Eileen using the Project Read Computer Lab
A few months ago, Eileen expressed an interest in seeking out the autobiography of someone whose life and talent she really admires – the singer and actress Fantasia Barrino, who was a winner on the television show American Idol.
We got a hold of the book and read a little bit of it together, but Eileen was so interested in reading about Fantasia that she finished the entire book by herself! I’m so proud of her. She was motivated enough to seek out the book and then read it on her own, making Eileen my American Idol. I interviewed Eileen about it when she was still on page 148.
Vivian: Tell me about the book you’re reading now.
Eileen: It’s called Life Is Not a Fairy Tale by Fantasia Barrino.
V: Why did you choose to read this book?
E: It’s a true story that anyone can relate to. For example, take any five people in a room and it speaks to all five people. Fantasia talks about day-to-day life experiences that you live through. She talks about one day wanting to be something and how some dreams are not fulfilled.
V: How did you get interested in Fantasia?
E: From watching American Idol. There’s something about Fantasia that I like. I just can’t pinpoint what it is about her that I like so much. She has certain qualities. She’s a mother first. It didn’t matter to her if her career came first or didn’t come at all. She didn’t really care about success – it either came to her or it didn’t. She speaks a lot about her daughter. Her child comes first.
V: Had you watched American Idol from the beginning?
E: Yes, I’m a fan of American Idol but I didn’t really get into it until Ruben Studdard. Ruben was in the second season. Fantasia’s season was the third season in 2004. And I just missed two episodes because my cable was out and it took them two weeks to fix my cable!
V: How did you find out she wrote a book?
E: Ever since she won American Idol, I’ve been following her.
V: How do you get information on Fantasia?
E: I’m on her Fantasia website. On her first music CD it said that she had a website. But it all started from American Idol. I went to Google search and typed in Fantasia Barrino. I think she has several websites. She’s also on MySpace. And she’s also sung with a couple of artists on her record – like Missy Elliot and I think she went on tour with Jamie Foxx.
V: Did you get her book at a bookstore or at the library?
E: I got it from the library.
V: How did you find it in the library?
E: To find the book in the library I went on the Internet. I went to sfpl.org and did a search for the title of the book first. That told me the section it was in and I found it by looking at the numbers on the spine of the book.
V: Why do you relate so much to Fantasia?
E: She talks about the relationship she has to her mother and to her daughter. It’s the same as the generation relationships in my family.
V: How does it feel to be reading a book on your own?
E: It’s fine. I noticed that when I got to page 148, I drifted from the book a little because I knew what the end of the story was going to be. The book tells the story of the years before she won American Idol. Then in the middle she became the American Idol, when she was like 17 or 18. Then the rest is her life since then. At first I was reading four or five pages a day, and then I would only read about a half a page or a page when I was on BART. But then I drifted back to it because I really wanted to accomplish finishing the book.
V: What might you be interested in reading next?
E: I was thinking about reading a book about Terrell Owens. I heard about that. He was on the 49ers and I’m a 49ers fan. Now he’s on my other team – the Cowboys. And he’s messed up on both teams and I want to know why. I like biography and it’s got to be on someone I know. I’m not a fiction person. It has to be a true story.
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