Found in the young adult section of the library, as I was reading this book, I felt the cover should have notations that the some of the subject matter contained adult content.

No doubt about it, the life of Eleanora Fagan was exceedingly difficult. Finding her voice and learning to accept the praise took her on a journey with joys and sorrows. Discarding her birth name given by her unwedded mother, she took the last name of her father, also a musician, and became Billie Holiday, who was most likely the best jazz singer to date.

With parents who abandoned her, a neighbor who raped her, and a drug addiction that ruined her, the reader feels sorry for the things that occurred beyond her control, and then saddened by the choices she intentionally made that could have taken her on a better journey if different options were pursued.

Told in a series of 100 poems, each with a heading borrowed from the title of her songs, and writing accompanied by background illustrations that leap off the page, this is a book that calls the reader to learn more about this legend named Billie Holiday. ( )

I'm usually not drawn to poetry stories. I only read this because it received Coretta Scott King Award recognition this year. But the poems pulled me into Billie's story, her pain, hard life, and success. Very affecting poems and richly illustrated in sepia and brown tones. ( )

My personal response to the book: This is a deep book about Billie Holliday. There are deep issues revealed here and should be used only at the high school level. Some issues include rape, family dynamics, prostitution, child neglect and others. It is an okay book with deep messages.
Curricular connections: The curricular connections include African American, historical, musical and women's issues. As a TL I would only have this book at a high school level and even then as a school counselor too, I would be cautious.

This book in verse tells about the famous Billie Holiday’s (Eleanora Fagan) rough upbringing. Each poem has its own bit of heartbreak, as Billie dealt with the abandonment by both of her parents, tough peers at school, harsh treatment by nuns in reform school, and sexual abuse from a neighborhood man. It tells how Billie looked up to her absent father, looking for his approval. He was a musician, and her involvement in the same jazz circles was an embarrassment to him. It is said that Billie Holliday sang the blues so well because she had such a hard life. She a had a magnificent voice. If this book is any indication, she had a really fast life that threw her in many difficult circumstances, and it seems like she had some fun along with some heartache and run-ins with the law.

I liked this book, and usually books in verse annoy me. I really could not see how else you would write about someone who loved song so much. The artwork in the book was very interesting, almost all of it in sepia tones. The bad parts of Billie’s life were not glossed over, and they were not too graphic either. I think any kid interested in jazz music or growing up in Harlem would love this book. ( )

Emotional biographic reference to Billie Holiday, jazz artist.