Beauty Mark: A Verse Novel of Marilyn Monroe

by Carole Boston Weatherford Narrated by Laura Knight Keating

Overview

Before she was Marilyn Monroe-Hollywood icon, blond bombshell, and easily one of the most recognizable faces of the twentieth
century-she was Norma Jeane, a young woman whose early life was filled with traumatic experiences: foster
homes, loneliness, sexual abuse, and teen marriage. Despite all she overcame, her hard-won, meteoric rise to stardom was
besieged by exploitation, pill dependency, and depression, eventually culminating in her tragic death at the age of thirty-six.
In a story at once riveting, moving, and unflinching, Carole Boston Weatherford tells a tale of extraordinary pain and
moments of unexpected grace, of gumption and perseverance, and of the inexorable power of pursuing one's dreams.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

In a series of spare and precise first-person poems narrated by Norma Jeane, Weatherford captures her iconic contradictions and, by doing so, reveals traumas, professional successes, and moments of authentic joy. This searing, aching love poem to a widely known but often misunderstood icon will speak even to young readers who may not be familiar with her films. A window into a uniquely magnificent and terrifying life.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Grounded in verified historical details, Weatherford's story conveys Monroe's vulnerability as a young girl (then known as Norma Jeane Baker) who bounced between dysfunctional households until she married for the first time at 16...With images throughout and back matter that points readers to more information on Monroe, Weatherford's lyrical ode humanizes a woman who was a living legend long before she became a tragic one.
—Shelf Awareness for Readers (starred review)

Weatherford’s intimate writing style will make readers feel like they’re accessing Marilyn’s private journals. The story is dedicated to anyone who has ever felt mistreated, disrespected, underestimated, or misunderstood, and will resonate with young adults...A highly enjoyable title recommended for reluctant readers and students intrigued by fame and stardom.
—School Library Journal

Though she has been dead for nearly 60, this biographical novel-in-verse attests to the continued fascination surrounding the Hollywood film star known as Marilyn Monroe...This psychologically nuanced biography portrays an intelligent, vulnerable woman who was profoundly troubled by a plethora of insecurities.
—School Library Connection

In fictionalized first-person free verse, Weatherford explores Marilyn's career and her marriages but focuses, especially, on her difficult relationship with her mother and her unfulfilled longing for children of her own...this book, with its exquisite page design, meticulously incorporated research, and magnetic subject won't lack in the slightest for readers.
—Booklist

The now-legendary story of Norma Jeane Mortenson’s transformation from a child craving parental love and stability into a typecast dumb blonde sex goddess spins out in in fictionalized first-person verse. As readers speed through the compact biographical musings, they are periodically confronted with passages of arresting sensitivity and insight...and verses shaped into a variety of poetic forms; nearly transparent photographs, to be in two color in the bound book, background the poems and provide atmosphere.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

“Writing with poetic grace and raw candor, Carole Boston Weatherford creates a poignant story about love, longing, and the sorcery of beauty that will linger long after its cover is closed.”
—Candace Fleming, author of The Family Romanov, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize

“Beauty Mark is a sensitive portrayal of a profoundly tragic life. Filled with unusual images of an intelligent yet stereotyped woman, this verse novel offers mature readers a glimpse of one of Hollywood’s most unique personalities.”
—Margarita Engle, Newbery Honor–winning author of The Surrender Tree and Young People’s Poet Laureate Emerita

“Was Marilyn Monroe a hardworking entrepreneur or an opportunistic seductress? Finally given voice by award-winning verse biographer Carole Boston Weatherford, Monroe guides us through the pivotal episodes of her life as if sharing snapshots from a photo album. This intimacy makes it painfully clear how the forgotten Norma Jeane Mortenson and the famous Marilyn Monroe were one and the same—from their first fearful night alone in an LA orphanage to their last fateful night alone in their LA home.”
—Allan Wolf, author of Who Killed Christopher Goodman?

“In Beauty Mark, Carole Boston Weatherford gives us the raw, heart-wrenching story of Marilyn Monroe. From a fatherless childhood filled with abandonment, foster homes, sexual abuse, failed marriages, and dependency, she traces Marilyn’s hard-won rise to Hollywood stardom. A gem of a biographical novel that celebrates through Weatherford’s lyrical verse one woman’s determination to find and be herself.”
—Larry Dane Brimner, Sibert Medal–winning author of Twelve Days in May

School Library Journal

07/01/2020

Gr 9 Up—This book reads like a running dialogue through the troubled mind of Marilyn Monroe. The story carries readers from the start of her life as the smart brunette Norma Jeane through her complex and emotionally difficult transition to blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn battles rejection from family and concerns about mental illness as she searches for love and stability in life. During the story, readers meet big-name celebrities like Ella Fitzgerald, Jane Russell, and Fred Astaire, while getting a glimpse into married life with powerful men like Arthur Miller and Joe DiMaggio. Written in verse, this novel feels like an autobiography as Marilyn shares her deepest and darkest secrets with readers. Weatherford's intimate writing style will make readers feel like they're accessing Marilyn's private journals. The story is dedicated to anyone who has ever felt mistreated, disrespected, underestimated, or misunderstood, and will resonate with young adults. VERDICT This verse novel tells one cohesive story of a life lived. A highly enjoyable title recommended for reluctant readers and students intrigued by fame and stardom.—Christina Pesiri, Island Trees H.S., Levittown, NY

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2020-06-20
A poetic tribute to the life of Norma Jeane Mortenson, better known as the film star Marilyn Monroe.

Weatherford shows readers how the young Norma Jeane fashioned the construct of Marilyn Monroe out of a desire to be seen, known, and loved. Her adopted Aunt Grace’s vision gave Norma Jean an escape from poverty and abandonment through the manipulation of her body, and she eventually found the will to live—and even thrive—in front of the camera. Though readers feel Norma Jeane’s pain and desperation, Weatherford also conveys her sense of power: Despite being dyslexic, she acquired an extensive personal library that revealed her search for knowledge. Ultimately, however, Norma Jeane was not able to escape “Marilyn Monroe,” a version of herself that became a prison. This is a meditation on a woman trying desperately to escape the personas constructed for her by her family, the foster-care system, the movie industry, and her fans. In a series of spare and precise first-person poems narrated by Norma Jeane, Weatherford captures her iconic contradictions and, by doing so, reveals traumas, professional successes, and moments of authentic joy. This searing, aching love poem to a widely known but often misunderstood icon will speak even to young readers who may not be familiar with her films.

A window into a uniquely magnificent and terrifying life. (photo credits) (Verse novel. 13-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178811382
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	09/08/2020
Edition description:	Unabridged

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