Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing

Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing

Angel, A. (2010). Janis Joplin: rise up singing. New York: Amulet.

Janis Joplin, as told in this unbiased, accurate biography based on interviews and accounts, pictures and stories provided by family and friends, was a tormented girl growing up in the 50’s and 60’s.  As the book ranges from her childhood, throughout her career and eventually to her death at the age of 27 in 1970, we get first-hand accounts of the struggles she faced as a free-spirited child growing up in the straight-laced 50’s where she began to withdraw from mainstream society and pour herself into her art and music.  This path led her to find other, like-minded people with the same interests as herself, but it also caused her to delve into the world of drugs, something that no matter how hard she tried, kept its grasp on her until it led to her death of an overdose, but not before she produced music the world had not heard the likes of at that point including her last album, “Pearl”.  The book does a great job of including ephemera from her very colorful life, something that students often are fascinated by, even if they do not enjoy reading.  Janis Joplin is a great book for upper middle grades on through high school in so many ways.  The emotional struggle of not fitting in is a strong example of its validity as well as the indicators for being a good quality biography.