On Our Way to Beautiful: A Family Memoir

by Yolanda Young

Book Overview

Young, a syndicated columnist and Sunday school teacher, draws from both her professions in this collection of autobiographical vignettes about growing up in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the early 1970s.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375504931
• ISBN13: 9780375504938
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Villard Books
• Length: 213 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Experiencing Life, Learning Lessons

Reading this book was like taking a trip down Memory Lane. Ms Young tells her story of growing up in Louisiana. She learns life lessons at the feet of her great grandmother, Big Momma, at the table with her grandmother, Honeymoon, and through encounters with her own mother. The author takes each lesson learned and tells a related story that pertains to her childhood. We watch as Yolanda grows up and makes some mistakes such as buying $500 worth of designer clothes to fit in with her classmates. She learns about following her dreams and not letting dreams die. She learns the value of family as she sees her family stick together through all kinds of adversities. Often times when a not so famous person write their memoirs, I wonder why they think their story needs to be told. In this memoir, I think the author gives just enough information to make a person look back and reflect on their life and see how life lessons help shape who they are as adults. This book brought a lot of memories as I can relate to many of the same experiences in one way or another. I can remember Sunday evenings in Bible Training Union, going skating after church on Sundays, singing in the youth choir. The difficulty of trying to fit in with the other children at school, and still trying to maintain your strong Christian values and upbringing. Most of all I can remember conversations with my grandmothers and mother that I credit for shaping my life. This is a wonderful quick enjoyable read and highly recommended!Jeanette WallingtonAPOOO BookClub

On Our Way to Beautiful: A Family Memoir

I just happened to pick this book up in the local library recently. Yolanda Young grew up in a completely different environment than I did, however, her stories cut to my soul. The chapters tell stories of her life and at the end of each there is a 'punch' that almost caught me off guard - quite profound. Though our stories may vary widely, there is common ground in our lives that crosses racial barriers. I just kept thinking, "Wow, this woman can write!" I love this book!

The Next Maya Angelou

This book was so profound that you have to just sit and wonder is this a true story. Yolanda Young is very inspirational, and I had the pleasure of meeting her when she came to the Shrine of the Black Madonna in Detroit, for a book signing. The book is definetly one of th best, if Oprah hadn't stopped her book club this would be the new book. I would have to agree with the reveiwers before, this book is a page turner that you will not put down. The way she delivers her story it's like you grew up with her and was actually there. I loved this book, and I tell everyone I come in contact with about it. I wish more young women my age could get this book and see how no matter what you have been through you can still come out victorious. This book is a definete encourager of the sisterhood.If you haven't read this book, please read a.s.a.p.

Thanks for the Memories!

Maybe it's because I'm from Louisiana, maybe it's because I had a Big Mama, a Grandmother and Grandfather, and a Maw-Maw too, but Yolanda Young has taken me back to the wonderful days of my own childhood in ON OUR WAY TO BEAUTIFUL. This is so good that even though it is autobiographical, it reads like wonderful fiction, yet all the while completely authentic and believable. The author has given us the personalities so well and so deeply that there is a feeling of intimacy with them. I can't help but want to know if Big Momma or Honeymoon, or Pappy are still alive. I find myself teary, I find myself laughing, and continuously I am reminiscing about my own childhood. A couple of devices Yolanda uses are fantastic. They come up most as interludes and they are so funny, yet so relevant and revelatory. The story wouldn't be the same without them. Honeymoon's and Yolanda's trick on her daddy are uproarious! The shallow water chapter is a masterpiece. Yolanda uses a stunning juxtaposition of her near-drowning and a recent family tragedy. It is wonderfully effective and is presented exceptionally well. The phone call of Shirley to Honeymoon, the anticipation, the total shock upon learning of the outcome, and because Yolanda has helped us to really know the characters, the true emotional outpouring on the part of the reader all attest to the artistry present here.Ms. Young has very good scenery description and very vivid and imagination-awakening description of neighborhoods. There is good evocation of childhood feelings and reactions. ON OUR WAY TO BEAUTIFUL is so genuinely spiritual and so genuinely human. I pray Yolanda stays true to who she is so that she will blossom in the Lord. She has a muse! It is a gift from God. I can't wait to read her fiction. I already see seeds of it here. As an unreformed chauvanist, here is my greatest compliment to the author: she writes with a woman's heart and a man's head. There is nothing superficial here. Only a transcendent vision of a God who is real and who moves people to cross bridges even when they are afraid to. A God who is able to make a way out of no way!

You won't put this one down!

The book is an EXCELLENT read! It is insightful, humorous, and courageous. Yolanda does a wonderful job of accurately and vividly depicting the book's setting (Stoner Hill, Shreveport). Being a homegirl, I would know. I could relate to the strong family ties (being privy to three maternal generations) and the awkwardness of being a gifted black child in a predominantly white school.I was particularly drawn by a specific incidence in the book, the "press 'n perm" thing. I also had one. My long, thick hair had been one of the things I liked about myself also and was identified by it. But all of it came out!! I looked like a plucked chicken!! And my grandmother and great-grandmother also made the same type of comments as did Yolanda's "Big Momma." Similar to the author, I think at that time I really began to overcompensate in my thinking and intelligence arena, because I had lost the one tangible characteristic that helped set me apart. Yolanda does a courageous job of revealing the type insecurities we face, not only as youngsters, but as adults. The book has something for everyone!!!