Thank you for the ARC. I feel a little conflicted over this book - I'm not quite sure who it is for. There's one part of me who is interested in White's post-Family Matters career and how difficult it was for him to shed that character, but it also feels like this was his opportunity to share that it was everyone else's fault and he lost millions of dollars on bad deals and poor management.. Between that and the name dropping this book felt draining to read and I grew less and less interested. I really wanted to like it and there were some interesting and comical stories peppered throughout (the "sickout" amused me). Probably best as an audiobook in the background for those looking for an easy listen.

Growing up Urkle is a hard one to “review” I enjoyed reading Jaleels story, and how he came to fame and how he managed to to bipass the drug, alcohol and other problematic things that came with being the 80/90s kid on tv. Many of my childhood favorites turned to the above mentioned and it was sad and disheartening that it was the norm of Hollywood. I was please to read his mom was able to keep him on the straight and narrow while will managing to keep his life semi normal to the best of their ability.
This memoir touched based on a lot of the unknowns surrounding Jaleel and his future after Family Matters and overall was a pleasant and informative read.

I loved watching Family Matters when I was young and still like watching it now. I couldn't get into the book though. I've tried but it wasn't for me. I'm grateful that netgalley let me read this in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for this ARC.

I am still trying to process how I feel about this book. I love the character Steve Urkel from Family Matters. But I don't know how I feel about the real person.

Felt very surface level.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC for review.

This took me almost two months to finish. I requested it for the nostalgic factor, but I'm not sure that I'm happy I read it. If White wanted us to sympathize with him, that's not how the tone came across in this memoir. He instead recounts never-ending naivety and wrong decisions throughout his acting career. The stories are meandering and not chronological. Details are dropped without further information (like...he has a daughter but has nothing else to say about it?).

I had always heard that Jaleel White doesn't exactly embrace the Steve Urkel persona, so I was really excited when I saw that he had a book coming out. If you're a 90's kid who enjoys nostalgic pop culture, I think you'd enjoy this biography. I appreciated the opportunity to understand where Jaleel was coming from, as it must be difficult to by type-cast in a role like that. You get the reasons why his career didn't take off after Family Matters and how that psychologically impacted Jaleel. There's plenty of tea on controversial figures like Bill Cosby, R. Kelly, and Les Moonves, as well as the FM cast. I didn't find it as easy to connect with Jaleel because he does bring a certain attitude to the book (which may be a bias I have since I've followed interviews from him post-FM), but again, it was very interesting hearing his definitive POV and how he was able to pivot his career later with Dancing with the Stars and his Cannabis business.

Loved. Urkel was an icon when I was growing up and whenever I see Jaleel White in anything it always brings me back watching Family Matters when I was younger. Hearing his story and how down to earth he stayed due to his family and their values made me love him even more

Jaleel White is a familiar face to those of us that grew up in the 80s and 90s. Everyone tuned in for TGIF shows on Friday night. About once a year I will read an obscure book that I wouldn’t pick up normally. Last year it was the Randy Travis biography, this year Jaleel White. I honestly enjoyed the first half of the book. It gave a behind the scenes look at how he broke into Family Matters and also how he balanced that job with being a kid. Being Urkel couldn’t have always been easy and he did a good job painting the picture of what it was like to become the person you played on TV, even when you didn’t want to.
The second half of the book came across differently. He seemed narcissistic and kind of ungrateful. Many of the things he referenced had to do with being black and blaming others for how things weren’t working out for him after Family Matters. I’m not sorry I read it…it was nice to touch a piece of my childhood for a bit and remember how things were before streaming services became king. Would I recommend to others? Probably not.

DNF @ 16%

What a sad, bitter, resent ful man [who thinks he is something because he can name drop, even though there is nothing behind all that]. As someone who watched Family Matters every Friday, this was a book I was really excited to read; how disappointing,

I was invited to read/review this by the publisher [Simon & Schuster] an I thank them for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was for sure an interesting read. It was interesting to read about how Family Matters really defined who White is and honestly the rest of his career. I really wish we got to hear more about his experiances and his relationships with his coworkers on set. I do think he did a great job being as transparent as possible about his time as an actor and the racism and struggles he faced along the way.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I devoured this memoir. It is so hard not to fall in love with each memoir that I’ve read because looking into somebody’s personal life when you only know them on a screen it’s just such a deep experience. I grew up watching family matters, it was a little bit above my age group since I was very little, but I had older siblings that would have it on the TV all the time. I absolutely loved the slap stick humor associated with Urkel and it’s so incredible to see into his personal experience with this character, with the Hollywood scene being a young black actor. His writing truly drew me in to all of his personal stories, his love for basketball, the relationship he had with his parents, the awkwardness of a first date. This is incredible!

I love celebrity memoirs, especially those from 90s stars. I was born in 1981, so I'm a true child of the TGIF era. That said, I really enjoyed this book and would absolutely recommend it.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Family Matters was one of my favorite TGIF shows from my youth, so I was eager to read this book. Jaleel White shares his experiences growing up in Hollywood, providing longtime fans with an insightful look into child stardom. He discusses the challenges that young actors face and offers guidance on how to navigate these issues as they grow up. I highly recommend this book to both longtime fans of the show and new followers of the actor.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this work.

A fascinating look at Jaleel White’s career and the various mistakes he made while navigating Hollywood and contracts. I enjoyed learning about the role his parents played in keeping him grounded and the glimpse at the shame the adult White seeing his entitled attitude towards certain memories. I was never a watcher of his show but knew who he was. I feel that I got to know him better through this book and liked that many of the decisions that he made were rooted in the way he was raised.

Special thanks to the author and @simonbooks #SimonBooksBuddy for my gifted copy‼️

This was the only book I read for non-fiction November and I had really high hopes for it. Not to mention I loved watching Family Matters growing up so I just knew this was gonna be a top tier read for me. I even bought the audio although I had a copy because I was that excited.

Now Growing Up Urkel wasn’t boring but it wasn’t what I was expecting either. I know many say they don’t rate or judge memoirs but let’s be real if the memoir is MEH it’s just that. Nothing Jaleel mentioned in his memoir was unexpected to me. From his childhood experiences, the way he was raised by his parents, being the only child, his experiences with dating, and of course his role on Family Matters. None of it was surprising lol I know that sounds crazy be it all seemed so Jaleel 😂.

One thing I did find interesting was how the show ended up incorporating his character as Stefan. I used to be head over hills for him and Laura really played with Steve until she saw he was a snack without them glasses.

Overall, this was an okay memoir definitely learned a lot about his personal life but mostly his experience in Hollywood and being in the industry. It’s crazy how his role as Steve Urkel overpowered his career and potential for better lead roles after that. I feel like he played his part so well that nobody could see past that and sometimes that can be a good and bad thing.

Rating: 3.5/5⭐️

Reading Growing Up Urkel was quite interesting. I spent so many Friday nights in front of the TV screen watching the TGIF lineup on ABC with my family. Needless to say, I grew up with "Urkel" for a big part of my childhood. But as with many people, the character Steve Urkel was so ingrained in my psyche, I did not much consider or appreciate actor Jaleel White outside of this role.

Oftentimes we hear of actors never quite escaping their most popular roles, especially childhood stars. Jaleel White is one of those actors. If you are a fan that wonders what becomes of those particular actors so many of us grew up watching on TV, you def want to pick up Growing Up Urkel.

Jaleel White holds no punches when sharing what his life was like as a child star and the effect it has had on his life after the show ended. He gives us his side of things, particularly what it's like filming a popular TV show as America's most endearing nerd while still enrolled in public show and trying to remain as humble as possible. And yes, he addresses rumors we've all heard about rapport among fellow castmates.

Overall, I enjoyed Growing Up Urkel. It was cool to learn more about his life outside of Family Matters and how much "Steve Urkel" typecast him for the duration of his acting career. It was also dope to get the "inside scoop" on pivotal moments in the show, such as celebrity cameos, "Myrtle Urkel," and the invention of "Stephan UrKel." Readers even get a glimpse of the lore behind character Judy going up stairs never to return to set. There were times when I wasn't sure if White was being serious or sarcastic, but I still enjoyed the book. White is a great storyteller and after that share at the end about Dave Chapelle and "Purple Urkel," I'm even more curious about one of his current business ventures!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of Growing Up Urkel.

3.5 Stars

REVIEW: Growing Up Urkel by Jaleel White (3.5)

Growing up in the 90s, I saw my share of episodes of Family Matters. Urkel was a household name; everyone knew who he was and how he sounded. However, many people didn’t and maybe still don’t know Jaleel White. I was excited that he wrote a memoir because I always wanted to know more about him.

First of all, Growing Up Urkel is worth it as an audiobook. Jaleel is a great narrator who adds so much to his story, even adding different voices for other people. Growing Up Urkel encompasses Jaleel White’s life from starting on Family Matters when he was 12 until now. Hearing about his time during Family Matters was so interesting since it was significant and influential. Jaleel also talks about different lessons he has learned through life, his parents, basketball, college, trying to step away from Urkel to find other roles, and the complications of show business. One thing that stood out was his appreciation for his parents. His parents kept him grounded and taught him so much. Jaleel credits his parents for his lack of significant drama or scandals while being a child star.

The organization could have been more straightforward to follow at times. It wasn’t linear, so things sometimes felt out of order and off. I also wished Jaleel had shared more about his life beyond just his career. He briefly mentioned his daughter, but there wasn’t much more.

Overall, I enjoyed Growing Up Urkel. It was great to hear more about Jaleel and his life in showbiz.

Thank you, Netgalley and Simon & Schuster, for the free advanced copy for my honest review!

In the 1990s, Family Matters was a popular TV show that ran on Friday evenings. A favorite quote was "Did I do that?" Steve Urkel became a household name. In Growing Up Urkel, the actor himself gives the reader a behind the scenes look into the show and later years of his life. He shares his struggles to shed his childhood image and make a new name for himself in Hollywood. All the while, he has remained humble.

Man. I really, really wanted to love this book, but I did not. Summed up in a nutshell, it was "I played Urkel, went to college for free, failed hard at getting another lasting job, and now I sell weed." I really did not realize how little he acted after being Urkel. The writing style was good, but the actual substance of the book was definitely not.

I was wowed by this tell-all! I had no idea what he'd dealt with growing up as Urkel. He will always be a favorite of mine, so the nostalgia effect was absolutely part of it.