Skip to main content

The Legendary Miss Lena Horne

By


The Legendary Miss Lena Horne
By Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon
Atheneum Books For Young Readers, 2017. Biography.

“You have to be taught to be second class; you’re not born that way.” Lena Horne lived this statement. Growing up as a young member of the NAACP, taking on civil rights issues as she worked in the entertainment industry, she fought not only for herself but for those who would follow. Starting out in the chorus line to help feed her family during the Depression, she soon advanced and became one of the first black vocalists to front an all-white band. Even though she was the lead, she was banned from the bandstand between numbers and had to sleep on the bus because she was refused food and lodging with the rest of the band. But she didn’t let that stop her. Her good looks and powerful voice opened the doors to a Hollywood career, but she was forced to wear make up to darken her skin so she would not be mistaken as white while screen. When she performed for troops during WWII, she made a point to perform for black troops like the Tuskegee Airman, even paying for the cost to perform for them, so they were not denied entertainment like other soldiers. Because she fought for civil rights, she was blacklisted from Hollywood during the McCarthy Era, but she became an international star touring nightclubs around the world.

An inspiring picture book biography describing what determination can accomplish. The Author Note at the back tells how Lena Horn influenced the author and includes further recommended readings, listening, and viewings of Lena Horne.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Kareem Between

By
  Kareem Between By Shifa Saltagi Safadi New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2024. Fiction. 324 pages.  Kareem loves football and as he gets ready to start seventh grade he dreams of someday becoming the first Syrian American NFL player. Seventh grade is not off to a great start for Kareem, after football tryouts don't go as he had planned, his best friend moves away, and his mom returns to Syria to help bring his sick grandfather to the US for treatment. So when Austin, the quarterback and coach's son, offers to talk to his dad and get Kareem on the football team in the spring, if he will cheat and do his homework for him, Kareem agrees. Kareem really wants to fit in at school and he is desperate to find a friend, but deep down he knows that doing Austin's homework isn't the right thing to do. And to make things harder, Kareem's mom asks him to be a friend to Fadi, a Syrian Christian refugee. He knows he should stand up for Fadi and help him adjust to the new school,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: A World Without Summer

By
A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, a Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out Written by Nicholas Day Illustrated by Yas Imamura New York: Random House Studio, 2025. Informational. 294 pages. In 1815 on a small island in Indonesia, Mount Tambora erupted. The blast was the largest in human history, and one of the deadliest. Though it couldn't be understood at the time, the deadly blast half a world away would lead to catastrophic famine in Europe, prompt westward expansion in America, and inspire the novel Frankenstein  by Mary Shelley. The global climate disaster following the explosion also led to inventions like modern meteorology and the early invention of the bicycle. The people living at the time couldn't have seen how everything was connected, but this fast paced narrative assures that readers will. As he did in 2024's Sibert winner The Mona Lisa Vanishes, Nicholas Day does an impressive job of weaving together different historical events into one single, compell...
Post a Comment
Read more

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more