Anna Simpson was 15, pregnant, and living with her mother in a housing project in Far Rockaway, Queens, when she was cast in an independent film. On the Come Up is a riveting, at times harrowing, read based on Anna’s story as told to the author.
AnnMarie Walker doesn’t have much. The little money she has is earned selling ice pops at the beach. She has a few friends, but her best friend has moved away and the girls she hangs out with are older. Her mother hasn’t been the same since a car accident, and AnnMarie has to deal with some relatives who come to live with her. But the one thing she has is a great set of pipes, and she blows away audiences with her voice.
When AnnMarie falls for a neighborhood boy and ends up pregnant, she enrolls in a high school for pregnant girls, where she sees a flyer for movie tryouts. Even though she’s weeks away from delivery she gets a part in the movie and after the baby is born, juggles motherhood and the filming schedule with help from her mother, the baby’s father and a close friend.
AnnMarie is a smart girl who makes bad decisions until she realizes only she can chart the course of her future. Her trip to the Sundance Film Festival shows her life beyond the projects and she’s able to start heading in the right direction. She’s an unlikely heroine but one you can root for.
On a side note, my mother, who’s an avid reader, suggested On the Come Up to me, and was surprised to find out I’d already read it. It turns out that Hannah Weyer is her neighbor’s daughter-in-law, and she was asked to read it even though it’s not her usual reading fare. She enjoyed the book, she found the voice different but authentic. There’s quite a lot of slang used and I found myself referring to the Urban Dictionary a few times.