The Jazz Kid
- Author James Lincoln Collier
- Narrator August Ross
- Publish Date 1 February 2013
- Run Time 5 hours and 19 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Children’s / Teenage fiction: General fiction, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Historical fiction, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Music.
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What to expect
Paulie Horvath is never going to be a good student like his brother, John, never going to follow his hardworking father into the plumbing trade, never going to ease his mother's mind by passing tests or cleaning up his room. But once he hears jazz by accident from the basement of a speakeasy, he knows exactly what he will do: learn that music and make it his life. Jazz is all around in gangland Chicago, but not so easy for a twelve-year-old to find, especially when his father disapproves of it. Paulie has to lie, beg, and steal just to get time for lessons, time to practice, time to slip across town to see stars like King Oliver and Louis Armstrong.
Lies last only so long until they are found out, and a confrontation is coming. Will he choose home and family or sleazy dives with that wonderful music? To decide, Paulie has to face an even tougher question. What is jazz, after all?
Author James Lincoln Collier has played and studied jazz throughout his life. Here is a novel that shows us a great moment in the history of jazz, and points at issues that still trouble us today.
Critics Review
u201cCollier deftly recreates the spirit of 1920s Chicago and the thriving world of jazz and its starsu2026Collieru2019s knowledge and love of the subject are apparent.u201d
u201cCollier writes with accurate detail and creates believable, realistic charactersu2026The multiple themes of music, family, and responsibility harmonize to make one fine story.u201d
u201cCollier wraps his music lesson in an agreeable package. Most important, he gets the story of Chicago jazz right, both historically and emotionally.u201d
u201cCollier offers a convincing portrait of a feckless young person whou2019s capable of fierce concentration when he's doing what matters to him.u201d
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