I’m Glad My Mom Died — Heartbreaking and Necessary!

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Blurb: A heartbreaking and hilarious memoir by iCarly and Sam & Cat star Jennette McCurdy about her struggles as a former child actor—including eating disorders, addiction, and a complicated relationship with her overbearing mother—and how she retook control of her life.

Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly , she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!”), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.

 And just like that… my heart breaks.

I’m Glad My Mom Died is powerful, devastating, insightful, and deeply emotional. There truly aren’t enough words to fully encapsulate the weight of Jennette McCurdy’s story—a young girl we watched grow up on a network that absolutely should have known better.

Reading this as a mother shattered me in ways I wasn’t prepared for. My heart aches for Jennette. I look at my own daughter and genuinely cannot understand how any parent could inflict this level of control, harm, and emotional damage on their child. The abuse, manipulation, and pressure are told with such raw honesty that it’s impossible to look away.

What surprised me most was the guilt I felt while reading. I wasn’t prepared for the realization that, by watching and supporting those shows, I may have inadvertently contributed to the continuation of the very treatment she endured. That awareness alone makes this book incredibly important.

This memoir is painful, necessary, and unforgettable.