About this item
Step back to British-held Boston and hear the voices of citizens, militiamen, and redcoats at a turning of the tide in the American Revolution, brought to life in Roxane Orgill's deft verse.It is the summer of 1775. The British occupy Boston and its busy harbor, holding residents captive and keeping a strong military foothold. The threat of smallpox looms, and the town is cut off, even from food supplies. Following the battles of Lexington and Concord, Congress unanimously elects George Washington commander in chief of the American armed forces, and he is sent to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to transform the ragtag collection of volunteer militiamen into America's first army. So far the war is nothing more than a series of intermittent skirmishes, but Washington is in constant fear of attack - until he takes the offensive with results that surprise everyone, the British most of all.
About the Author
Ever find yourself doing something you didn't expect?
I was looking at a famous photograph of jazz musicians crowded outside a Harlem brownstone, and I was wondering how to write about it. A poem popped out.
I'm not a poet. I write nonfiction. I used to be a music critic and journalist. I rarely even read poetry. But I like research, so I dug into that August day in 1958 when an amateur photographer tried to corral 57 musicians into a picture. And I kept writing - poems!
See the results in my new book, JAZZ DAY: THE MAKING OF A FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPH, illustrated by Francis Vallejo (Candlewick Press, 2106) . It has earned six * * * * * * starred reviews!
