Michael Jackson: King of Pop: King of Pop (Lives Cut Short)

Step daughter was reading this book from her school library and inadvertently left it on the porch where it got ruined by rain. As a matter of principle, I ordered a new one on Amazon to replace the damaged copy. Book arrived quickly from seller, however, I was a little worried when I found out that although it looked new, it was a former library book with associated stampings (this was not mentioned in description, hence 4 stars). I thought about purchasing another non-marked version, but ended up sending this one to the school librarian. Received a thank you letter from the librarian and all is good. Thanks!

This product was in mint condition better than the seller said. My Daughter was reading this book from her school library and i compared it to that and the only difference was the cover was a little lighter. All in all i am very pleased with the book and i am sure she will be too.

This is an informative look into the King of Pop’s life from childhood until death. Mary K. Pratt details the highs and lows of Michael Jackson’s life in a tasteful way for middle/high school readers. The small chapter book layout is done nicely with several photographs, easy to follow text, a timeline, and information for further reading or additional material.

This book is not for Michael Jackson fans. There are no new insights, simply the same stuff that's been out there for over twenty years. In fact, the bibliography is mostly out-of-date sources. For example, the author cites from the 1991 edition of J. Randy Taraborrelli's comprehensive unauthorized biography, when in fact it has been updated twice since then, once in 2004 and again in 2009! Then there are several other books of dubious authorship listed, that are from the early 1990s. That's one of the main reasons why I don't like this book and would not use it to introduce middle-school children to Michael Jackson's legendary contribution to music and culture. In another example, Rolling Stone magazine is cited as having the "essential" Michael Jackson story, when it's a well-known fact that using unreliable, unverified sources, the magazine made the ridiculous claim that Michael's nose fell off in rehearsals. Also, as with most of this kind of shallow authorship that rehashes rumors, insinuations and gossip, there is no mention of how Michael befriended and helped young Ryan White, an Indiana youth who contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion and died at 18 years-old. Or how he helped Dave Dave for over 20 years after Dave had been set on fire as a child by his own father and disfigured for life. There is no mention of the Michael Jackson Scholarship Fund that he endowed over 25 years ago with almost $2 million to help kids headed to college. That's the kind of reading that is appropriate and inspiring for this age level. And there is so much more that could have been included to inspire youth. Instead, they are fed a tabloid rehash and gain little or no insight into this artist's genius.