About this item
5 Starred Reviews!"This slim novel strikes a strong chord" - Publishers Weekly (starred review) "This complex tale of family and forgiveness has heart." - School Library Journal (starred review) "Strong characterizations and vivid musical scenes add layers to this warm family story." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "An appealing, realistic story with frequent elegant turns of phrase." - The Horn Book (starred review) "Garcia-Williams skillfully finds melody in words." - BOOKLIST (starred review) From beloved Newbery Honor winner and three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner Rita Williams-Garcia comes a powerful and heartfelt novel about loss, family, and love that will appeal to fans of Jason Reynolds and Kwame Alexander. Clayton feels most alive when he's with his grandfather, Cool Papa Byrd, and the band of Bluesmen - he can't wait to join them, just as soon as he has a blues song of his own. But then the unthinkable happens. Cool Papa Byrd dies, and Clayton's mother forbids Clayton from playing the blues. And Clayton knows that's no way to live.Armed with his grandfather's brown porkpie hat and his harmonica, he runs away from home in search of the Bluesmen, hoping he can join them on the road. But on the journey that takes him through the New York City subways and to Washington Square Park, Clayton learns some things that surprise him.
About the Author
Rita Williams-Garcia (born 1957) is an American writer of young-adult novels. She won the 2011 Newbery Honor Award, Coretta Scott King Award, and Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction for her book, One Crazy Summer. She won the PEN/Norma Klein Award. Her book, P.S. Be Eleven, won the Coretta Scott King Award in 2014. In 2016 her book, Gone Crazy in Alabama won the Coretta Scott King Award.Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Jeffrey Beall (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0) ], via Wikimedia Commons.
