South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Bella Thorne bringing new book, girl power message to signing
Pembroke Pines-raised actor, singer and controversy-stirring social media star Bella Thorne will make an appearance at Books & Books in Coral Gables on Tuesday to sign copies of her book “The Life of a Wannabe Mogul: Mental Disarray.”
Thorne’s visit begins at 7 p.m. and comes with guidelines typical of a celebrity book-signing: To enter the queue, you must purchase a ticket, which includes a copy of the book. Tickets cost $25 (plus taxes and fees) and must be purchased in advance at BooksAndBooks.com. The event is described as “autographing only,” which seems to rule out pictures.
“The Life of a Wannabe Mogul: Mental Disarray” was released July 9 by Rare Bird Books, the Los Angeles-based publisher that is also home to Sean Penn’s “Bob Honey” series. The publisher describes Thorne’s book as a “collection of illuminating and inspiring poems [about] her personal struggles, relationships and wild-child lifestyle.”
Thorne, who is Cuban American, was raised with three siblings by a single mother after the death of her father in a 2007 motorcycle accident,
when Thorne was 9. She was a model and actor from a young age, with her breakout role in the Disney Channel comedy “Shake It Up,” co-starring Zendaya, and HBO’s “Dirty Sexy Money.”
Thorne’s career has bounced across multiple genres, including her first book, a conventional YA novel titled “Autumn Falls,” published in 2014; two Billboard Top 100 singles; frequent film and television roles; and a 2016 appearance in Playboy.
The 21-year-old Thorne’s army of young fans — she has nearly 21 million Instagram followers, 7 million on Twitter — have moved with her, emboldened by her uncompromising message of female empowerment. In June, hackers threatened
to release intimate photos of Thorne, which prompted the actress to make the pictures public herself.
Thorne has been making the rounds of talk shows with the book, translating its accounts of sexual abuse, gender identity (she recently came out as pansexual on “Good Morning America”) and challenges with dyslexia and self-esteem. Using the earthy vernacular and enigmatic punctuation that stands for authenticity these days, Thorne states on the opening page: “I dedicate this book to none other than My. Mothafukken. Self. & all the lovely lost souls out there.”
For more information, visit Instagram.com/bellathorne.