Awards/Selection Lists:
- ALSC Notable Books
Author's Website: http://marilyn-nelson.com/
Brief Summary: The International Sweethearts of Rhythm were a multi-racial, female swing band that performed throughout the South and Midwest of the United States during World War II. Facing Jim Crow laws, and discrimination not just because of their skin color, but also their gender, these women fought for their right to play, to inspire, to cheer up the masses suffering the hardest during the war, in every venue, even against others in the industry. They describe the music as being democratic, that it causes everyone to tap their toes, rich and poor man alike. That's what they focused on, that's how they played, that's how they lived.
Personal Reaction: I like this book because it's different, and different appeals to me. The narrative is written in prose, each poem titled with the name of a song played by the band, which would make it unique in itself. What makes this book truly unique is that each poem is not written in the voice of a member of the band or even an audience member, but of the instruments the band members played! Sometimes it is distracting, and I would imagine this to happen more so for those not familiar with poetry, but once you get used to it, you appreciate the quirkiness and creativity of the format, and really focus in on the depth of feeling being conveyed.
As I will discuss in the content evaluation, I do wish that the artist and author notes had come at the beginning of the book, to give some backstory and context to the prose. I think that more could be gotten out of it, if this was the case. Otherwise, the details of the interracial issues, the origins of the band, their original purpose, and their disbanding is lost, even though the poetry is heartfelt.
Front/Back Matter: Title Page, copyright page, dedication, poetry (main content), chronology, author's note, artist's note, bibliography.
Content Evaluation: While I enjoy the unusual prose style, what this book really needed was a prologue, and introduction, something that indicated who these women were and where they came from. You can glean from the poetry that they lived in the south, fought against Jim Crow laws, were sometimes interracial, though primarily African American, but it isn't until you read the Author and Artist notes that you truly understand what it is you just read. I would recommend to the publisher that these "notes" be included at the beginning of the text to give the readers, particularly younger readers who may not yet have advanced skills analyzing or understanding poetry, the context of the poetry. However, the bibliography and chronology are extremely useful and I believe readers will appreciate the inclusion as well.
