Girl Singer
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.
“Carlon covers an unbelievable amount of ground in one novel…. he explores how race relations differ across America and the plight of Jews in Hitler’s Germany and China, all accompanied by the deep, steady thrum of jazz in the background…. Carlon slips easily into Avery’s voice, and he shines when he describes the music. Aficionados will enjoy the hat tip to greats such as Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald…. Part jazz panegyric, part world history tour, altogether readable.” —Kirkus
“What would an aspiring jazz singer’s life be like in the heyday of the Harlem Renaissance? Carlon’s answer is this fictional memoir. Miss Avery Hall is a young black vocalist waitressing in upper Manhattan in 1938 when she happens to meet Count Basie just as Billie Holiday decides she can’t stand touring one minute longer. Avery gets her break and travels across America with the band, experiencing the highs of performing and camaraderie with the band, as well as the lows of Jim Crow laws, segregation among the U.S. troops of WWII, and the ever-present dangers for young women. The tone darkens when Avery takes up with Karl, a young Holocaust survivor and photographer, based on the real-life Heinz Prager, whose actual photos illustrate the book…. [Carlon’s] encyclopedic knowledge of music and the associated personalities bring the milieu and time period to life.” —Booklist
“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 natural heir of Robert Louis Stevenson. If you like good fiction, you’ll like Girl Singer.” —Brian Morton, author of The Penguin Guide to Jazz
“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
“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
“Avery’s story tackles hard topics—racism, women’s rights—which transcend time and place. A tale with deep resonance and educational force that will keep readers turning pages.” —Marilyn Lester, executive director, the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts
Mick Carlon is a veteran English/journalism teacher at both the high and middle school levels. A life-long jazz fan, he regularly plays jazz in his classroom and has turned hundreds of students into jazz fans. He is quoted in the latest edition of The Penguin Guide to Jazz, co-authored by Brian Morton. Carlon says, “I feel that if young people are simply exposed to the music and stories of American artists such as Duke Ellington, then they will make a friend for life.”
