Book Review - Melissa Explains It All: Tales from My Abnormally Normal Life

Melissa Explains It All: Tales from My Abnormally Normal Life by Melissa Joan Hart
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition edition (October 29, 2013)

Taking the title from the show she starred on while growing up, the former child star is frank and witty in her memoir.

After starring in the Nickelodeon series, Clarissa Explains It All, Melissa Joan Hart went on to star in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch on ABC.  The latter would not have been a hit had it not been for starring in the earlier series.  After taking a few years off to start and raise a family, Hart starred in an ABC Family movie with Joey Lawrence.  This led to the nostalgic sitcom, Melissa and Joey, on ABC Family.

Hart provides behind-the-scenes tales from her past all the way up to her present in her memoir, which is forthright and funny as she is.  It's a candid glimpse at her unique career and the lessons that she has learned along the way.

Surprisingly, Hart was able to live a grounded, "normal" childhood.  Most child stars are not afforded this opportunity.  Growing up, she had to balance homework with auditions and commuting from Long Island to Manhattan.

Hart had auditioned for Blossom and was very far in the process of the NBC series when she landed the role of Clarissa Darling, a role that would take her to Orlando to shoot 65 episodes of Clarissa.  She would have gone on to fame with either show.

To this day, she balances family with life in Hollywood.

If you want a candid look at a celebrity that grew up with a grounded childhood, be sure to check it out.