Scan barcode
joana_stormblessed's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It is told in verse and also has illustrations throughout it, but the way the story is told is so captivating that I couldn't stop reading!
This follows a African-American young girl who grows up in a difficult situation: her mother got pregnant really young and couldn't take care of he. Her pregnancy was shameful on the family, so there was no one to take care of "Billie" when she was a baby. She went from family to family, and ended up getting herself in a lot of trouble in her life. At a very young age she had to go through things to escape poverty, that would break a lot of people's minds. However she stayed strong and found her love in jazz music, which when she "becam[e] Billie Haliday."
I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was captivating and beautiful! I am really glad that I picked it up, because I really took something from it: the circumstances in which you were born, do not determine where you end up. You can become whoever you want, you just have to fight for it!
Really enjoyable. Definitely recommend it to people 16/17 and older.
Trigger warning: this book deals with poverty, prostitution and racism.
This follows a African-American young girl who grows up in a difficult situation: her mother got pregnant really young and couldn't take care of he. Her pregnancy was shameful on the family, so there was no one to take care of "Billie" when she was a baby. She went from family to family, and ended up getting herself in a lot of trouble in her life. At a very young age she had to go through things to escape poverty, that would break a lot of people's minds. However she stayed strong and found her love in jazz music, which when she "becam[e] Billie Haliday."
I really enjoyed this book! I thought it was captivating and beautiful! I am really glad that I picked it up, because I really took something from it: the circumstances in which you were born, do not determine where you end up. You can become whoever you want, you just have to fight for it!
Really enjoyable. Definitely recommend it to people 16/17 and older.
Trigger warning: this book deals with poverty, prostitution and racism.
maryquitecontrary_22's review against another edition
4.0
Defined in the afterword as a "fictional verse memoir [...in] first person poems titled after her songs," Becoming Billie Holiday is a beautiful book of poetry that collectively tells of Holiday's tragic young life. The text ends a little abruptly, and I wish it gone further into her life into adulthood. Side note - Best read with Billie's tracks playing in the background. ;)
kristenremenar's review against another edition
4.0
Billie Holiday's early biography written in poems
stunnerz25's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
iffer's review against another edition
3.0
This book was an interesting dip into the life of Billie Holiday, but probably not the best book for readers, especially the age group at which it is directed, who do not have much of a background about jazz and blues. The poems didn't floor me, but there were some beautiful ones, and it was a creative and imaginative touch on Weatherford's part that each poem was the title of one of Holiday's songs, which carried on the theme that begins the book in the form of Tony Bennett's quote that Holiday "didn't sing anything unless she had lived it." The illustrations in the book are gorgeous, and somehow packed with the emotion described in the poems. As a sidenote, I didn't like the fact that the poems were printed on speckled paper, as it just seemed unnecessary and made the words slightly more difficult to read.
suzannedix's review against another edition
4.0
What a tragic yet talented woman Billie Holiday was! This short, free verse biography is beautifully written and doesn't shy away from all the grit and grime in Billie's young life: rape, working in a brothel, abandonment by her father, transient living...Talk about rising up!
Grades 8 and up.
Grades 8 and up.
abigailbat's review against another edition
3.0
This is a fictionalized memoir-in-verse of Billie Holiday. Beautiful, lyrical poetry and art, but I think I would have liked it better if I knew more about Billie Holiday going into it. It's somewhere between a novel and a biography. Also, the art is beautiful but the poems are all printed on pages with a gray, gritty background which makes it hard to read the text. I appreciate the symbolism, but wish it had been easier to read.
yogideetz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
A really lovely, poetic journey into the life of Billie Holiday. The ups and downs are inspiring and heart wrenching. I really appreciated this mode of story telling.