High Achiever

High Achiever


Good Reads Link

Author: 

Tiffany Jenkins

Themes: 

  • Addiction
  • Redemption

Genres: 

Memoir

Recommended Age for Reading: 

High School for sure.  The language very strong and there's a scene when the author describes a sexual favor in exchange for pills.  However, every high schooler needs to read this.  Addiction is killing so many people and this vicious cycle usually begins in high school.  The drug prevention programs schools often use just aren't working.  The opioid crisis continues to rise as well as the death toll for people who lose their lives to their addiction.  I think this would be a good one for parents to read with their kids and for high school teachers to have in their libraries.  Reading about how addiction almost ruined someone's life might be a wake-up call for a teenager who is already battling this unfortunate crisis.  

Synopsis: 

Tiffany Jenkins is a content creator of hilarious videos that she posts on the internet through Facebook and Youtube.  Here's a link to her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JugglingTheJenkinsBlog/
She tells the story of her addiction journey in her book and it begins the first day she's in jail and tries to kill herself.  Obviously, that didn't work out the way she wanted it to at the time, and the rest of the book tells about her time in jail and then her time in rehab.  She also shares the events that led up to her arrest including her relationship with a cop while secretly battling addiction. 


Review: 

I loved listening to Tiffany's story.  I got the audio version and she reads her own story.  I've never battled addiction but reading her story allowed me to have empathy for her and others like her.  I feel like we often forget that those who we label "junkies" are real people, and addiction is a mental illness that destroys lives and families.  Her story would help others who have gone or are going through a journey similar to hers and could also prevent teenagers and young adults from making the same decisions she made.  I was about to ugly cry at the end because of the redemption she experiences.  



5/5

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