Review by Vanessa Sobkovich-Wiebe.
excerpt:
Singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado is one of Canada's best-known faces. With songs such as Like a Bird and Say it Right, she has gained worldwide success. Nelly's music is known for its unique sound. She stretches musical boundaries by combining many forms of music, from pop to rap to Portuguese folk music. As a result, Nelly's music appeals to a large number of people. This has led to much praise and many awards, including Canadian Juno Awards, American Grammy Awards, and Brit Award from Great Britain.
Singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado is one of Canada's best-known faces. With songs such as Like a Bird and Say it Right, she has gained worldwide success. Nelly's music is known for its unique sound. She stretches musical boundaries by combining many forms of music, from pop to rap to Portuguese folk music. As a result, Nelly's music appeals to a large number of people. This has led to much praise and many awards, including Canadian Juno Awards, American Grammy Awards, and Brit Award from Great Britain.
Nelly Furtado is a 'remarkable Canadian.' Born in 1978 as a first generation Canadian, Nelly grew up with a love of music and strong Portuguese heritage. Nelly moved to Toronto to jump start her music career. Then she met Gerald Eaton, the lead singer of Canadian band The Philosopher Kings. Gerald, impressed with Nelly's music began working on a demo with her. Nelly signed a recording contract with DreamWorks and produced her first Album "Whoa Nelly!" which was released in 2002. Since then, Nelly has recorded two more albums, performed across the world and has won Juno, Grammy and Brit Awards.
This book, a biographical overview of Nelly Furtado, presents her life and accomplishments in a brief straightforward manner. It gives a description of a singer-songwriter and presents an outline that students could use in writing a biography.
The book is in a chronological manner and does not have a lot of details. It has coloured illustrations and photographs so there is limited text on white space.
As a biography, it covers Nelly's childhood, key events, inspirations, obstacles and achievements in her life. Each section is brief, to the point and easy to follow. The book serves as a starting point for research.
Because Kissock quotes Nelly in many sections of the book, readers get a more personal and cultural aspect of her. Nelly's Portuguese heritage plays a major factor in this book. Students interested in Canadian ethnicity would have an interest in a biography such as this.
Included at the end of the book is a biography outline, a useful tool for student. As the format of Nelly's biography follows the student outline in the book, the book, itself, is a physical example of the outline which students can use for reference.
In summary, Nelly Furtado is a very brief look at the singer and should be used more as an example of a biography and an outline tool. It is a starting point for further research and contains a brief listing of websites to help students do so.
Source: CM Magazine
Buy: Library Books