Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia

If you don't know what a blues harp is make sure to read this book to find out!
When you're feeling the blues, tappin' the blues or just playin' the blues,
pick up this book in between the measures.

So...clear your calendar for May 9, 2017 to jump into blues with Clayton Byrd, Cool Papa and the Beat Boys. 

A couple of months ago, I was lucky enough to get a galley copy of Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia, just in time for our winter book groups to start.  I asked another book store if they had one and "Voila!" I said to myself, "I'm going to do a book group with it!  I know I can make it work!" And we did!  Six boys and I shared the books between us and managed with very little stress to read it within a few weeks.  We all loved it and you will, too!  I can't wait to get my hands on the hardcover, get it processed and in the hands of all my readers.  Check out what they had to say about the book:

"Every librarian should get more than one copy of this book for their library because if you only have one, it will always be checked out." A, 11

"Boom Box is my favorite character because he is the nicest one among the Beat Boys and he can make beat box sounds with his mouth.  Impressive!"-Luca, 10

"My favorite character is Cool Papa Byrd because he speaks funny and weird. He is enthusiastic, chill, amazing, and not the usual lazy grandpa you see a lot." - Aidan (10) and Zach (11)

"Cool Papa is my favorite character because he rocks his blues story and I can hear in my head Wah-Wah Nita's cry."-Nate, 10

"This book was so good I couldn't hear anything else around me except what the characters said in the book. Every kid should read this book because it's full of action, adventure and cliffhangers."-A, 11

"My favorite part was when Clayton and the Beat Boys were getting chased by the cops on the train. My heart was racing!"-Luca, 10

"My favorite character is Cool Papa because he inspired Clayton to love the blues.  And if there was no Cool Papa, there would not be a story."-Jay, 11

So on May 9, grab this book, put on your porkpie hat and play the midnight jam!  We hope you love it as much as we did!