This Boy, Ilene Cooper
This Boy, Ilene Cooper
List: $15.00 | Sale: $10.50
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This Boy
The Early Lives of John Lennon & Paul McCartney

Author: Ilene Cooper

Narrator: Stewart Crank

Unabridged: 4 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/15/2023

Synopsis

An inside look at the early lives of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, This Boy is a perfect book for any young reader embracing their inner Beatlemania.

Meant for younger readers, This Boy is a gripping biography of two musical legends. Beginning with their births during World War II England and ending with their famous performance on The Ed Sullivan Show, this book is action packed from beginning to end. Whether you are a lifelong Beatles fan or new to their music, this book is an excellent source of Beatles lore that is relatively unknown. 

    With expert research from Ilene Cooper, this book will serve as not only an interesting biography of two significant historical figures, but also a fun read about rock and roll and how the lives of two people can change the world.

About The Author

Ilene Cooper is the author of more than 30 books for young people. In 2007, the Illinois Reading Council named Ilene Cooper the Prairie State Award winner for Excellence in Writing for Children.  Ilene was born in Chicago and grew up in the city's Rogers Park neighborhood. After graduating Sullivan High School, she attended the University of Missouri School of Journalism where she majored in radio and television. She worked as an editorial researcher at Chicago's WGN TV station for several years, but her love of books brought her to Rosary College (now Dominican University), where she earned a master's degree in library science. As a youth librarian, Ilene worked at several branches of the Chicago Public Library and at the Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District before joining Booklist, the review journal of the American Library Association where she is currently the children's books editor. In her spare time, Ilene enjoys knitting, traveling—especially to Italy and England—and trying to get her cat, Bing, to do something other than stretch out on the radiator.  

Reviews

Goodreads review by DaNae on December 04, 2023

I think I’m not someone who is very interested in the private lives of public figures, so I don’t seek out these types of biographies. I did however find it enjoyable to discover the early lives of these two enduring powerhouses of 20th century music. I think having John as a student would have stra......more

Goodreads review by Becky on November 04, 2023

On February 7, 1965 the Beatles landed in New York. It’s a date I will always remember because it was my 15th birthday. On February 9 they performed on the Ed Sullivan show and I immediately became enamored with this mop haired crew. I followed Beatlemania for several years. However, in all these ye......more

Goodreads review by Bethany on April 08, 2024

I thought this was a super old book based on the writing style and how unengaging it was for me. I was surprised to know that this was not only written in the last year, but the target audience is middle schoolers. I would not recommend this to anyone but Beatles superfans!......more

Quotes

“An impressive achievement… “This Boy” is a wonderful primer for the kind of kid who is nuts enough about music to want to grasp the social context in which it was made.”—The New York Times


★“Generously illustrated with period photographs, the beautifully written result is fascinating and compulsively readable, as Cooper dramatically demonstrates that, together, [John Lennon and Paul McCartney] made magic.”—Booklist, starred review

★"Illuminating reading for dreamers and doers already attuned to beats of their own."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review


★ “Cooper masterfully weaves the very different but overlapping lives of [Lennon and ­McCartney]…Lennon’s prickly personality and wild wordplay, compounded by his chaotic family life, is contrasted with McCartney’s loving extended family and his meticulous dedication to craft…An amazing trove of contemporaneous snapshots of the boys and their milieu round out the compelling narrative…A WWII book, a rock ‘n’ roll book, a buddy adventure…Highly recommended for middle graders and middle schoolers.”—School Library Journal, starred review


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