Juba!

by Walter Dean Myers

Overview

In New York Times bestselling author Walter Dean Myers’s final novel, he delivers a gripping story based on the life of a real dancer known as “Master Juba,” who lived in the nineteenth century.

This engaging historical novel follows the meteoric rise of an immensely talented young black dancer, William Henry Lane, who influenced today’s tap, jazz dance, and step. With meticulous and intensive research, Walter Dean Myers has brought to life Juba’s story.

The novel includes photographs, maps, and other images from Juba’s time, as well as an afterword from Walter Dean Myers’s wife, Constance Myers, about the writing process of Juba!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062112736
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/11/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.47(d)
Lexile:	850L (what's this?)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Walter Dean Myers was the New York Times bestselling author of Monster, the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award; a National Ambassador for Young People's Literature; and an inaugural NYC Literary Honoree. Myers was recognized by every single major award in the field of children's literature. He was the author of two Newbery Honor Books and five Coretta Scott King Book Award winners. He was the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults and a three-time National Book Award finalist as well as the first ever recipient of the Coretta Scott King–Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Editorial Reviews

An intriguing glimpse into America’s past.

Booklist

An intriguing glimpse into America’s past.

Booklist

Myers’ moving prose captures the dizzying speed with which the immensely talented Juba’s star eventually rises. Poignant, revealing period fiction about race and art in pre-Civil War America.” — Kirkus Reviews

“An intriguing glimpse into America’s past.” — Booklist

“[A] rich story.” — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

Myers's posthumously published novel, set in the 1840s, tells the story of William Henry Lane, a free black dancer known as Master Juba. Incorporating the Irish step dancing he saw around him as a child in Brooklyn with African and minstrel styles, Juba developed what came to be known as tap dancing and was celebrated in London, as well as New York, until his early death at 27. Sadly, the ambiance of the times and the exuberance of Juba's dancing don’t translate well to audio, despite the efforts of narrator Brandon Gill. Listeners unfamiliar with old minstrel shows will miss the historical pictures in the print edition, and, though Juba and his friends are mostly well realized by Gill, the challenge of the Irish accents makes it sometimes problematic to determine which character is speaking. S.G. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2015 - AudioFile