Channel Kindness by Lady Gaga and The Born this Way Foundation Reporters

Let’s face it – 2020 has not been an easy year. Every day we hear stories of the impact of the pandemic on individuals, families, communities and countries. In fact, the world has been forever changed. What I choose to read right now impacts my level of positivity in today’s world. Channel Kindness, by Born This Way Foundation Reporters & Lady Gaga, is just the book I needed to remember all the good in this world.

The book, introduced by Lady Gaga, is a collection of 51 stories which emit positivity, resilience and kindness by today’s youth. Simply said, the book is uplifting and inspirational not only providing hope to today’s youth, but to all of us. The stories have been collected by Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation, founded by Lady Gaga and her mother Cynthia Germanotta, and include a diverse population of youth represented. Stories include a man who sells food and drinks to businesses via an electric golf cart, and matches these sales in food in drink to the homeless and the story of a young woman who creates a friendship advocacy program which pairs individuals with challenges with someone in their peer group. These are just two of the stories we learn about in this book.

I enjoyed the book and learning about each of the stories. This is not a book you want to binge read, however. I say this because the stories have greater meaning when the reader is allowed to reflect upon the information shared. I loved the fact that the stories told represented the most diverse population I’ve ever read. Furthermore, the individual stories often originated from adversity – bullying, mental health issues, isolation due to LGBTQ+ identification. The underlying theme of the book is that kindness provides a power to create positive change.

I listened to the audiobook edition of the book which was narrated by Lady Gaga, Alex Aide, Aysha Mahmood, Connor Long, Cynthia Germanotta, Hanna Atkinson, Mitu Yilma & Shadille Estepan. Like the authors of the stories themselves, these narrators represent a vast range of diversity which made the narration more authentic and true to the authors.  

Thanks to libro.fm and Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this book in exchange for the honest review provided here. What makes Libro.fm so unique is that 100% of both print and audiobook purchases support your local bookstores. The link to your local bookstore for this title can be found here: https://bookstorelink.com/9781250245588.  This book publishes on September 22.

My rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/5.