Becoming Billie Holiday [Hardcover]

Carole Weatherford (Author), Floyd Cooper (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 11 and up | Grade Level: 6 and up

Before the legend of Billie Holliday, there was a girl named Eleanora. The world, however, would know her as Billie Holliday, possibly one of the greatest jazz singers of all time. Eleanora's journey into legend took her through pain, poverty and run-ins with the law. By the time she was fifteen, she knew she possessed something that could change her life - a voice. Eleanora could sing! Her remarkable voice led her to a place in the spotlight with some of the era's hottest big bands. Billie Holliday sang as if she lived each lyric and in many ways she had.Through a sequence of raw and poignant poems, award-winning poet, Carole Boston Weatherford chronicles Eleanora Fagan's metamorphosis into Billie Holliday and the dream she pursued with passion.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 8 Up—In this fictionalized memoir, Weatherford has composed nearly 100 first-person narrative poems that detail Holiday's life from birth until age 25, the age at which she debuted her signature song, "Strange Fruit." The poems borrow their titles from Holiday's songs, a brilliant device that provides readers with a haunting built-in sound track. Weatherford's language is straightforward and accessible—almost conversational. She captures the woman's jazzy, candid voice so adroitly that at times the poems seem like they could have been lifted wholesale from Holiday's autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues. Cooper's sepia-toned, nostalgic, mixed-media illustrations provide an emotional counterpoint to the text. Resembling old photographs seen through a lens of aching hindsight, they make explicit the pain that Weatherford studiously avoids giving full voice to in her poems. Although Holiday's early life was one of relentless rejection, discrimination, and poverty, the author stays true to her subject and maintains a resolute and defiant tone, albeit one tinged with regret. Prostitution, rape, jail time, and violence are mentioned, but the book ends on the proverbial high note, before the singer's drug use, alcoholism, and early death. This captivating title places readers solidly into Holiday's world, and is suitable for independent reading as well as a variety of classroom uses.—Paula Willey, Baltimore County Public Library, Towson, MD
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In a series of free-verse poems and bluesy lyrics, headed by song titles, Weatherford retraces Holiday’s childhood and early career in the renowned jazz singer’s own voice. “At eleven, I had the body / of a grown woman, / the mouth of a sailor, and a temper / hot enough to fry an egg.” Growing up in Baltimore, she moved to Harlem with her sometimes-absent mother after being molested by a neighbor, and quickly fell in love with late-night life. Dubbed “Lady Day,” she earned money singing in clubs, was “discovered” by jazz-enthusiast John Hammond, and battled racism on a groundbreaking tour with Artie Shaw’s all-white band. Closing with Holiday’s spectacular headline gig at the Café Society, where she sang “Strange Fruit”—“how could I not claim: / this is my song?”—Weatherford leaves the 25-year-old at a high spot in her career, before later troubles and drug addiction. After the whole story readers will find a generous assortment of recommended reading and listening at the end of this proud, clear-voiced testimonial. Grades 6-9. --John Peters

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Hardcover: 117 pages
• Publisher: Wordsong; Library Binding edition (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159078507X
• ISBN-13: 978-1590785072
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #763,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Would somebody please put a shiny sticker on this beauty?, September 7, 2008

By 

Sarah Miller (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Becoming Billie Holiday (Hardcover)

Wowie, wow, wow. This little beauty just leapt to the top of my wish list. I've had my eye on Carole Boston Weatherford ever since she wrote Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom (Caldecott Honor Book), but as far as I'm concerned she's topped it with Becoming Billie Holiday.

The writing is killer and the format unique: an illustrated fictional verse memoir. And get this -- the title of each poem is a Billie Holiday song. I know next to nothing about Billie Holiday's life, but fictional or not, I'm perfectly content getting all my information here. My sense is that Weatherford was true to her subject; regardless, I don't care to break this book's spell with plain old facts. Straight non-fiction would be hard pressed to duplicate the imagery and sense of character Weatherford's poems convey.

To crown it all, I don't think you even have to be a Holiday fan to dig this book. Lady Day had it rough, and her childhood makes for compelling reading. Among other things there's prostitution, rape, racism, and reefer in here -- none of it tawdry, but gritty enough to rule out the elementary school crowd.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, September 3, 2008

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Becoming Billie Holiday (Hardcover)

Gold Star Award Winner!

Billie Holiday does not have a happy life story. After all, she sang the blues for a reason. A biography written in verse seems only appropriate for a woman who lived her life in song -- whose only reliable escape was via music.

Weatherford uses Holiday songs as poem titles throughout the book, which, in addition to the first person perspective, serves to bring the reader close to the narrative. While the story of Holiday's life is disturbing, Weatherford does a fantastic job of pulling readers in for an occasional close-up, and in giving them much-needed distance -- room to breathe.

Subtlety is key, and both author and artist seem to realize the delicate balance.

Floyd Cooper used a subtractive technique for the gorgeous illustrations, meaning he used erasers to make shapes and then enhanced them with mixed media. The heavily textured, sepia tones flow seamlessly into the verse.

Then we have the book itself, smooth to the touch, but grainy and old school. Billie Holiday all over. This publisher, Wordsong, created a perfect marriage of author & artist, then packaged the work brilliantly in a book for the ages.

Reviewed by: Julie M. Prince

4.0 out of 5 stars A real eye opener, July 1, 2011

By 

A. Felsted (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Becoming Billie Holiday (Hardcover)

Carole Boston Weatherford is a class act. I don't know if there's anything I can say which will do this poet justice. How hard it must have been to to detail the emotional ups and downs of Billie Holiday's life when there's no actual way of getting into Billy Holiday's skin. The middle of this book dragged a bit for me, but the beginning and ending were brilliant.

This poem, wow:

With Thee I Swing

Racism ripped America at the seams,
and jazz stitched the nation together
one song at a time. But music
alone couldn't mend the tear.
The needle pricked my fingers
till my soul was sore, and I longed
to hop a train for home.


Having grown up well after this era, it's hard for me to imagine such a bitter landscape. But Weatherford paints the scene so that I can imagine it. The music of Billie Holiday now takes on more meaning for me