The Singer and the Scientist

by Lisa Rose, Isabel Muñoz (Illustrator)

Overview

It's 1937, and Marian Anderson is one of the most famous singers in America. But after she gives a performance for an all-white audience, she learns that the nearby hotel is closed to African Americans. She doesn't know where she'll stay for the night.

Until the famous scientist Albert Einstein invites her to stay at his house. Marian, who endures constant discrimination as a Black performer, learns that Albert faced prejudice as a Jew in Germany. She discovers their shared passion for music—and their shared hopes for a more just world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541576100
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/01/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	668,349
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	750L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 9 Years

About the Author

Lisa Rose lives near Detroit, Michigan. She likes to swim, practice yoga, and eat ice cream, but not at the same time. Her previous books include Shmulik Paints the Town.

Isabel Muñoz is an artist and a children's book illustrator. She is a Fine Arts graduate from Universidad Complutense of Madrid, Spain. Isabel works from a tiny colorful studio in the north of Spain.

Editorial Reviews

Bonds forged in the United States between Jews and non-Jews—particularly non-Jewish Black Americans—underlie two other recent picture books. The Singer and The Scientist (by Lisa Rose with illustrations by Isabel Muñoz) spotlights the friendship between Marian Anderson (1897-1993), the pathbreaking Black opera singer, and Albert Einstein (1879-1955), the celebrated Jewish physicist who found refuge from Nazi Germany in the United States. In 1937, Anderson was denied hotel accommodations after a performance in Princeton, New Jersey, so Einstein hosted her in his home. The book is grounded in this origin story, and it offers a moving portrait of the friendship between these famous figures, who both faced different kinds of prejudice. This title was also named a National Jewish Book Award finalist.

From the Publisher

2021-03-02
Well-known historical figures from wildly different disciplines have a surprising connection.

In 1937 New Jersey, Marian Anderson sings to a White audience in a huge theatre, but the minute the curtain is down, she’s no longer a star. She’s a Black woman who is invisible to most and persona non grata to others—especially nearby hotels. Without a place to stay for the night, she’s on her own, until someone from the front row of the audience approaches her and invites her to stay in his guest room. The man is Albert Einstein, and he knows all too well what it’s like to be treated as less than human in one’s own country, ever since he fled Germany soon after Hitler’s rise to power. The two get along and talk music, and Albert is glad to pull out his violin and play for her. The evening portrayed in this picture book is the start of what would presumably go on to be a lifelong friendship between people known for their professional achievements who were uncomfortable in the spotlight as activists but did their work quietly. Muñoz’s illustrations are inviting, buoyant, and colorful, and the text does not oversimplify the racism Anderson endures. Though the afterword gives quick details on both figures’ lives more generally, it does not cite or give context to their relationship beyond telling readers that the incident is “not well known”—a disappointment. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 61.4% of actual size.)

A charming anecdote. (Informational picture book. 5-10)

Kirkus Reviews