Lorde. (Superstars). Adrianna Morganelli. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2015. 32 pp., pbk., hc., pdf & html, $9.95 (pbk.), $20.76 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-8084-7 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-8080-9 (RLB.), ISBN 978-1-4271-9986-7 (pdf), ISBN 978-1-4271-9982-9 (html). Subject Headings: Lorde, 1996-Juvenile literature. Singers-New Zealand-Biography-Juvenile literature. Grades 3-7 / Ages 8-12. Review by Tanya Boudreau. *** /4

excerpt:

Lorde’s music is a combination of pop, rock, indietronica, and dream pop. Dream pop is a type of music that focuses on sound, and is made up of breathy vocals and guitar effects. Like most pop songs, Lorde’s lyrics focus on themes that teens can identify with, such as romance, social anxiety, parties, and boredom.

But Lorde’s songwriting goes deeper. The lyrics in her hit singles “Royals,” “Team,” and “Tennis Court,” criticize what most other pop stars glorify, such as living lavish lifestyles and only being concerned about what other people think of you.

Lorde, born in 1996 in New Zealand, is a world famous singer and songwriter. She has won two Grammy awards, and her songs have been released on movie soundtracks. When she’s not touring or writing her own songs, she promotes her makeup line with MAC Cosmetics. The author of this “Superstars” book includes information on Lorde’s love of reading and her working relationship with her manager and her songwriting partner. It’s interesting to read about how Lorde promotes herself both on and off the stage, and how she developed her interests in clothing and songwriting. Whether she’s involved with charity work or magazine shoots, her strength of character and her confidence in herself are obvious. Fans may know a lot about her already, but the photographs and quotes and sidebars of facts may be new to them as there are pictures of her family and music executives with whom she works and photographs of Lorde on stage. Unlike some of the other books I have read in this series, this one has more information about Lorde’s early influences, all of which give insight into how her songs came into existence. Back material consists of a glossary of music terms, and a small bibliography, timeline and index. I would display this book with her CD, Pure Heroine.

Recommended.

Tanya Boudreau is a librarian at the Cold Lake Public Library in Cold Lake, AB.

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