Review by Booklist Review
Young readers will be pulled into 1940s New York, a time of segregation where it was frowned upon for people from different neighborhoods and cultures to mingle. But something exciting was happening in the city: a new music style blending Latin and jazz was being born, with lively, vibrant tunes that sent a thrill through listeners, encouraging them to dance. When Palladium, a local dance hall, opened as a desegregated space, people from different neighborhoods and backgrounds came together to dance. Latin jazz had people dancing and jumping, creating new moves and a new style of dance known as mambo, which drew in people from a variety of communities. The English text is both conversational and informative, using such lively verbs, such as "jiggled," "rumbled," and "swiveled," which will allow readers to feel the electricity of this music and dance move as they read. Realistic illustrations with historical details bring to life the many moves and twirls dance couples enjoyed in close-up views. Additional back matter rounds out this eye-catching account of the cultural impact of Latin jazz and mambo.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
When the band Machito and His Afro-Cubans "make a brand-new sound called Latin jazz" in 1940, everyone in New York City dances to it--Italian people such as Millie, and Puerto Rican folks like Pedro, the best dancers in their respective neighborhoods. But because of segregation, people from various backgrounds can't dance together until 1948, when the Palladium opens its doors to all. The mambo dance accompanies the "bold new music," and Millie and Pedro, creating "mambo moves for two," eventually become the best mambo team in the U.S. Robbins's prose is as musical as his subject: "The melodies were/ bright and brilliant./ They made you want to listen./ The beats were lilting and lively./ They made you want to move." Velasquez's characteristic, near-photorealistic illustrations, rendered in oil paint in a palette reflecting the time, add a dynamic fluidity to the historical atmosphere of this enlightening narrative nonfiction title. Back matter includes an author's note with further historical context. Ages 7--9. (Oct.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
In 1948 at New York City's Palladium Ballroom a new dance craze -- the mambo -- was born. Robbins (Margaret and the Moon) and Velasquez (Octopus Stew, rev. 1/20) team up to tell the story of Latin jazz, dance halls, and some of mambo's brightest stars. We open on the streets of New York with an introduction to dancers Millie Donay ("in her Italian neighborhood") and Pedro Aguilar ("in his Puerto Rican neighborhood") in action, their dance moves exploding off the pages in energetic, realistic oils. What follows is an overview of the segregated status quo of 1940s New York ("Black people danced in Black places. Jews danced in Jewish places"), before the focus lands on the Palladium Ballroom and its open-door policy that allowed people of all backgrounds to enjoy the sounds of Latin jazz band Machito and His Afro-Cubans. Meeting there for the first time, Aguilar and Donay would together smash through society's barriers while becoming the best mambo dance team in the country. In Robbins and Velasquez's hands, this early challenge to segregation makes for a lively, compelling piece of history. Back matter includes an author's note with further information about the 1940s, Latin jazz, and mambo -- and some of the musicians and dancers that made them famous. Eric Carpenter November/December 2021 p.138(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Traces the history of the mambo, the Latin jazz dance with such a thrilling beat everyone, regardless of color, danced to it. Dynamic text goes hand in hand with vibrant, motion-filled illustrations to tell the story of the Latin sound that swept through New York and then the country in the 1940s and '50s. Dancers whirl and twirl across double-page spreads as people from different neighborhoods followed the 1940s rules: They danced but did not mix. "Italians danced in Italian places," and so it was with Puerto Ricans, Black people, Jews, and so forth. "Then came a band called Machito and His Afro-Cubans" with "a brand-new sound called Latin Jazz." It "was music for the head, the heart, and the hips," and everyone danced to it--but they still did not dance together. Then, "in 1948, the Palladium Ballroom broke the rules" by opening its doors to everyone. People came from all over the city and listened and danced to this bold new music that transcended ethnic and racial lines: the mambo. In an author's note, readers learn that a number of the characters introduced are real people who went on to become well-known mambo dancers. In keeping with the title of the book and the spirit of the dance, cast members represent different ethnicities and races. The book publishes simultaneously in Spanish, with a translation by Georgina Lázaro. Exuberant, just like the dance. (resources) (Informational picture book. 7-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
