California Dreamin': Cass Elliot Before The Mamas & The Papas by Penelope Bagieu (2017, First Second; 272 pages) Bestselling graphic novelist Pénélope Bagieu, as The Washington Post wrote, "can turn paper into flesh. And ink becomes lifeblood." She has certainly done so in this fantastic illustrated biography of Ellen Cohen, the teen girl from Baltimore with an incredible voice, confidence, and dreams that would become the legendary Mama Cass of the folk group The Mamas & The Papas. The book pencils the life story of a girl that dreamed of being not just a singer but a star, and not just a star, but a superstar. The reader follows her on her adventure that takes her, at the age of nineteen at the dawn of the sixties, far away from her hometown. The author explores with care and a distinct graphic style how at her size, Ellen was never going to be the kind of girl that record producers wanted on album covers. But Cass Elliot would find an unlikely group of co-conspirators, and in their short time together this bizarre and dysfunctional band recorded some of the most memorable songs of their era. Describing the whirlwind of drugs, war, love, and music that the singer went through, Bagieu brings us a memorable biography of a woman who struggled to keep sight of her dreams, of who she loved, and, most importantly, who she was. This reading is a fantastic introduction not only to a charismatic American singer, but also to one of the most kaleidoscopic times in the American music scene. Recommended to older teens. Find this title in our catalog: California Dreamin' Recommended by: Maite
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March 2018
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