Fascinating : the life of Leonard Nimoy / by Richard Michelson ; illustrated by Edel Rodriguez.

Title:

Author:

Michelson, Richard

Additional Author(s):

Rodriguez, Edel

ISBN:

9781101933305

1101933305

9781101933312

(lib.

bdg.)

1101933313

Edition:

First edition.

Publication Info:

New York :

Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 29 cm

Summary:

Once there was a boy named Leonard who loved to sing and to act. His parents were immigrants who felt like aliens in America, and certainly didn't understand Leonard's drive to perform. "Learn to play the accordion," his father told him. "Actors starve, but at least musicians can eke out a living." But Leonard reached for the stars . . . and caught them. He moved to Hollywood, where he took acting lessons, and drove a taxi and took every role he could get. He worked hard, learned his lines, showed up on time, and studied his craft. Until one day he was offered the role of an alien science officer on a new TV show called Star Trek. Leonard knew what it felt like to be an alien. But did he want the role? Fascinating is the story of how one boy followed his dreams to become one of the most beloved figures of our time.

Personal Subject:

Nimoy, Leonard-Juvenile literature.

Subject(s):

Actors -- United States -- Biography -- Juvenile literature.

Illustrated children's books.

Holds: Copies (not including on-order items):

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Call Number	Shelf Location	Status	Item Holds
Searching... Ruth Holley Library	Children's Book	791.4302 NIMO MICH	Children's-J-Biography	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

A moving biography of the late Leonard Nimoy, the iconic Spock from Star Trek, whose story exemplifies the American experience and the power of pursuing your dreams.

Once there was a boy named Leonard who loved to sing and to act. His parents were immigrants who felt like aliens in America, and certainly didn't understand Leonard's drive to perform. "Learn to play the accordion," his father told him. "Actors starve, but at least musicians can eke out a living."

But Leonard reached for the stars . . . and caught them. He moved to Hollywood, where he took acting lessons, and drove a taxi and took every role he could get. He worked hard, learned his lines, showed up on time, and studied his craft. Until one day he was offered the role of an alien science officer on a new TV show called Star Trek. Leonard knew what it felt like to be an alien. But did he want the role?

Fascinating is the story of how one boy followed his dreams to become one of the most beloved figures of our time.

Author Notes

Richard Michelson was Leonard Nimoy's gallerist and close friend. He is the author of many acclaimed books for adults and children, including Sydney Taylor Gold Medal winner and National Jewish Book Award finalist As Good as Anybody, illustrated by Raul Col n, and New York Times Best Illustrated Book and Notable Children's Book Busing Brewster, illustrated by R. G. Roth.

Richard lives with his wife in Amherst, Massachusetts, and is the proprietor of R. Michelson Galleries. Find out more at richardmichelson.com.

Edel Rodriguez is a Cuban-born American artist and children's book author. Rodriguez uses a variety of materials, and his work ranges from conceptual to portraiture and landscape. He is the author and illustrator of Sergio Makes a Splash and Sergio Saves the Game, and the illustrator of several esteemed picture-book biographies, including Jonah Winter's Sonia Sotomayor and Ntozake Shange's Float Like a Butterfly .

Reviews (3)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 2-4-Written from the perspective of a young Leonard "Lenny" Nimoy, this title begins in 1939, when the Star Trek actor was in the third grade, and emphasizes the importance of family and theater in Nimoy's early life. Kids will learn how his success did not come overnight: a simple but effective lesson on persistence and perseverance. The book is illustrated in a sepialike tone, lending the volume a historic feeling. The signature blue of Spock's uniform is also prevalent in many of the images. Although this biography would work well as an independent read, it could also be a great option for group read-alouds because of the focus on Nimoy's childhood. VERDICT In the words of Spock, "Live long and prosper." Recommended wherever Trekkies roam.-Robin Sofge, Alexandria Library, VA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

Michelson (Twice as Good) takes advantage of his friendship and professional relationship with the late Nimoy, whose photographs he has displayed in his Massachusetts gallery, to craft a warm and moving picture book biography that reveals the impact of the actor's family and Jewish upbringing on his life and career. With a knack for elegantly weaving biographical and contextual details into the narration, Michelson highlights young Lenny's early flirtations with the stage and photography, his eventual decision to leave Boston for Hollywood to pursue acting, and the roots of Mr. Spock's famous Vulcan greeting gesture in Jewish tradition. Working in a subdued palette of muted blues and browns, Rodriguez (Sonia Sotomayor) captures the 1930s-1940s Boston of Nimoy's childhood and creates instantly recognizable images of the adult actor in the role of Star Trek's Spock in flat, posterlike images softened by gauzy, weathered texturing. Closing notes offer additional insights into the actor's life and legacy, and also reveal that Nimoy himself approved and offered suggestions on the manuscript before his death in 2015. Ages 4-8. Illustrator's agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

The man who would become Star Trek's famous Vulcan was born to Russian Jewish immigrants whose passports marked them as alien. Little Lenny, who grew up in Boston the son of a barber, learned how to be American from a local settlement house. It was there that he was thrust upon the stage to sing for a talent show. Those first sounds of applause eventually led to a life in theater, movies, and television, but not before he paid his dues delivering newspapers, selling vacuum cleaners, and driving taxis. Written by Nimoy's gallerist (Nimoy was also a talented fine-art photographer), this biography includes, yes, fascinating details about the origin of the famous Vulcan salute and an encounter, and advice, from a shared taxi ride with Congressman John F. Kennedy. Rodriguez's blue-and-sepia-tone palette is perfect for the subject. The intended audience may not be familiar with Spock unless their parents are Trekkers, but the story of a young boy seeking to belong and to pursue his dreams in America should inspire readers to live long and prosper.--Dobrez, Cindy Copyright 2017 Booklist