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Swing Sisters: The Story of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm by Joe Cepeda, Karen Deans
prettypious's review against another edition
5.0
Good picture book to learn about an all female big band in the 40s on. The original members were all Black girls without their own adult caregivers who grew up in a group home and the group home owner/director taught them music and encouraged their band. It’s always nice to hear historical stories about Black women.
mlottermoser's review against another edition
4.0
All female mix raced swing/jazz band that led the way for other performers.
backonthealex's review against another edition
4.0
It's Women's History Month and this year's theme is Weaving the Stories of Women's Lives, so I thought I would begin the month with a new picture book for older readers that introduces them to the remarkable International Sweethearts of Rhythm.
Shortly after I began this blog, I reviewed a wonderful middle grade book by Marilyn Nelson called Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World. But where Nelson's book covers the kind of music and the places where the Sweethearts played, Swing Sisters begins at the beginning.
In 1909, near Jackson, Mississippi a school/orphanage called Piney Woods Country Life School was started by Dr. Laurence Clifton Jones for African American girls.
The girls were educated, housed, clothed and fed and in return they all did chores to help keep things running smoothly and well. In 1939, Dr. Jones started a band that he called the Sweethearts with some musically talented girls to help raise money for the school. The music they played was called swing or big band music, by either name it was Jazz and people couldn't get enough of it.
Dean describes how the girls stayed together after leaving Piney Woods, hoping to make a living as musicians. They would live, sleep, eat and play music, traveling around from gig to gig in a bus they called Big Bertha. Band members came and went, and before long the band was no longer made up of only African American women, but included many races and nationalities. As a result, they decided to call themselves the International Sweethearts of Rhythm.
But while the band hit the big time, they still didn't get paid as much as their male counterparts nor were they taken as seriously, no matter how good they were. Not only that, Dean points out, but in the Jim Crow south, because they were interracial now, traveling and performing became risky and she includes some of those scary, dangerous incidents they faced.
In 1945, as World War II was winding down, the Sweethearts found themselves on a USO tour thanks to a letter writing campaign by African American soldiers. But sadly, the Sweethearts disbanded after the war and the members went their separate ways.
Dean does an excellent job of introducing the Sweethearts to her young readers and the difficulties an all-women's interracial band faced back in the 1940s balancing it with positive events and the strong bonds of friendship among all the members.
Cepeda's colorful acrylic and oil painted illustrations match the energy of the music the Sweethearts played with a bright rainbow palette of greens, pinks, purples, yellows, blues and orange.
So many wonderful books are coming out now introducing young readers to some of the greatest artists and musicians of the 20th century and this book is such a welcome addition.
This book is recommended for readers age 7+
This book was bought for my personal library
This review was originally posted on The Children's War
Shortly after I began this blog, I reviewed a wonderful middle grade book by Marilyn Nelson called Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World. But where Nelson's book covers the kind of music and the places where the Sweethearts played, Swing Sisters begins at the beginning.
In 1909, near Jackson, Mississippi a school/orphanage called Piney Woods Country Life School was started by Dr. Laurence Clifton Jones for African American girls.
The girls were educated, housed, clothed and fed and in return they all did chores to help keep things running smoothly and well. In 1939, Dr. Jones started a band that he called the Sweethearts with some musically talented girls to help raise money for the school. The music they played was called swing or big band music, by either name it was Jazz and people couldn't get enough of it.
Dean describes how the girls stayed together after leaving Piney Woods, hoping to make a living as musicians. They would live, sleep, eat and play music, traveling around from gig to gig in a bus they called Big Bertha. Band members came and went, and before long the band was no longer made up of only African American women, but included many races and nationalities. As a result, they decided to call themselves the International Sweethearts of Rhythm.
But while the band hit the big time, they still didn't get paid as much as their male counterparts nor were they taken as seriously, no matter how good they were. Not only that, Dean points out, but in the Jim Crow south, because they were interracial now, traveling and performing became risky and she includes some of those scary, dangerous incidents they faced.
In 1945, as World War II was winding down, the Sweethearts found themselves on a USO tour thanks to a letter writing campaign by African American soldiers. But sadly, the Sweethearts disbanded after the war and the members went their separate ways.
Dean does an excellent job of introducing the Sweethearts to her young readers and the difficulties an all-women's interracial band faced back in the 1940s balancing it with positive events and the strong bonds of friendship among all the members.
Cepeda's colorful acrylic and oil painted illustrations match the energy of the music the Sweethearts played with a bright rainbow palette of greens, pinks, purples, yellows, blues and orange.
So many wonderful books are coming out now introducing young readers to some of the greatest artists and musicians of the 20th century and this book is such a welcome addition.
This book is recommended for readers age 7+
This book was bought for my personal library
This review was originally posted on The Children's War
tamykamorant's review against another edition
5.0
Good picture book to learn about an all female big band in the 40s on. The original members were all Black girls without their own adult caregivers who grew up in a group home and the group home owner/director taught them music and encouraged their band. It’s always nice to hear historical stories about Black women.
erine's review against another edition
4.0
A fascinating and unknown (to me) story, but I just wanted more. The author's note at the end left me deflated, although there were other resources I can seek out.
This reminded me in many ways of A League of Their Own (the movie). It covered similar themes of gender roles and race.
This reminded me in many ways of A League of Their Own (the movie). It covered similar themes of gender roles and race.
sammiejo31__'s review against another edition
5.0
Swing Sisters tells the amazing true story of an originally all-black, an all-female jazz band from the early 1900s. This inspiring story shows that children can become anything they dream about even when the odds are stacked against them. Not only was this time hard for people of color, but even harder if you were also a woman. Karen Dean's text allows the reader to understand the story easily, making it appropriate for kids in all grades-although it would probably need to be read aloud for younger audiences. Even though the text helps move the story along, the amount on each page may be overwhelming to some. While the text is a vital part of this book, illustrator Joe Cepeda did a fantastic job depicting the writing in his illustrations. Cepeda really brought Dean's words to life in his color-rich drawings-which would help bring in the attention of those younger audiences. The use of color helped to show a wide variety of skin tones so that no one looked the exact same. Also, the colors of the background and the softness of the drawings invite readers in to take a deeper connection to the story.
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