Actress Gabby Sidibe coming to Naperville

How unusual is it for a young actress to hit the ground running as successfully as Gabourey Sidibe did?

She had done bit parts and local theater roles, but one day in 2007, she landed an incredible audition: to play the leading role in the movie "Precious," the story of a 16-year-old, 350-pound girl who is abused by her parents.

It was a very difficult, emotional part. Yet, she wowed the film's famous director, Lee Daniels, and earned the job.

Later, with her widely acclaimed performance, Sidibe nabbed an Academy Award nomination.

The young actress is now ready share her first book, "This is Just My Face," at 7 p.m. Friday, May 12, at Anderson's Bookshop, 123 W. Jefferson Ave. in downtown Naperville.

This event is a book signing only. To join the book signing line, purchase "This is Just My Face" at Anderson's Bookshop.

In her book, Sidibe, or "Gabby" as she is known to her friends, shares her life story in a voice as fresh and challenging as many of the unique characters she's played on-screen.

She paints her Bed-Stuy/Harlem family life with a polygamous father and a gifted mother who supports her two children by singing in the subway. And she shares her unconventional rise to fame as a movie star, alongside "a superstar cast of rich people who lived in mansions and had their own private islands and amazing careers while I lived in my mom's apartment."

Sidibe's memoir hits hard with dispatches on friendship, depression, celebrity, haters, fashion, race and weight.

"If I could just get the world to see me the way I see myself," she writes, "would my body still be a thing you walked away thinking about?"

Since playing the title role in "Precious," Sidibe has starred as Queenie in FX's "American Horror Story": Coven and Denise in "Difficult People," and can currently be seen as Becky on Fox's "Empire."

"This Is Just My Face" is Sidibe's first book.

For details, call Anderson's at (630) 355-2665 or visit www.andersonsbookshop.com.