Child of the 90s

I’ve been on a stars-of-the-‘90s memoir kick lately.

It all began with Melissa Joan Hart’s Melissa Explains It All: Tales from My Abnormally Normal Life. Any other Clarissa Explains it All or Sabrina the Teenage Witch fans out there? I was a big fan of both series in my youth and have always been an admirer of Melissa Joan Hart. Heck, I still remember her wedding special that aired on ABC Family a few years ago and I currently have Melissa & Joey set to record on my DVR. She’s funny, seems down to earth, and will always be Clarissa Darling in my eyes. Her memoir was a great, easy read that didn’t sugar coat anything about her life story. I highly recommend it.

Next, I downloaded Jennie Garth’s Deep Thoughts From a Hollywood Blonde. Again, I was a big fan of 90210 as a kid. My twin brother and I were hooked after we spent one summer watching back-to-back reruns on the Soap Network (or a similar channel). After that, the show became a regular addition to my primetime TV watching and I can embarrassingly admit to practicing the half turn you see all the characters make to the camera in the opening sequence in front of the mirror on more than one occasion. I also watched Jennie Garth on What I Like About You (one of those great shows that no one really talked about) and 90210, the rebooted edition.

I really knew nothing about Jennie Garth’s personal life, besides the very public divorce she went through with Peter Facinelli a few years ago. But even then, it was mainly the tabloid’s version. It was enjoyable to read her views on their relationship and I admittedly shed a few tears when she went into details of what broke in their marriage. Though she didn’t have quite the juicy number of stories as Melissa Joan Hart (taking ecstasy at the Playboy Mansion and showing up to photo shoot still high? What?), you could tell she wrote the book from the heart.

Finally, I just finished Mario Lopez’s Just Between Us. It popped up on my suggested download list right after I watched The Unauthorized Saved By the Bell Story on Lifetime (terrible movie, don’t waste your time). Mario had a bit of a reputation as a ladies’s man, which is a fact he didn’t shy away from. I enjoyed reading his perspective on things and found his honesty refreshing. I had a deep desire to start regularly watching Extra after reading his book.

Fun Fact: All three stars have been on Dancing with the Stars. I think that’s where all stars-of-the-90s go to revive their careers, right?

Any other 90’s child star memoirs I should add to my must-read list?