The Many Faces of Josephine Baker

With determination and audacity, Josephine Baker exploited her comic and musical abilities to become a worldwide icon of the Jazz Age. The Many Faces of Josephine Baker: Dancer, Singer, Activist, Spy provides the first in-depth portrait of this remarkable woman for young adults. Digging beneath the sensationalism usually associated with Baker and her uninhibited dancing, author Peggy Caravantes follows Baker's remarkable life from her childhood in the depths of poverty, to her comedic rise in vaudeville, to fame in Europe, outspoken participation in the US Civil Rights Movement, espionage work for the French Resistance during World War II, and adoption of 12 children, each from a different nationality, ethnicity, or religious group—her "rainbow tribe." Also included are informative sidebars on relevant topics such as the 1917 East St. Louis riot, Pullman railway porters, the Charleston, and more; lush photographs; an appendix updating readers on the lives of the rainbow tribe; and source notes and a bibliography, making this a must-have resource for any student, Baker fan, or history buff. Peggy Caravantes is a former English and history teacher, middle school principal, and deputy school superintendent. She is the author of 16 books for middle grades and young adult readers, including Petticoat Spies: Six Women Spies of the Civil War and American Hero: The Audie Murphy Story. Her YA biographies have been selected for the California Titles for Young Adults, Tri-State Books of Note, and the Top Forty Young Adult Nonfiction Books lists. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.