Before the legend of Billie Holiday, there was a girl named Eleanora. In 1915, Sadie Fagan gave birth to a daughter she named Eleanora. The world, however, would know her as Billie Holiday, possibly the greatest jazz singer of all time. Eleanora's 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 possibly change her life—a voice. Eleanora could sing. Her remarkable voice led her to a place in the spotlight with some of the era's hottest big bands. Billie Holiday sang as if she had 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 Fagan's metamorphosis into Billie Holiday. The author examines the singer's young life, her fight for survival, and the dream she pursued with passion in this Coretta Scott King Author Honor winner. With stunning art by Floyd Cooper, this book provides a revealing look at a cultural icon.
New York Times best-selling author Carole Boston Weatherford's 60-plus books include the Caldecott Honor book Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, for which she was awarded the Coretta Scott King Author Award and a Sibert Honor; the Newbery Honor winner Box; and the Caldecott Honor winners Freedom in Congo Square, Fannie Lou Hamer,and Moses. She won a Coretta Scott King Author Honor for Becoming Billie Holiday. Weatherford teaches at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. Visit cbweatherford.com.
Floyd Cooper (1956-2021) illustrated over 110 books for children, including Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford, for which he was awarded a Caldecott Honor, the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, and a Sibert Honor. He was also the recipient of the CorettaScott King Award for The Blacker the Berry; three Coretta Scott King Honors for I Have Heard of a Land, Meet Danitra Brown, and Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea; 10 ALA Notables; and an NAACP Image Award, among other honors. Visit floydcooper.com.
Before the legend of Billie Holiday, there was a girl named Eleanora. In 1915, Sadie Fagan gave birth to a daughter she named Eleanora. The world, however, would know her as Billie Holiday, possibly the greatest jazz singer of all time. Eleanora's 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 possibly change her life—a voice. Eleanora could sing. Her remarkable voice led her to a place in the spotlight with some of the era's hottest big bands. Billie Holiday sang as if she had 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 Fagan's metamorphosis into Billie Holiday. The author examines the singer's young life, her fight for survival, and the dream she pursued with passion in this Coretta Scott King Author Honor winner. With stunning art by Floyd Cooper, this book provides a revealing look at a cultural icon.
New York Times best-selling author Carole Boston Weatherford's 60-plus books include the Caldecott Honor book Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, for which she was awarded the Coretta Scott King Author Award and a Sibert Honor; the Newbery Honor winner Box; and the Caldecott Honor winners Freedom in Congo Square, Fannie Lou Hamer,and Moses. She won a Coretta Scott King Author Honor for Becoming Billie Holiday. Weatherford teaches at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. Visit cbweatherford.com.
Floyd Cooper (1956-2021) illustrated over 110 books for children, including Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford, for which he was awarded a Caldecott Honor, the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, and a Sibert Honor. He was also the recipient of the CorettaScott King Award for The Blacker the Berry; three Coretta Scott King Honors for I Have Heard of a Land, Meet Danitra Brown, and Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea; 10 ALA Notables; and an NAACP Image Award, among other honors. Visit floydcooper.com.
New York Times best-selling author Carole Boston
Weatherford’s 60-plus books include the Caldecott Honor
book Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, for which she was
awarded the Coretta Scott King Author Award and a Sibert Honor; the
Newbery Honor winner Box; and the Caldecott Honor
winners Freedom in Congo Square, Fannie Lou
Hamer,and Moses. She won a Coretta Scott King Author Honor
for Becoming Billie Holiday. Weatherford teaches at
Fayetteville State University in North Carolina. Visit
cbweatherford.com.
Floyd Cooper (1956–2021) illustrated over 110 books for
children, including Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole
Boston Weatherford, for which he was awarded
a Caldecott Honor, the Coretta Scott King
Illustrator Award, and a Sibert Honor. He was also
the recipient of the CorettaScott King Award for The Blacker
the Berry; three Coretta Scott King Honors for I Have
Heard of a Land, Meet Danitra Brown, and Brown Honey
in Broomwheat Tea; 10 ALA Notables; and an NAACP Image
Award, among other honors. Visit floydcooper.com.
★ "The poetry is rich and evocative. . . . A remarkable
tribute well worthy of its subject." —Kirkus Reviews, starred
review
"Readers will find a generous assortment of recommended reading and
listening at the end of this proud, clear-voiced testimonial."
—Booklist
★ "[Weatherford] captures the woman's jazzy, candid voice so
adroitly that at times the poems seem like they could have been
lifted wholesale from Holiday's autobiography, Lady Sings the
Blues. . . . This captivating title places readers solidly into
Holiday's world, and is suitable for independent reading as well as
a variety of classroom uses." —School Library Journal, starred
review
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