“In clear, calm, resolute prose, Lazard recounts the onslaught of urgent issues overpowering her Bay Area childhood […] Her yearning to know, learn, understand and become remains powerful and creative, often against spectacular odds. […] What You Don’t Know will inspire for its grace, zest and courage.” Joan Frank, San Francisco Chronicle
"Lazard refers to her narrative as 'my recovery mission to retrieve a time in my life that marked me more deeply than any other,' and she succeeds handily, thanks to rigorous scene-building and memorable characterizations of her family. This is a powerful account."Publishers Weekly
"A coming-of-age memoir takes readers to the Bay Area of the late 1960s and ’70s. [...] Lazard’s story may exemplify a cultural awakening experienced by many of her Black peers, but it is also intensely individual, shaped as much by her own family circumstances as by the world around her. [...] Compelling and memorable."Kirkus Reviews
"The book focuses on [Lazard's] childhood and adolescence, as she shuttled from school to school, searching for her place in the world. It was a time of momentous change for Black people, and Lazard chronicles those upheavals and realizations with a clear, unsentimental view. A beautifully written memoir, full of heart and soul."Anara Guard, Chicago Review of Books
