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“Young Profiles” Book Shows Why Kelly Clarkson is an American Idolby David Bloomberg -- 03/19/2003
View Printable version of this article Now that the first American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, performed for us on this week’s episode of the second series, it seems a good time to review a new book that chronicles her rise to fame. If you have a child who is an American Idol fan, Abdo Publishing has the book for you. They have put out a number of “Young Profiles” books, which introduce early readers to popular stars like Britney Spears, the Olsen twins, Leonardo DiCaprio, and now Kelly Clarkson. Young Profiles: Kelly Clarkson, by Jill C. Wheeler, is listed on Amazon as being for children from 9-12 years old, however I think even earlier readers could tackle it if they are interested – the book even has a glossary in the back to explain terms like “a cappella” and Simon’s favorite term, “karaoke.” Of course, older fans of Kelly may want to have it just to add to their collections. It is filled with photos of Kelly, from early in the competition to the very end, where she sang with Pop Idol winner Will Young, and beyond when she appeared on The Tonight Show and sang with Reba McEntire on the American Idol special. The book tells Kelly’s story from her “Texas Roots” through school choir, working at an amusement park, and even working with well-known songwriter Gerry Goffin (thought it’s not mentioned here, this was apparently what spurred claims that she had supposedly been in a record deal). But then it all fell apart when her apartment building burned down, her car was towed, and she spent several days in a homeless shelter. Frankly, even I didn’t know that stuff! It was then that destiny began calling, as the book relates how her friend signed her up for American Idol. From there, it describes the process Kelly and the others went through to make it to the finals and then how she won – including details like how her throat was giving her problems from all the strain she was putting it through. It even talks about how she chose not to wear the revealing outfits picked by other female finalists! After winning, of course, she went on tour and did talk shows and the like, and the book follows through on those details, even talking about how she hopes to write some of her own songs for her first album. The book is obviously meant for the age group mentioned above, but it still shows a lot about why Kelly became the American Idol. Young fans of the show and of Kelly will enjoy reading about her, and even older fans, like myself, can find out new things. One of the terms defined in the glossary mentioned earlier is “idol,” which it says is “a figure that others look up to and respect.” That certainly describes Kelly Clarkson, and compared to some of the other popstars who are out there these days, I’d much rather see kids (or adults) reading about her!
David Bloomberg is the Editor of Foxes On Idol, and can be reached at rno@pobox.com. Be sure to sign up for the RealityNewsOnline/FoxesOnIdol e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on both sites! For all of the RealityNewsOnline articles about this show, check out the American Idol page. For more news about reality TV, be sure to check out SirLinksALot! View Printable version of this article
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