GIRL SINGER
“A fast-paced narrative. . . . compelling and intense reading, by turns funny, tender, and horrifying, Girl Singer is the real deal—a captivating, well-told tale.” —Fred Kasten, Edward R. Murrow Award–winning journalist
“Carlon is a unique educational force, bringing young readers into the pleasures and drama of jazz.” —Nat Hentoff, author of Jazz Country and Boston Boy
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“An arresting and wonderful story that communicates—through a deep relationship between a singer and a Holocaust survivor—the joy of music, self-discovery, pain, and racism.” —Dick Golden, host of George Washington University Presents American Jazz
Harlem 1938: eighteen-year-old Avery, aspiring singer, is heard by Lester “Pres” Young, Count Basie’s tenor saxophonist. Pres recommends her to Basie, and Avery is whisked into the jazz life. Years later, with several hit records to her credit, Avery settles in Greenwich Village. But her life takes a sharp turn when she meets Karl, a Jewish refugee from Hitler’s Germany.