“Excellent command of voice, period, and ethnic dialect . . . clear love and in-depth knowledge of Ellington and his band.” –Alexandria LaFaye, author of The Keening
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“When this marvelously evocative novel finds a home in the school curriculum, kids across America will be downloading Duke.” –Jack Bradley
 
Nine-year-old Danny stows away on Duke Ellington’s train one Georgia night. Through Danny’s eyes, we meet some of America’s finest musicians as he accompanies them on their 1939 European tour, when the train was briefly held in Germany. Says Nat Hentoff, “I knew Duke Ellington for twenty-five years. The Ellington in this book is the man I knew.” 
 
Mick Carlon is a twenty-seven-year veteran English/journalism high- and middle-school teacher. A lifelong jazz fan, he regularly plays jazz in his classroom and has turned hundreds of students into jazz fans. He says, “If young people are simply exposed to the music and stories of these American artists, they will make a friend for life.”