Usher

April 1, 2013

Gr 6 Up-Geared toward hi/lo and reluctant readers, this series profiles several famous hip-hop and rap artists, providing information about their childhoods, struggles and achievements, and eventual stardom. While the subjects might be high-interest, the causal writing is generally stilted, with awkward sentence structure and transitions. In addition, many of the photos are of poor quality, and some even border on inappropriate (although, realistically, they are nothing worse than what readers might see on TV). The vocabulary sections in the back of each volume are not particular helpful. While this set highlights that these artists have overcome difficult circumstances and many of them give back to their communities, it also seems to glorify some of their violent backgrounds and/or illegal actions. For example, Chris Brown discusses the star's physical assault against his girlfriend, noting that, ."..many of Chris's fans supported him, especially young girls." Readers and music fans deserve quality literature about their heroes. Unfortunately, this series does not provide it.

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2013
Grades 3-6 He is a singer, a dancer, an actor, a father, an activist, and a mentor. So concludes this starry-eyed biography of the multiplatinum artist, shortly after it has detailed each and every one of those occupations. For report writers uninterested in shortcomings (the casual mention of Usher's divorce is the only possible negative connotation), this packs in a whole lot of information, including such a vast amount of Grammy Awards that even the authors come off as a bit spent (regarding the album Confessions: It won so many awards). Usher Terry Raymond IV is traced from his humble beginnings in a church choir to an oddball group of singers and stunt performers to a four-month reign on Star Search, which led to an album deal. Cue the world tours, all-star collaborations, TV acting gigs, movies, Broadway, charity endeavors, and discussion of influences, including a heavy hat tip to Motown and Michael Jackson. Though the text is dry and fawning, one can't fault the meticulous accomplishment notching or the flashbulb red-carpet photography. Fans will be fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)