Cooper, Ilene. This Boy: The Early Lives of John Lennon & Paul McCartney. Viking, 08/2023. 182pp. Biography. Trade $17.99. 978-0-451-47585-5. GRADES 5–9. OUTSTANDING.
This dual biography of the Beatles’ founding members and songwriting team Lennon and McCartney is filled with quotations from family members and classmates, making it lively and authentic. The text focuses on their contrasting upbringing in Liverpool, with Lennon’s unusual family structure compared with McCartney’s traditional happy family. Scattered with b&w photos of them as lads, the compelling narrative fills in related history about World War II, the beginnings of rock and roll, and other popular culture influences on the Beatles. A solid companion to Elizabeth Partridge’s John Lennon: All I Want is the Truth (Viking, 2005), this contains source notes, a bibliography, and an index.
Penny Peck—SJSU iSchool