong voice is funny and fresh and bright. I was enthralled with her adventures; there is a certain magic that comes through the pages. I highly recommend this captivating gem of a book.
January 22, 2020
I went into this thinking it might be similar to Alexandra Fuller's Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight. But no. There was no alcoholism. And no family dysfunction. And no terrorists. And no Uzis. And no residual racist postcolonial attitudes. So. No, it isn't like Fuller's book. Maybe more like Swiss Family Robinson, Botswana style.
Black mamba snakes in the sink. Man-eating crocodiles, and hippos that want to chomp your little boat in two. Climbing a tree to avoid a lion attack. Large dangerous animals shuffling around outside your tent at night. Living outdoors in 120 degree weather, so hot it melts your pens and shampoo bottles. Singing Christmas carols at the top of your lungs so as not to startle any critters when you go out to pee. Yep. Good times on the Okavango Delta.
Keena's parents were primatologists, studying baboons in a wild game preserve four hours from the nearest town. She was born in California, but from babyhood, Africa was all she knew. She first lived in Kenya and then Botswana. Baboon Camp was her "normal." She and her younger sister were given far more responsibility than most of us would expect kids to handle. Their parents told them, "We will treat you like adults, and we expect you to act like adults."
Keena was even allowed to have alcohol from a young age, just like a little adult. One day when she was thirteen years old, her mother asked her if she fancied being a test case for the new stun gun. Keena turned to her sister and said, "Lucy, hold my beer."
Eventually her parents' obligations required that the family alternate between Philadelphia and Botswana. This caused her some very painful cultural and social whiplash. She had never been to school, or lived in a city, or learned to socialize with kids her age. She knew nothing about American pop culture. Even wearing shoes was foreign to her. The things she thought were "cool" were alien to her classmates, and she was an outcast. The way you and I would have felt being dropped on an island in Botswana as a child was the way Keena felt in America. To her, Africa was home. Being indoors was torture.
As she matured, Keena came to understand that her idyllic life at Baboon Camp was not real life in Africa. She was a privileged white American with options not available to the African people. The HIV/AIDS epidemic was sweeping through Botswana, tearing at the fabric of their society. To her credit, she went to college and earned multiple degrees that would allow her to work in the public health arena to try to end the crisis.
It would almost be a crime to have an upbringing like this and not write a memoir. There were times when I seriously questioned her parents' choices in exposing their children to danger, and I'm glad they all survived. It could have gone very differently on a number of occasions, with tragic consequences.
Black mamba snakes in the sink. Man-eating crocodiles, and hippos that want to chomp your little boat in two. Climbing a tree to avoid a lion attack. Large dangerous animals shuffling around outside your tent at night. Living outdoors in 120 degree weather, so hot it melts your pens and shampoo bottles. Singing Christmas carols at the top of your lungs so as not to startle any critters when you go out to pee. Yep. Good times on the Okavango Delta.
Keena's parents were primatologists, studying baboons in a wild game preserve four hours from the nearest town. She was born in California, but from babyhood, Africa was all she knew. She first lived in Kenya and then Botswana. Baboon Camp was her "normal." She and her younger sister were given far more responsibility than most of us would expect kids to handle. Their parents told them, "We will treat you like adults, and we expect you to act like adults."
Keena was even allowed to have alcohol from a young age, just like a little adult. One day when she was thirteen years old, her mother asked her if she fancied being a test case for the new stun gun. Keena turned to her sister and said, "Lucy, hold my beer."
Eventually her parents' obligations required that the family alternate between Philadelphia and Botswana. This caused her some very painful cultural and social whiplash. She had never been to school, or lived in a city, or learned to socialize with kids her age. She knew nothing about American pop culture. Even wearing shoes was foreign to her. The things she thought were "cool" were alien to her classmates, and she was an outcast. The way you and I would have felt being dropped on an island in Botswana as a child was the way Keena felt in America. To her, Africa was home. Being indoors was torture.
As she matured, Keena came to understand that her idyllic life at Baboon Camp was not real life in Africa. She was a privileged white American with options not available to the African people. The HIV/AIDS epidemic was sweeping through Botswana, tearing at the fabric of their society. To her credit, she went to college and earned multiple degrees that would allow her to work in the public health arena to try to end the crisis.
It would almost be a crime to have an upbringing like this and not write a memoir. There were times when I seriously questioned her parents' choices in exposing their children to danger, and I'm glad they all survived. It could have gone very differently on a number of occasions, with tragic consequences.
August 6, 2019
This review and more can be found on The Book Bratz.
When I first heard about Keena's book during one of the #Class2k19Books chats that we were given the awesome opportunity to host, I was immediately intrigued. A story about a girl who split her time growing up between her parents' research camp in Botswana and an elite high school in Philly? It sounded exactly like Mean Girls, which is exactly up my alley. And when I found out that it was nonfiction, and was actually Keena's own experience? That was even better. So without further ado, let's get into my review!
As the summary explains, this book is an actual nonfiction account of Keena's childhood as she grew up, both in Africa and America. I hadn't ever read YA nonfiction before, so I wasn't sure what to expect before I got into this book, but Keena's writing so well done that the book felt like any other fiction I'd pull off of the shelf. I flew through this book in just a few days because I loved it so much and couldn't put it down! Plus, it was pretty cool to keep reminding myself that everything I was reading was actually stuff that happened to Keena in her own life. It was -- no pun intended -- a wild ride of a read!
Another thing that I really liked about this book was the way Keena described the experiences in America. Those were the parts where I got definite Mean Girls vibes, where it felt like young Keena was more at risk around the high school predators of jealous girls and rude boys, rather than all of the wild life she encountered during her time in Africa. It also made me really sad to read about how bullied she was when she first came to American schools after Africa, because remembering that this was a real story and that there were really people who were this mean to kids that were different than them was pretty sad. But young Keena handled it all with grace and intellect, and watching her brave her way through the "high school wild" was just as fascinating as it was to read about her adventures in Botswana.
My favorite part of this book was just seeing all of the different ways that Keena and her family survived at Baboon Camp. As someone who isn't even good at camping when it's in my own backyard, seeing her family manage to make a home out of what started as an empty stretch of land was really cool to see. And, like I've probably said a million times since I started this review, the fact that I know that this all really happened, and I know Keena through blogging (she's such a great friend, and I'm on her street team!), it gave the book another special element to me. Reading this book really did leave me feeling warm and fuzzy inside by the end!
Overall, I absolutely loved Wild Life, and I'd absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for an adventurous read! Keena Roberts weaves her life experience together in such a captivating way that will hook you from the very first word and keep you hanging on until the very end. If you've never tried nonfiction before, or specifically YA nonfiction, I'd absolutely encourage you to pick this one up. Wild Life is something different, refreshing, and new. It will take you on an adventure across the world that you may not expect, and you learn a lot about the book's fabulous author in the process!
When I first heard about Keena's book during one of the #Class2k19Books chats that we were given the awesome opportunity to host, I was immediately intrigued. A story about a girl who split her time growing up between her parents' research camp in Botswana and an elite high school in Philly? It sounded exactly like Mean Girls, which is exactly up my alley. And when I found out that it was nonfiction, and was actually Keena's own experience? That was even better. So without further ado, let's get into my review!
As the summary explains, this book is an actual nonfiction account of Keena's childhood as she grew up, both in Africa and America. I hadn't ever read YA nonfiction before, so I wasn't sure what to expect before I got into this book, but Keena's writing so well done that the book felt like any other fiction I'd pull off of the shelf. I flew through this book in just a few days because I loved it so much and couldn't put it down! Plus, it was pretty cool to keep reminding myself that everything I was reading was actually stuff that happened to Keena in her own life. It was -- no pun intended -- a wild ride of a read!
Another thing that I really liked about this book was the way Keena described the experiences in America. Those were the parts where I got definite Mean Girls vibes, where it felt like young Keena was more at risk around the high school predators of jealous girls and rude boys, rather than all of the wild life she encountered during her time in Africa. It also made me really sad to read about how bullied she was when she first came to American schools after Africa, because remembering that this was a real story and that there were really people who were this mean to kids that were different than them was pretty sad. But young Keena handled it all with grace and intellect, and watching her brave her way through the "high school wild" was just as fascinating as it was to read about her adventures in Botswana.
My favorite part of this book was just seeing all of the different ways that Keena and her family survived at Baboon Camp. As someone who isn't even good at camping when it's in my own backyard, seeing her family manage to make a home out of what started as an empty stretch of land was really cool to see. And, like I've probably said a million times since I started this review, the fact that I know that this all really happened, and I know Keena through blogging (she's such a great friend, and I'm on her street team!), it gave the book another special element to me. Reading this book really did leave me feeling warm and fuzzy inside by the end!
Overall, I absolutely loved Wild Life, and I'd absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for an adventurous read! Keena Roberts weaves her life experience together in such a captivating way that will hook you from the very first word and keep you hanging on until the very end. If you've never tried nonfiction before, or specifically YA nonfiction, I'd absolutely encourage you to pick this one up. Wild Life is something different, refreshing, and new. It will take you on an adventure across the world that you may not expect, and you learn a lot about the book's fabulous author in the process!
August 20, 2019
I’ve never been so in love with a memoir. Roberts brought me to the Okavango Delta and her family’s research baboon camp, and I felt as if I were actually there. With vivid descriptions and harrowing real life tales (I am SHOCKED by that boat she captained at 10 years old), her storytelling snagged me by the mouth and reeled me in. This is one of my favorite reads this year!!!
December 23, 2019
I rarely, if ever, read memoirs. Every now and then, if it’s someone of great cultural/historical significance, then perhaps, but I tend to stay away, especially if it’s just your average person. It’s a subjective thing, really, nothing against the genre of a whole.
Keena Roberts’s Wild Life, however, is a phenomenal example and I’m so happy that I was given the opportunity to read her ARC. She tells her story with depth, humor, and heart, and when you’re done, you can almost believe you were studying in Kenya or Botswana right alongside her.
Roberts spent much of her life growing up in a variety of African settings with her primatologist parents. There she absorbed everything she could living among wild animals and often felt more at home with them than she did when she would return to her American schools. She could understand how and why wild animals acted, but she couldn’t wrap her head around the meanness of her classmates.
I’m amazed at how much life she packs into less than 300 pages. Aside from learning about her fascinating upbringing, I learned even more about Africa, particularly the landscape and life in places such as Kenya, and Botswana—the animals, the people, their illnesses and struggles as well as their passions and humanity.
Through vivid descriptions, you will smell the rain, sweat in the 130 degree temperatures, feel the dust clogging your nose. This book is a triumph and as a YA-geared release, I can see its usefulness in a variety of academic settings. But anyone of her age bracket (and anyone else, really) will easily relate as well, as she writes about contemporary world events as they unfolded in her life. When she mentions the death of Princess Diana and 9/11, well, I was instantly transported to my teenage days too.
Thank you to the author for passing along a copy of this ARC to review.
Keena Roberts’s Wild Life, however, is a phenomenal example and I’m so happy that I was given the opportunity to read her ARC. She tells her story with depth, humor, and heart, and when you’re done, you can almost believe you were studying in Kenya or Botswana right alongside her.
Roberts spent much of her life growing up in a variety of African settings with her primatologist parents. There she absorbed everything she could living among wild animals and often felt more at home with them than she did when she would return to her American schools. She could understand how and why wild animals acted, but she couldn’t wrap her head around the meanness of her classmates.
I’m amazed at how much life she packs into less than 300 pages. Aside from learning about her fascinating upbringing, I learned even more about Africa, particularly the landscape and life in places such as Kenya, and Botswana—the animals, the people, their illnesses and struggles as well as their passions and humanity.
Through vivid descriptions, you will smell the rain, sweat in the 130 degree temperatures, feel the dust clogging your nose. This book is a triumph and as a YA-geared release, I can see its usefulness in a variety of academic settings. But anyone of her age bracket (and anyone else, really) will easily relate as well, as she writes about contemporary world events as they unfolded in her life. When she mentions the death of Princess Diana and 9/11, well, I was instantly transported to my teenage days too.
Thank you to the author for passing along a copy of this ARC to review.
November 13, 2019
This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.
I really enjoyed this book! If you follow my reviews, you probably already know that my taste in books is pretty eclectic. While I am willing to read anything that sounds interesting, I don't read a lot of memoirs because they rarely appeal to me. I have zero desire to read about celebrities which eliminates a lot of memoirs. A story about a normal person doing extraordinary things is exactly the kind of thing I can get into so I went with my gut and gave this book a try and I am so glad that I did. Once I started reading this book, I didn't want to stop and ended up reading the whole book in a single day.
Keena's childhood was quite unique. Her parents studied animals in their own environment and took the whole family with them. She spent the first few years of her life in Kenya but most of her childhood was split between Botswana and Philadelphia. While in Baboon Camp in Botswana, Keena and her family lived in tents and had to watch out for lions, elephants, and buffalo. While in school, she had to deal with kids who liked being mean to anyone who was a little different. From her descriptions, I would have preferred life with the lions over going to high school as she did.
I loved getting to know Keena through her stories. There were times that I worried about her and feared that she would get hurt. I sympathized with her when she struggled to fit in at school. I was a little jealous of her when she described the days that she would spend the day in a tree reading while at camp. I was amazed by her ability to think clearly in highly stressful situations. The descriptions in the book are very well done and I felt like I had a good idea of what life was like at camp. I loved that there were a few photos scattered throughout the book to help illustrate some of the things discussed in the book.
I would recommend this book to others. I found this book to be very entertaining and I feel like I learned a few things in the process. I wouldn't hesitate to read more from Keena Roberts in the future.
I received a review copy of this book from Grand Central Publishing.
Initial Thoughts
I really enjoyed this book. I don't read a lot of memoirs but when I do decide to pick one up it is usually about a normal person doing extraordinary things instead of anything dealing with a celebrity. I couldn't imagine growing up like Keena did before reading this book. I understood her love of nature and animals while struggling to fit in during her times in the United States. I thought that she did a fantastic job of letting the reader see what both aspects of her life were like. I was worried about her safety at times and her emotional welfare at others. I am so glad that I decided to give this one a try.
I really enjoyed this book! If you follow my reviews, you probably already know that my taste in books is pretty eclectic. While I am willing to read anything that sounds interesting, I don't read a lot of memoirs because they rarely appeal to me. I have zero desire to read about celebrities which eliminates a lot of memoirs. A story about a normal person doing extraordinary things is exactly the kind of thing I can get into so I went with my gut and gave this book a try and I am so glad that I did. Once I started reading this book, I didn't want to stop and ended up reading the whole book in a single day.
Keena's childhood was quite unique. Her parents studied animals in their own environment and took the whole family with them. She spent the first few years of her life in Kenya but most of her childhood was split between Botswana and Philadelphia. While in Baboon Camp in Botswana, Keena and her family lived in tents and had to watch out for lions, elephants, and buffalo. While in school, she had to deal with kids who liked being mean to anyone who was a little different. From her descriptions, I would have preferred life with the lions over going to high school as she did.
I loved getting to know Keena through her stories. There were times that I worried about her and feared that she would get hurt. I sympathized with her when she struggled to fit in at school. I was a little jealous of her when she described the days that she would spend the day in a tree reading while at camp. I was amazed by her ability to think clearly in highly stressful situations. The descriptions in the book are very well done and I felt like I had a good idea of what life was like at camp. I loved that there were a few photos scattered throughout the book to help illustrate some of the things discussed in the book.
I would recommend this book to others. I found this book to be very entertaining and I feel like I learned a few things in the process. I wouldn't hesitate to read more from Keena Roberts in the future.
I received a review copy of this book from Grand Central Publishing.
Initial Thoughts
I really enjoyed this book. I don't read a lot of memoirs but when I do decide to pick one up it is usually about a normal person doing extraordinary things instead of anything dealing with a celebrity. I couldn't imagine growing up like Keena did before reading this book. I understood her love of nature and animals while struggling to fit in during her times in the United States. I thought that she did a fantastic job of letting the reader see what both aspects of her life were like. I was worried about her safety at times and her emotional welfare at others. I am so glad that I decided to give this one a try.
September 28, 2019
After reading Keena Robert's memoir, I am going to assume the front cover photo is photoshopped, since one learns from the book that the hippopotamus is the most dangerous creature in all of Africa. Personally, I learned lots and lots of stuff about life in Africa that I did not know. Ms. Roberts fascinates the reader with all that she experienced as a child living in Botswana, part of the year, with her little sister and parents who were both primatologists. All that she had to do to be a part of a primate studying camp, all that she had to do to not be injured or killed by a wild animal.
While reading her story, I amusingly often thought that any helicopter parent who read the memoir would probably see it as a sick type of science fiction. Seriously, the things Keena Roberts and her sister Lucy were expected to learn and carry out would probably give a helicopter parent convulsions. Basically, the girls were treated like small adults from a very young age. On one hand, it showed how capable children are of doing difficult and dangerous tasks, when it is expected of them by their parents. On the other hand, one had to question the judgment of Ms. Robert's parents at times, had to question if they were lacking in some common parental protectiveness.
Both her parents were scientific types, who apparently did not talk about feelings much, and were not physically demonstrative. Even back in the United States, during the school years when the girls were in a private Philadelphia school, her parents seemed strangely uninvolved in her life at times. For example, the author was harassed by boys on the phone for a long time, and her parents knew about it, but did nothing to stop it; even though they easily could have, since the calls were being made to the family's landline! Her mother sympathized with her about the calls, but apparently felt that was life and you just had to accept such things. Also, back in Botswana, she was allowed to drink beer and hard liquor even before entering high school.
Don't get the wrong impression here, though, this memoir is thankfully not a parent bashing one, or even one that spends much time reflecting on family dynamics. (Amazing since the author majored in psychology at Harvard.) It's more of an adventure story, plus a look at what it is like to be considered really odd by many kids at school, because you were different, due to having a totally different life part of the year in Africa. Kids said really mean things to Ms. Roberts even in her senior year, after years of her trying to fit in with everyone else, trying to be somewhat invisible. It was a shame all the wildness of Africa, all the courage she had to have to live and survive there, didn't make her a bit more like a hippopotamus when she was in school in Philadelphia. She could have ripped the heads off of those mean kids! :)
(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)
While reading her story, I amusingly often thought that any helicopter parent who read the memoir would probably see it as a sick type of science fiction. Seriously, the things Keena Roberts and her sister Lucy were expected to learn and carry out would probably give a helicopter parent convulsions. Basically, the girls were treated like small adults from a very young age. On one hand, it showed how capable children are of doing difficult and dangerous tasks, when it is expected of them by their parents. On the other hand, one had to question the judgment of Ms. Robert's parents at times, had to question if they were lacking in some common parental protectiveness.
Both her parents were scientific types, who apparently did not talk about feelings much, and were not physically demonstrative. Even back in the United States, during the school years when the girls were in a private Philadelphia school, her parents seemed strangely uninvolved in her life at times. For example, the author was harassed by boys on the phone for a long time, and her parents knew about it, but did nothing to stop it; even though they easily could have, since the calls were being made to the family's landline! Her mother sympathized with her about the calls, but apparently felt that was life and you just had to accept such things. Also, back in Botswana, she was allowed to drink beer and hard liquor even before entering high school.
Don't get the wrong impression here, though, this memoir is thankfully not a parent bashing one, or even one that spends much time reflecting on family dynamics. (Amazing since the author majored in psychology at Harvard.) It's more of an adventure story, plus a look at what it is like to be considered really odd by many kids at school, because you were different, due to having a totally different life part of the year in Africa. Kids said really mean things to Ms. Roberts even in her senior year, after years of her trying to fit in with everyone else, trying to be somewhat invisible. It was a shame all the wildness of Africa, all the courage she had to have to live and survive there, didn't make her a bit more like a hippopotamus when she was in school in Philadelphia. She could have ripped the heads off of those mean kids! :)
(Note: I received a free ARC of this book from Amazon Vine.)
September 14, 2019
I enjoyed this book so much, I worry there is no possible way I could write a review worthy of the book. As lacking as my review might be (if I could give myself the kind of pep talk Keena gave herself - those were fantastic - I might have a chance of writing an acceptable review), this book is better than good or great - it's quality, and a treasure. It's not just the exciting adventures that Keena has in Kenya or in Botswana, when she lived in Baboon Camp and makes pretty admirable contributions, with her little sister Lucy, to her parents' research regarding the baboons, it's the way these adventures are expressed and told that make everything so vivid and so very interesting and exciting. Keena is a fabulous storyteller, who puts herself into everything - adventures, hopes, plans, challenges, fears, triumphs, tears - that she shares.
And it's interesting to see how Keena ponders the question: Which is scarier (and possibly more dangerous)? Baboon camp (with its snakes, particularly mambas; lions; elephants, crocodiles - yes, man-eating; hippos, threats of fires, boat disasters, dehydration - just to name a few), or school in Pennsylvania? Keena must decide who she is, wherever she may be living, and how to be herself. Really, a fantastic, captivating, continually adventurous read I can't recommend highly enough!
And it's interesting to see how Keena ponders the question: Which is scarier (and possibly more dangerous)? Baboon camp (with its snakes, particularly mambas; lions; elephants, crocodiles - yes, man-eating; hippos, threats of fires, boat disasters, dehydration - just to name a few), or school in Pennsylvania? Keena must decide who she is, wherever she may be living, and how to be herself. Really, a fantastic, captivating, continually adventurous read I can't recommend highly enough!
August 15, 2019
I always wondered where Pippi Longstocking went on her journeys, and I feel like I just got a little glimpse. It’s hard to believe that this is a memoir and that’s what I loved most about it.
I like memoirs but they’re often so depressing. Wild Life reads like YA fiction! It has its sad moments but was more often a funny, relatable book told in the voice of a charming, if sometimes naive, child. If you like animals, nature facts, and travel there is a lot to love about this book. I learned so much!
Wild Life is the story of a girl named Keena who is the daughter of monkey researchers, living part time in Africa and part time in the US as her family travels back and forth. The book covers her adventures in Kenya and Botswana and her struggle to fit in after long absences from her school in Pennsylvania through childhood, adolescence and young adulthood.
The parts in Botswana were my hands down favorites because of all the adventures and insider’s look into what it would be like to live in lion/hippo/baboon country, hours away from the nearest town. But, the book wouldn’t be the same without the US bits too- it feels much more approachable because of Keena’s take on life in the US. In American and British lit we so often see wide-eyed descriptions of remote wilderness, foreign countries, etc. and it was really cool to see Keena turn that on its head and describe private school in PA as foreign instead (a la Mean Girls but with a Bar Mitzvah instead of a kegger).
Would definitely recommend.
I like memoirs but they’re often so depressing. Wild Life reads like YA fiction! It has its sad moments but was more often a funny, relatable book told in the voice of a charming, if sometimes naive, child. If you like animals, nature facts, and travel there is a lot to love about this book. I learned so much!
Wild Life is the story of a girl named Keena who is the daughter of monkey researchers, living part time in Africa and part time in the US as her family travels back and forth. The book covers her adventures in Kenya and Botswana and her struggle to fit in after long absences from her school in Pennsylvania through childhood, adolescence and young adulthood.
The parts in Botswana were my hands down favorites because of all the adventures and insider’s look into what it would be like to live in lion/hippo/baboon country, hours away from the nearest town. But, the book wouldn’t be the same without the US bits too- it feels much more approachable because of Keena’s take on life in the US. In American and British lit we so often see wide-eyed descriptions of remote wilderness, foreign countries, etc. and it was really cool to see Keena turn that on its head and describe private school in PA as foreign instead (a la Mean Girls but with a Bar Mitzvah instead of a kegger).
Would definitely recommend.
September 7, 2019
I loved this memoir about a young American girl growing up in Kenya and Botswana as the child of American baboon researchers/academics. Much to her dismay, her parents made her go to high school in the US, where she never quite fit in at a Pennsylvania elite private school. In the bush, with only her sister for a playmate, she was treated as a small adult by both African staff , her parents, and other adults, given a level of responsibility that she never would have had in the US. No wonder she found it hard to fit in with the privileged Mainline teenagers, who regarded her as a freak. Her powers of observation, developed by years of observing baboons and other wildlife in the bush, serve her well as she studies her adolescent classmates, and she learns to survive in the wilds of an American high school but never quite feels at ease the way she does in the bush. I highly recommend this memoir as a classic "coming of age" story as Keena tries to figure out where she fits in, as well as an enchanting description of life in the African bush, where lions and elephants can be around any bend, poisonous mambas lurk, and baboons become your friends. I would recommend this as a good read for teens as well as adults.
August 28, 2019
People, I’ve been waiting eagerly for this book since the minute I first heard about it early this year. I just finished reading an ARC and it was as amazing as I’d hoped. Having grown up in the same era, in a weird subculture of my own, I could really identify with the culture shock and the societal expectations Keena faced every time she went back to the US as a kid. I loved the tales of animal encounters too and the contrasts between animal social structures vs those of humans.
September 3, 2019
This is a great read about growing up in a life divided between the social hierarchy of a baboon troop in the Okavango Delta, where the author's primatologist parents studied how the baboons communicated, and the much crueler hierarchy of the mean girls back home at a high school in Philadelphia.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
September 6, 2019
Keena's story was amazing to me. Having had two children, I couldn't imagine taking them away from creature comforts and relative safety to go half way around the world to live in a baboon camp. Literally.
I don't want to be a spoiler so not too many details but several times in the book my heart was racing. Danger! When it wasn't racing, it was breaking. With what seemed like break neck speed she navigated between the Okavango Delta in Botswana to prep school in America. Bullies!
Good read!
I don't want to be a spoiler so not too many details but several times in the book my heart was racing. Danger! When it wasn't racing, it was breaking. With what seemed like break neck speed she navigated between the Okavango Delta in Botswana to prep school in America. Bullies!
Good read!
October 21, 2019
This memoir follows the author's dual lives as she follow her parents to their work in Africa with monkeys to Pennsylvania where she attends a normal school. The adjustment is not an easy one for her and the resulting coming of age tale is filled with honesty, growth and humor. Her descriptions of Botswana are breathtaking and the stories she tells of the animals she come into daily contact with are amazing. This is definitely my favorite memoir of the year. I received a digital ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
November 3, 2019
WILD LIFE is such a fun and thoughtful and heart-filled memoir. Deftly written, it's the story of a girl who grows up with one foot solidly in a research camp in Botswana and one toe tentatively in a private school in Philadelphia. It's filled with the kind of stories that would never work in fiction, because they'd be considered "too unrealistic" - yet they all happened to Roberts.
It's hard to review memoir because there's a real person tangled up in the story, but I thought the balance of narration and revelation was spot on. I especially loved the way the novel grew from confined and self-centered viewpoint of a child to the empathetic, outward-gazing viewpoint of a young woman. The first part is playful and innocent, but the memoir's themes and understanding grows more complex along with Roberts, turning from an inward-gazing memoir to an outward-gazing not-quite-manifesto.
Basically I'm marveling at the structure here.
This memoir is beautiful and engaging and amazing. I laughed. I might have teared up a bit at that one scene (you know the one). I was relieved by the casual inclusion of Roberts' queerness. This is a growing up story like no other, and the kind that leaves you both amazed at the person who wrote it as well as inspired to try and be half as awesome yourself.
It's hard to review memoir because there's a real person tangled up in the story, but I thought the balance of narration and revelation was spot on. I especially loved the way the novel grew from confined and self-centered viewpoint of a child to the empathetic, outward-gazing viewpoint of a young woman. The first part is playful and innocent, but the memoir's themes and understanding grows more complex along with Roberts, turning from an inward-gazing memoir to an outward-gazing not-quite-manifesto.
Basically I'm marveling at the structure here.
This memoir is beautiful and engaging and amazing. I laughed. I might have teared up a bit at that one scene (you know the one). I was relieved by the casual inclusion of Roberts' queerness. This is a growing up story like no other, and the kind that leaves you both amazed at the person who wrote it as well as inspired to try and be half as awesome yourself.
Read
October 28, 2019I loved every minute of this memoir of Roberts's unique childhood. She, her sister, and her parents, research primatologists, spent half of their year working in Botswana in "Baboon Camp" and the rest of the year off the Main Line in the Philly suburbs at a private school. It's a really fascinating story of falling in love with Africa and growing up understanding what it is to be privileged enough to live such a life, as well as what it is to have a really wild and free -- yet at times downright terrifying -- childhood. The ability to interweave her less-than-happy American experience really made this one stand out to me, and without question, this book has loads of crossover appeal to teen readers. It's told in anecdotes, with a number of pictures, as well as entries from Keena's diaries.
Read
November 3, 2019I don't usually read memoirs but I absolutely devoured this one in a single night because I couldn't put it down. It's fun and different and interesting and most of it feels like if you got to see a documentary on Mean Girls that delved strictly into those brief clips from Africa, and then it lands in an unexpected place that's exactly where it should and that I really appreciated. As soon as I finished I got excited to lend it out and recommend it, and that's one of my absolute favorite post-reading feelings.
November 18, 2019
Great read. I'm starting it with with my kids today after finishing it myself. Full review on my homeschool site here: http://magicalchildhood.com/homeschoo...
October 29, 2024
Content warnings: animal attack, animal death, physical injury, graphic descriptions of injuries, bullying, 9/11, HIV/AIDs, death
A fascinating memoir about growing up with a childhood split between a remote camp in the Okavango Delta and suburban Pennsylvania. Roberts' voice shines throughout, and her love for Baboon Camp and the animals she and her parents studied is clear.
There were moments where I found myself somewhat confused about the timeline purely because it seemed like the family were spending the majority of their time in Botswana and then they'd go back to school in the US and all the kids...remembered them even though it seemed like several years had passed since they'd last attended the school, but that's potentially just me not paying close enough attention to the story rather than a Book Problem.
I would have liked a liiiiiiiittle more of her adult life to wrap up the story as a whole, but generally I had a good time with this and I'm really glad I picked it up!
A fascinating memoir about growing up with a childhood split between a remote camp in the Okavango Delta and suburban Pennsylvania. Roberts' voice shines throughout, and her love for Baboon Camp and the animals she and her parents studied is clear.
There were moments where I found myself somewhat confused about the timeline purely because it seemed like the family were spending the majority of their time in Botswana and then they'd go back to school in the US and all the kids...remembered them even though it seemed like several years had passed since they'd last attended the school, but that's potentially just me not paying close enough attention to the story rather than a Book Problem.
I would have liked a liiiiiiiittle more of her adult life to wrap up the story as a whole, but generally I had a good time with this and I'm really glad I picked it up!
September 10, 2024
This is going to be a long review 🥹🐘🦒🐒🦛🦁
Wow. I dont even remember how I found this book, I think it popped up on recommended on goodreads and I am so glad it did because I sure was the target audience !!! Although I never lived on a baboon camp or in Africa for nearly as long, I relate to Keena so much in so many ways !! I miss being surrounded by lions and elephants and monkeys everyday & this book brought back so many memories. So sad for keena that she got bullied, keena def wouldve been my bff in middle school for sure, and I now have discovered “gorilla man” and its a BANGERRR 💃🏻🪩🦍 I cant believe this is a memoir her life is incredible
Page 200 really stuck with me when Keena was almost put in great danger in her neighbourhood. Ive had so many people ask me how safe i felt in africa etc and my answer is always and will always be america is 1000x more unsafe in my opinion!!
So cool and awesome to see her go into public health and focusing on HIV/AIDS!!! Keena roberts you rock!!!
Wow. I dont even remember how I found this book, I think it popped up on recommended on goodreads and I am so glad it did because I sure was the target audience !!! Although I never lived on a baboon camp or in Africa for nearly as long, I relate to Keena so much in so many ways !! I miss being surrounded by lions and elephants and monkeys everyday & this book brought back so many memories. So sad for keena that she got bullied, keena def wouldve been my bff in middle school for sure, and I now have discovered “gorilla man” and its a BANGERRR 💃🏻🪩🦍 I cant believe this is a memoir her life is incredible
Page 200 really stuck with me when Keena was almost put in great danger in her neighbourhood. Ive had so many people ask me how safe i felt in africa etc and my answer is always and will always be america is 1000x more unsafe in my opinion!!
So cool and awesome to see her go into public health and focusing on HIV/AIDS!!! Keena roberts you rock!!!
July 19, 2024
The premise of this memoir sounded interesting, and in some respects it was. I enjoyed the segments addressing life in Botswana and the interactions or observations involving animals there. Learning how her family lived in such an isolated place and what they sought to learn was informative. Animal research is always fascinating. Knowing that all this took place with a pretty high degree of potential danger gave it an edge, and hearing of some close calls sharpened that edge momentarily.
However, the cover should have been a clue about the "tone" of this read. When not in Botswana, Roberts was in private school here in the states, shifting back and forth between the wild frontier and the wild human rat race of "mean girls". It was more difficult to sustain interest in those sections as it felt and read more like a young adult novel. I have empathy for the culture shock she experienced moving between two very different worlds, and I commend her for her persistence, but it made for an uneven read for me.
2.75 rounded up.
However, the cover should have been a clue about the "tone" of this read. When not in Botswana, Roberts was in private school here in the states, shifting back and forth between the wild frontier and the wild human rat race of "mean girls". It was more difficult to sustain interest in those sections as it felt and read more like a young adult novel. I have empathy for the culture shock she experienced moving between two very different worlds, and I commend her for her persistence, but it made for an uneven read for me.
2.75 rounded up.
November 3, 2019
I had such a wonderful time reading about Keena Robert's childhood. She has lived in Africa and Botswana. Yet, occasionally, she and her family would come back to the United States when her parents were done with their research in the "field" and needed to come back to compile their research and renew their passports.
The first time that Keena went back to public school in the US; I felt back for her. I could picture her dance with the gorilla and all of the other girls in their ballet outfits. Keena does move to the own beat of her drum. I am envious of her childhood. What an amazing experience.
This is one of the best memoir/coming of age books that I have read in a long time. I did not feel like there was any gaps missing and I got to know Keena. Wow, it is shocking that this is Keena's debut novel; readers better watch out for Keena's next book.
The first time that Keena went back to public school in the US; I felt back for her. I could picture her dance with the gorilla and all of the other girls in their ballet outfits. Keena does move to the own beat of her drum. I am envious of her childhood. What an amazing experience.
This is one of the best memoir/coming of age books that I have read in a long time. I did not feel like there was any gaps missing and I got to know Keena. Wow, it is shocking that this is Keena's debut novel; readers better watch out for Keena's next book.
March 30, 2022
Keena Roberts split her time in Kenya, then Botswana, and also Philadelphia as her famous primatologist parents worked on a baboon camp. The wilds had plenty of danger, but when back in the States, Keena had just as much danger - from mean-spirited girls who never made her feel accepted.
For more of my thoughts on this captivating memoir, please see this YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/buiecXSlsdY
For more of my thoughts on this captivating memoir, please see this YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/buiecXSlsdY
November 27, 2019
This wonderful book is many things — a marvelous adventure-filled memoir by the daughter of primatologists who spent her formative years in Kenya then Botswana living in a camp near the baboons that her parents studied, as well as a beautifully written, at times heartbreaking, coming-of-age story about the challenges of peer pressure and fitting in during those periods when the family was living back in the US. The author’s parents were academics who, when not in the field studying baboons, were obligated to teach courses at the University of Pennsylvania. Before reading, I expected to enjoy the Baboon Camp chapters much more than the “button-down” US-based parts, but can honestly say I enjoyed both parts equally. The incredible sometimes hair-raising episodes from her years living with the wildlife in Kenya and Botswana sit comfortably next to the often hair-raising encounters she has with her human peers at a private school in suburban Philadelphia. “Mean Girls” certainly comes to mind when reading those chapters! I found myself holding my breath while waiting for the author to return to her beloved Botswana.
I also appreciate the thoughtfulness with which she approaches the concept of white privilege in her adored “home” in Botswana, recognizing, as an outsider and an American, she will never experience life there in the same way as someone who is actually from Botswana. Despite her “outsider” status, I am extremely grateful Keena Roberts was able to tell her unique, moving, riveting story.
I highly recommend “Wild Life” and give it five very enthusiastic stars! *****
I also appreciate the thoughtfulness with which she approaches the concept of white privilege in her adored “home” in Botswana, recognizing, as an outsider and an American, she will never experience life there in the same way as someone who is actually from Botswana. Despite her “outsider” status, I am extremely grateful Keena Roberts was able to tell her unique, moving, riveting story.
I highly recommend “Wild Life” and give it five very enthusiastic stars! *****
December 9, 2020
Ok, the cover is fantastic, in a literal sense... no way would she actually have been that close to hippos, as those are super dangerous critters. Not to mention that an inner tube float was never mentioned and would also not be a good fit for Baboon Camp. But it's certainly an appealing cover, and does speak a truth beyond facts.
The book is so much fun to read, but also thoughtful. I love that bits of Keena's childhood journal and schoolwork are included. I worry about Brooke (just what was her problem?). I particularly loved how Keena tried to become American Keena by putting Botswana Keena away, to protect BK... so poignant. I do recommend it.
The book is so much fun to read, but also thoughtful. I love that bits of Keena's childhood journal and schoolwork are included. I worry about Brooke (just what was her problem?). I particularly loved how Keena tried to become American Keena by putting Botswana Keena away, to protect BK... so poignant. I do recommend it.
July 2, 2020
Roberts writes in an easy to read narrative style with vivid descriptions that made me wish to visit the Okavango Delta even while she clearly spells out the dangers and also made me really glad that I did not go to a select private academy even though I slightly envied her handful of lifelong friends made at the school.
December 28, 2019
This may well be the best book I've read all year. It is well written, engaging, adventurous, and so far outside my real world experience, I was smitten. I just wanted to escape into this book every chance I could. Thank you Keena Roberts for sharing your life story.
April 14, 2023
I really enjoyed this memoir about the author’s childhood, split between America and a baboon research camp in Botswana. Emotions and experiences common to teenage girls the world over were here but somehow more interesting because of the unusual life Keena lived. It was also helpful to read a “third culture kid” story within the typical lens of missionary service - good to think about similarities and differences between kids I know growing up in cross cultural settings.
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