Diana ross biography children book

With those caveats I will say that I loved this book. Its a book that probably only those of a certain generation will. Those like me who grew up to a Motown soundtrack. And its queen D. Anytime a book can describe a song and the events that surrounded it and then have me singing those long forgotten lyrics in the shower the next day is a powerful book.

Love or hate D. Ross her place in history is undeniable. And what a life it is. If you like me start reading the book with generally negative feelings about her you are likely to be a tad more sympathetic by the end. Kym Moore. Author 3 books 36 followers. What an expose into the life and career of Diana Ross. Nice read. David Canford. Author 14 books 39 followers.

OK I'm biased. In my opinion Diana Ross has sung some of the greatest songs of all time and had a truly unique and wonderful voice. Demonised for pursuing a solo career - why, because she was a woman? Men who leave groups to do so don't get that kind of backlash.

Diana ross biography children book

The Supremes would never have been the phenomenon they were without her. She also played a huge part in racial integration with her cross over success but that is rarely mentioned. The book gives a lot of interesting information, particularly about the early years, and is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in her. I would have enjoyed to hear more about her music and the author never really answers the question of who she really is, though perhaps none, other than her family, will ever know that.

Neil Mudde. What was I thinking when seeing the book in the library, some profound disection of Ms. Ross, an in depth look into her life, well after many chapters of trashing Ms Ross, it seems, she was destined to be a "Diva" and no one in this world was going to stop her not even "in the name of love" Did not realize she had several children, not that it mattered, I believe, according to Taraborelli she chose her life,determined that any focus would be on her, and I believe it has its own rewards, by no one wanting to be around you.

Miguel Shaw. This updated bio from Randy Taraborrelli isn't bad. In fact I would venture to say it's good. I've had my negative feelings for Taraborrelli over the years, especially after reading Call Her Miss Ross when it was first published. At that time part of me felt like a protective fan ready to be Ross's bodyguard against people trying to cash in on her life; the other part was happy to have something to balance out Mary Wilson's scathing and one-sided view points in her memoirs: Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme.

Even after I realized that Mary basically published her diaries that she kept since she was 17, it still felt like cherry picked indictments against my favorite singer Ross. Even a man on Pluto could see how that chapter would end. I also liked that he included Diana's lending money to Mary when she needed it, and the fact they were friends up until Mary's memoirs, even after the Motown 25 mess.

Despite Mary's shenanigans about Ross, it's clear to any observer that she admired her childhood best friend, and even borrowed some of her best qualities when she Mary fought to keep the Supremes going in the 70's, fought Motown for the rights to own the Supremes name, and fought for her own survival in a very tough business. In hindsight, if Diana and Mary had spoken and maybe spent some time together not much lolbut some, the Supremes segment of Motown 25, Mary's memoirs, and Diana's Return to Love tour would have all turned out differently.

In the latter, Mary's scathing memoirs would have included some friendship talk with Ross and a more balanced view of the past and present, and the Return to Love Tour wouldn't have been a Ross and replacements show, or even a Ross and all 6 other living members of the Supremes which was actually a concept at one point. It would have been Diana, Mary, and Cindy in a tour de force concert, celebrating both the Supremes 40th anniversary, and Diana's 30th anniversary as a solo act.

Till this day, some fans still talk about what could have been. Many of whom would have seen Diana, Mary, and Cindy perform live for the first time. I personally saw the RTL tour in Philly and bought 2 top dollar tickets for myself and my mother and we loved every minute of it, but before that show started practically all the fans in my row of pristine seats were lamenting about not diana ross biography children book Mary and Cindy.

Randy's probably the best biographer I've read of Ross. That's a hard task for anyone, because I've always seen Diana as an extremely private, pragmatic, and perhaps a little too inflexible person when it comes to telling her story. I knew her memoirs Secrets of a Sparrow would be a good read, most likely positive and inspirational, but I also knew it wouldn't be very candid.

It's not in her DNA. I thought that before the book came out, and kept that opinion after I read it. Supremes' childhood fan Tony Turner had an interesting bio of the Supremes called All That Glittered, that was soapy and borrowed from Mary's memoirs, but it was clear he loooved Flo. To the point that it's not clear what was truth and what was hyperbole in his book.

That leaves Randy's bio. In Call Her Miss Ross, there was way too much editorializing for my comfort. When you're reading a bio, most of the time you want to read it like a fly on the wall observing these past events. You're not always looking for the author to insert his opinion on just about everything. It's distracting at best.

I think Randy did a much better job with that in this updated bio of Diana. He covers 4 full chapters of her life childhood, Supremes, Solo, and Post 80's. This book covers everything up to To know that sinceat the age of 70, Ross has also received the American Musican Awards Lifetime Achievement award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and set a new record of attendance at Brooklyn's renovated King's Theater, and residency in Las Vegas, went to number 1 again on the itunes dance charts, and created a hugely successful perfume fragrance, are all testaments to her enduring talent and legendary status.

Greg Evans. This book stops short at three stars because the book itself stops short. I read the version, only finding out afterwards there's an updated follow-up bio of some sort by the same author. That version may be more recent, but it wasn't exactly written a year or two ago either. Today, Diana Ross still entertains but has quietly and respectfully stepped away from the spotlight, and she's greatly respected as one of the best celebrity moms in the business read Lucky Me by Shirley MacLaine's daughter for the opposite end in that department.

Call Her Miss Ross fills you in on a lot of details, but most everyone is portrayed without that much dimension, making the book a bit monotonous. Berry Gordy the mercurial, manipulative genius behind Motown, Mary Wilson the embittered Supreme who felt slighted when Diana's talent and leadership eclipsed hers, Florence the substance abuser who couldn't handle fame, Cindy the cooperative back-up singer who knew from the start that Diana was the star, and so on.

Miss Ross, thankfully, comes off with more than one note: charitable, driven, at times insecure, and a bit humorless. A singer without that much range or formal training who had charisma, style and star quality. By book's end she's still married to her second husband, the wealthy Swiss shipping magnate Arne Naess, but they later divorced and shortly after that he met his untimely demise in a diana ross biography children book climbing accident.

Also of note was that she named her daughter after the Indian spice chutney but spelled in wrong on her birth certificate spelling it Chudney and left it that way. And I never knew how much she envied, admired and emulated Barbra Streisand's career: Lady Sings the Blues was her version of Funny Girl, and Barbra's legendary concert in Central Park paved the way for Diana to do the same some fifteen years later.

And let's not even get started with the gowns! Brian Brown. I previously read Diana's autobiography, "Secrets of a Sparrow" and was disappointed by how few secrets were actually revealed. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikidata item. English children's author. This article needs additional citations for verification.

Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Stephen Corrin Editor. Jill Bennett Illustrator. Noel Streatfeild Contributor. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Diana Ross. Jan Lewitt Illustrator. George Him Illustrator. Leslie Wood Illustrator. Caroline Crossland Illustrator.