This book is written for the young adult but is written well enough that an older adult will also enjoy it. ( )

A complete biography of Janis Joplin, including her rise and fall as one of history’s great musicians. Note: Photo containing partial nudity. Bibliography, Index, Notes.

While Janis Joplin's career is well known still today, Ann Angel does a wonderful job piecing together Joplin's life story from Joplin's former friends, lovers, and co-workers. There are beautiful detailed photographs throughout this book to she the accuracy for what Angel has written about Joplin. Because of the layout of this book, it would be an excellent book to a reluctant non-fiction reader. There are several pages with more photographs than literature. Though Joplin had been dead 40 years when this book was published, many times it felt like she was writing the book herself. Anyone who has studied Joplin in depth knows the struggle she had with her drug and alcohol addictions, eventually causing her death at the early age of 27. This book highlights however, the legality of drugs were different in the 1960s. Many drugs were experimental at this time and there hadn't been any research to show their negative effects.

In a culture where we can easily find out almost any detail about celebrities, it would be interesting for young people to contrast the differences between now and then. It was years before the public was aware of all of Joplin's struggles. After reading this book I re-watched live footage of her amazing performances, trying to imagine what it was like to be on of the first true female rock stars. Joplin helped pave the way for females in music today.

In the end of her book, Angel includes a timeline for Joplin's life until 2009 where the American Music Masters Tributes Joplin with Lucinda Williams performing a song about Janis. The many interviews and quotes about Joplin including letter Joplin wrote to her family, truly show the whole picture of Joplin's life. This is very well documented, but written using simple text, easy for young adults to grasp. ( )

This is one of the best short biographies that I have ever read. The author did a fantastic job capturing the complexities of Janis Joplin as well as her talent and intelligence. The end pages and detailing around the text, as well as the table of contents, can only be described as psychedelic. The text was so captivating that I could not put this book down. There were plenty of photographs to supplement the text as well. There's also a timeline, acknowledgments, notes, a bibliography, image credits, an index, and information about the author that enhance the book even more. I would not recommend that this book be put in high school classrooms because it discusses Janis's use of drugs and alcohol and does contain unsuitable language for children and teens, but it is nonetheless a great book. ( )

4Q, 3P (my voya codes). Janis Joplin was an amazing vocal talent. Her career was tragically cut short (spending only about 3 yrs in the spotlight) with her death at age 27, and yet, she managed to leave an indelible mark on music history. While Angel gives an accurate biographical account of Janis' struggles with drugs, alcohol, and self-esteem, she doesn't go very deep into who Janis was. Interviews with people who knew her give a glimpse, but I would have liked to see more quotes directly from Janis herself. Thankfully, Angel included 60+ photographs which help to show Janis herself and Janis the persona. Even though this is book is a YALSA winner, I can't help but wonder how relevant Janis rates among teens today. ( )