Margin Notes

Eleanora Fagan better known as Billie Holiday did not have a happy life. After all, she sang the blues for a reason.  

“Becoming Billie Holiday” is a poetic interpretation of her life story. Readers follow Billie as she matures from a troubled adolescent into the fearless and passionate musician we know today. The text offers the privilege of watching her navigate a world that seems to be against her with parents that leave her, a neighbor that rapes her, and a drug addiction that destroys her. Billie must summon every ounce of her courage to fight against the brutality.  

Carole Boston Weatherford recounts this story beautifully and entirely through free verse poems with titles that correspond to each of Billie’s songs. The poems are accompanied by compelling illustrations.  

It was extraordinary to discover the complex story behind the famous musician. The book was exactly what I needed to incorporate a little bit of poetry and a lot of imagining into my reading routine.