I and I Bob Marley Book

For ages 11 and up, this biography of Bob Marley features great poetry and vivid, captivating illustrations. The poet takes us through Bob Marley's struggles and triumphs, and manages to include lots of life details without losing the poetic charm. We learn of Marley's conflicted childhood as a mixed-race boy, his troubles when he's reunited with his white father, and his quest to use his music to help his people find unity. The level of musical detail is high, from his first experiences through later influential musical trends. All along the way, the poet returns to Marley's inner voice and message, for his people and his faith. "My Heart the Island" conveys the pain in Marley's life when his father rides away. "At Fourteen" and "Wailing Wailers" bring us through the adolescent emergence of the musician, while "Pitch-Black Sky" and "Underneath a Plum Tree" reveal Marley's spirit and his life's Love, Rita Anderson. "Island Song" and "Reggae" lead us to the artist's arrival as an influential musician on the world stage. Throughout the whole book, the illustrations and poems work wonderfully together. The poems are great in their own right, but Jesse Joshua Watson's paintings take this book to an even higher level. At the end, there are four pages of detailed notes about each poem and it's source in Marley's life. This section could almost make a stand-alone biography in itself. This book will leave middle-school music fans wanting to read and listen to more about Bob Marley, like it did for me.