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A review by bickie
Strange Fruit by Gary Golio
4.0
Excellent discussion of Billie Holiday's early life and career culminating with the story of her decision to sing Abel Meeropol/Lewis Allan's song, "Strange Fruit," at the integrated Cafe Society night club and the subsequent response to it.
Oil-painted illustrations evoke the emotionality of jazz. The picture showing Abel singing "Strange Fruit" for Billie for the first time makes him look Black, and the picture showing Abel and Barney Josephson talking makes them both look Black. Teachers reading the book aloud should be prepared to explain that both were white Jews. Abel was born to Russian immigrants in the Bronx, and Barney was born in Trenton, NJ, to Latvian immigrants.
Oil-painted illustrations evoke the emotionality of jazz. The picture showing Abel singing "Strange Fruit" for Billie for the first time makes him look Black, and the picture showing Abel and Barney Josephson talking makes them both look Black. Teachers reading the book aloud should be prepared to explain that both were white Jews. Abel was born to Russian immigrants in the Bronx, and Barney was born in Trenton, NJ, to Latvian immigrants.