Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever (100% Official) [Hardcover]

Justin Bieber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 12, 2010 | Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up | Series: 100% Official

His debut album has already gone platinum. His YouTube videos have received over 10 million hits. He's sung for the president of the United States. His screaming fans have stormed TV studios and shut down shopping malls. Justin Bieber is a global superstar and now, for the first time ever, he's going to tell all in his very own book. In this book, Justin tells the story of his amazing journey from small-town schoolboy to global superstar. Stunningly designed and jam packed full of exclusive unseen photos of Justin on and off stage, plus private captured moments, the awesome story of Justin's phenomenal rise to superstardom is a must-have for any true fan.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–10—Interspersed with tweets, headline-sized quotes, and graphic, two-page chapter openings, this book has full-color slickness and loads of hype. Only 18 spreads in the entire book don't feature photos of the star. Divided into seven chapters, the text covers the show Bieber was working on while the book was written, his musical background, his family and hometown, how his music videos on YouTube created his fan base, getting a manager, and becoming a star. Within that outline, he attempts to give a sense of himself, as a regular kid who likes to play jokes, loves his family and friends, and is grateful for his success and his fans. For the boy who received a Range Rover for his 16th birthday, his tantrum in the rain after failing to pass his driver's test is rather entertaining. While this book will be popular only as long as Bieber maintains his popularity, it's likely to be worn out before fans are finished with this artist. Keeping the jacket poster will be a challenge, but the book cover displays the same image.—Janet S. Thompson, Chicago Public Library
(c) Copyright 2011.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review

'A must-have for every fan!' Top of the Pops Magazine'a bible for all true beliebers' Teen Now --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; Har/Pstr edition (October 12, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062039741
• ISBN-13: 978-0062039743
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (106 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,765 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Children's Books > Biographies > Musical
  • #20 in Books > Children's Books > Arts, Crafts & Music > Music

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

129 of 148 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars He Really Likes Girls. No, He Really Does. Really., October 12, 2010

By 

Andrew Shaffer "Author, Blogger" (Iowa) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever (100% Official) (Hardcover)

The first thing you feel is its weight in your hands, which screams, "this is an important book." "First Step 2 Forever" is a hardcover, multi-colored monstrosity that clocks in at 240 pages... half of which feature full-page pictures of the 16-year-old Bieber. This should please the majority of his pint-sized fans, who are looking for nothing more than a visual companion to Bieber's equally sugar-coated albums.

There's no way to accurately convey the inherent absurdity in reading a memoir written by someone who is only 16 years old. I'm reminded of this Friedrich Nietzsche quote: "Gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." In many ways, "First Step 2 Forever" compares to Anne Frank's diary, but the comparison ends at their young ages. At least in my opinion.

Bieber spends an inordinate amount of time talking about girls. As he writes in big letters that fill an entire page: "I really like... girls... girls... girls... girls... girls... girls... girls..." But don't peg him as a one-trick pony: "There are lots of things I really like besides girls. Like pizza.... And CHUCK NORRIS." And boy does he ever love Chuck Norris, whose name appears in all caps every time he's mentioned.

He also likes "pranking," which, if the pictures are to be believed, consists of shooting his friends and bandmates with a giant super-soaker water gun. No, I don't get it either. One of those, "You had to be there" things. Or maybe you can be there, when Bieber takes over hosting duties on MTV's Punk'd for Ashton Kutcher.

Bieber even takes a few pages to debunk some rumors that have apparently been swirling online about him:

* Im not dead. I had to check on this one... but it turns out Im alive
* Im not Peter Pan... Im growing up and my voice will change...
* I am not 10 feet tall and I dont shoot fire balls from my a**... that was BraveHeart
* No CHUCK NORRIS is not my real father... although he did birth to Hercules

Those aren't my grammatical or spelling errors, by the way. The book simply reproduces many of Bieber's Tweets without fixing them for grammar or spelling. Will anyone really care? Doubtful.

In a few places, Bieber slows down the breakneck pace of his young life to wax poetic on the state of the North American family circa 2010. "If you feel like a freak because you don't have a normal family, I've got news for you: pretty much nobody does," he writes in one moving chapter about his own family.

In one sentence, he says pretty much what took Jonathan Franzen 576 pages to say in "The Corrections" -- more or less. Could "First Step 2 Forever" be the next Oprah Book Club pick?

If you're looking for a behind-the-scenes rock-n-roll biography, pick up Nikki Sixx's "The Heroin Diaries." If you want the world's most narcissistic high school yearbook, however, "First Step 2 Forever" is your new bicycle.

35 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Inside Scoop for Justin Bieber fans, October 13, 2010

By 

K. Corn "reviewer" (midwest, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever (100% Official) (Hardcover)

If you're a fan of Justin Bieber, you probably know there are already other books out there about him, including unauthorized biographies. This book, however, is designed and written with Bieber's cooperation and noted as being written "by Justin Bieber." There are some helpful tips about this book which you should know before you purchase it. If you collect anything and everything related to Bieber, you'll want to pay close attention to the part about maintaining the book's value.

1. First of all, the book contains exclusive photos and a free poster. But if you don't read the inside cover of the book (bottom right) carefully...you might spend time looking for that poster inside the book. But it turns out it is printed behind the cover. If you want to put up the poster, you have to remove the cover and pin up the poster which is on the back of the cover.

2. For those of you who get a FIRST edition of the book, you should know that removing the cover and pinning it to your wall could reduce the value of your book as a collectible. But if you don't care about that and want the poster pasted on a wall, inside a locker, etc....then go for it! Also, maybe it is just the first editions that have this issue but the front of the cover (the part with the words Justin Bieber on it, in bold purple letters) does show through to the back... but only if you are looking at it in bright light. It won't be visible when put on a wall. If you want to have a collectible copy, you might want to buy two books. Leave the cover on the (hopefully) FIRST edition and pin the poster from the second book on your wall or wherever you want it. It all depends on how much you want the book to retain its value (assuming Bieber retains his popularity).

INFO ABOUT THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOK:

1, A special DM to Bieber's fans, including info that every female fan is his "favorite girl", each for a different reason. He also lets fans know that they have a chance to connect with him on Twitter or get soaked in a water fight after a concert. The book is full-color, including photos - and there are photos on many, many pages.

2. Information about how he reached stardom, his connection with Usher and the My World Tour. He also notes that "my word got very big, very fast, and based on a lot of sad examples from the past, a lot of people expect me to get lost in it." Of course, he doesn't expect to go down that path and here's hoping he beats the odds.

3. A chapter titled "A Secret Musician" which goes into details about Justin's birth, his hometown, pride in being a Canadian and how he spent his time. Bieber opens up about his parents' divorce and how hard his parents worked to stay financially afloat. He also describes time spent with his grandparents and why Justin speaks both French and English.

4. A section called "Big Family Christmas" which focuses on all the details about how Justin spent each Christmas, with his family, including a gift exchange tradition that included rolling dice (yes, rolling dice) as a part of the gift exchange. He explains how the dice action ties into exchanging presents.

5. Another chapter about his family and how his mother made mistakes and admitted them... but changed after she went to church. Not surprisingly, Bieber notes how important God is to him.

There are also details about YouTube (of course, since Bieber reached his first fans there) and very detailed information from Bieber about how he went from YouTube to stardom...step by step. On many of the pages are actual tweets which were sent by Bieber, revealing his popularity on Twitter as well as YouTube. Of course, the book is filled with tons of photos, many noted to be exclusive. There are shots of Bieber leaping onto the stage, talking to his mother, hanging out with Usher and his manager, etc. Of course, for those fans who just want to see Justin alone, in close-up photos, there are plenty of those, including that poster. Only dedicated fans, those who search for every photo of Justin out there, are likely to know which photos in the book have never been published before.

About that poster: don't expect the poster to be huge. It is a little over 22 inches long (as best I could measure it, since it included folds and I couldn't get it completely flat). The good news about the poster? It is a life-size head shot of Justin, focusing primarily on his face but revealing a bit of his V-neck shirt or sweater as well as the gold chain around his neck. The bad news about the poster? You'll have to live with the creases that were created when it was folded around the book. You might be able to get rid of them but you'd probably damage the poster or risk tearing it to get rid of those creases. Even so, the life-sized face, showing every one of Bieber's eyelashes, freckles and distinctive hairstyle, should have fans swooning.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Daughter LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this book!, September 13, 2011

By 

EagleMama - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever (100% Official) (Hardcover)

My 15-yr. old daughter is JB obsessed, although she calls it dedicated. This book was awesome. She read it in one sitting (took a few hours) and as a bonus, the cover has a large poster of J. Beibs on the back that she promptly hung on her door. Although, she knew most of the facts in the book because she follows him on Twitter and owns the movie, some of the pictures of him and his family and/or crew were new, so she was thrilled. Worth every penny for the delight it brought her.