Becoming Billie Holiday by Carole
Weatherford
Would Somebody Please Put A Shiny Sticker On This Beauty?
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. Eleanoras 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 eras 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 Fagans metamorphosis into Billie Holliday and the
dream she pursued with passion.
Personal Review: Becoming Billie Holiday by Carole
Weatherford

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
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