Cameron Diaz

VOYA

Latinos in the Limelight is an eight-volume biography series about famous Hispanics. Some names are familiar and obvious to teenagers—Ricky Martin, Christina Aguilera, Antonio Banderas, Selena, and Jennifer Lopez are well-known Hispanic entertainers. Others, such as Jeff Bezos, the man behind Amazon.com, and Oscar De La Hoya, a welterweight boxer, are not. Actress Cameron Diaz, with her blond hair and blue eyes, is not usually identified as a Latina. Her biography begins with a notable accomplishment, the actress's appearance at the 2000 Academy Awards after being nominated for her role in Being John Malkovich, and then examines the road she took to get to the red carpet of the award ceremony. Besides Diaz's movie history, the book also acknowledges her Latin heritage. Although some people doubt that she is Hispanic, Diaz declares, "My Latin roots are very strong.... Being Latin is part of who I am and I bring that part to every role." Each volume includes five to seven short chapters on the subject's life and a brief chronology. There is also a section of awards won or career highlights for those in the public spotlight. Pictures and graphs accompany the simple writing. These brief books will not qualify for reports that require a one-hundred-page minimum, but the series adequately introduces the lives it examines and will fulfill the demand for multicultural biographies. Suitable for a middle school collection, the series should be prominently displayed for browsing. Index. Photos. Charts. Further Reading. Chronology. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P M (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8). 2001, Chelsea House, 64p,
— JenniferRice

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-Jones manages a brief but cohesive narrative of the Tejano star's life and untimely death at the hands of her fan-club manager. Diaz is marred by suppositions about how she might have made certain career choices. For example, in discussing her decision to accept a role in Charlie's Angels, the author states, "-the $12 million paycheck couldn't have hurt-." That's fine, as far as it goes, but this device and tone are repeated throughout. The author quotes Diaz as being concerned about whether, as an actor, she could live with the over-the-line crudeness in her hit There's Something About Mary. This is followed up by the supposition that since the film was a success, she was probably able to live with it. The copyediting is also sloppy-Being John Malkovich director Spike Jonze's name is spelled both correctly and incorrectly in the same photo caption. The books have vivid colors and hip typography, but the cover photo of Diaz is amazingly unflattering. All of the photos are full color, and come from all of the standard public-domain sources. Joe Nick Patoski's Selena: Como la Flor (Boulevard, 1997) is the definitive biography, and is accessible to the same audience as Jones's book. Anne E. Hill's Cameron Diaz (Chelsea, 1999) offers much of the same information.-Tim Wadham, Maricopa County Library District, Phoenix, AZ Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.