In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, I would like to introduce Puerto Rican American actress Naya Rivera. Naya Rivera has had a career as an actress since she was a toddler. She started as a catalog model and grew into parts in popular 90’s TV shows such as The Royal Family, Family Matters, and even The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air! In her early 20’s starring as the sassy Latina cheerleader on the TV series Glee, she got her big break. Fans got to know and love her as Santana Lopez because just as her character said ”You guys love me. I keep it real and I’m hilarious.”
Behind the scenes, she was similar to her character Santana in that she was confident, funny, and vibrant. In her book, Sorry Not Sorry, the reader gets to know the true Naya Rivera. She apologetically shows the reader the lessons she learned and the things she didn’t regret in her short life, like being comfortable in her skin as a mixed-raced actress in a world that did not embrace that all the time. She reflects on her life choices and experiences with a sort of funny frankness. She cracks some jokes here and there like her not being sorry for getting plastic surgery at 18 while balancing the seriousness of other situations such as mourning the loss of a close friend and coworker, Cory Monteith.
But the fact that she passed away this year does make reading the book bittersweet because the book was published before she was 30, but she only got to live until 33 saving her son from the fate that took her life. I can guarantee that you will laugh and you will cry, and you will not be sorry for getting to know the late Naya Rivera.
Written by:
Elbie Love
YA Library Associate
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