Wordsong
October 2008
$19.95 US
120p hc
ISBN: 978-1590785072
Becoming Billie Holiday
Carole Boston Weatherford
art by Floyd Cooper
from Boyds Mills Press...
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. With stunning art by
Floyd Cooper this book provides a revealing look at a cultural icon.
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