Between Books - Who is George Lucas?

As I have mentioned before, when I was a kid it was biography that first fostered an interest in history. In that light, I have been disappointed in many Disney-related biographies that I have found for kids. They speak down or try to simplify it too much. They just don’t do what good kids' biographies should do, help create a love of history by crafting a compelling story of a real person.

Who is George Lucas? by Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso and illustrated by Ted Hammond provides an unauthorized biography of the creator of Star Wars. The book tells the story of a young California boy who dreamed of something different than following in his father’s footsteps at the stationary store. As a teen, he became fascinated with cars and car culture. After he graduated, despite the fact he was not a strong student, he went to college and discovered a love of storytelling and filmmaking. Lucas’ student film, Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB caught the attention of Francis Ford Coppola who championed Lucas and helped him turn his student project into his first feature, THX 1138. While his first film was not a success, Lucas’ deal included the right to make a second film which was the hit American Graffiti built on his love of cars. Lucas bartered this success into developing a space movie, Star Wars which became an international success despite numerous doubters including his cast and studio. Lucas would follow up this success with other Star Wars films and the Indiana Jones franchise. Despite his major success, Lucas would find that his success would also take away attention from his family.

I really liked Who is George Lucas? I found that the book did not talk down to kids and was very honest about his path. The authors show us how his success and creative focus did impact his personal life. And the book was one full of challenges, with Lucas having to overcome creative obstacles to tell the story he wanted on the big screen. While the book ends with a marriage and sale of LucasFilm to Disney, even then the book notes that other adventurous await this creative force.

There are a lot of gaps that maybe kids could fill in later. The movies discussed are really his early productions, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones…the franchises that most moviegoers, kids, and Disney fans would be concerned with. A kid could fill in the gaps on projects like Radioland Murders or Howard the Duck in other biographies, but being a shorter biography for kids it’s not comprehensive.

Who is George Lucas? is the type of biography that helps foster a love of history. It is a book that gives a compelling story, of one who creatively worked to overcome challenges and doubts. It is not all success, as it makes it clear that not all progress is without personal cost. I think this is the type of biography that will lead youngsters to read more about history and George Lucas. And it’s likely the first book I would strongly endorse from the “Who Is” and “Where Is” line that I have read. 

 

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