Starred Review for Publishers Weekly

Orgill%E2%80%99s (Footwork: The Story of Fred and Adele Astaire) fine biography of the singer crackles with tension and verve. Orphaned at 14, Ella bounces from unfeeling relatives to an orphanage, then to Harlem%E2%80%99s Seventh Avenue: %E2%80%9CPeople took her in, gave her a meal and a bed. Or didn%E2%80%99t. In 1934, half of Harlem was out of work.%E2%80%9D Many virtues distinguish Orgill%E2%80%99s writing: precious fragments of historical detail, flirtations with the flash of the spoken word (%E2%80%9CHe had a drumroll like a burst of gunfire%E2%80%9D), and, most of all, heart (%E2%80%9CThis young lady%E2%80%99s got a gift she%E2%80%99d like to share with us tonight,%E2%80%9D says an emcee when Fitzgerald falters at an early performance. %E2%80%9CShe%E2%80%99s just having a little trouble getting it out of its wrapper%E2%80%9D). Qualls (Dizzy) creates spreads that reflect the propulsive trajectory of Fitzgerald%E2%80%99s life in an age when everybody was dancing; successive portraits show her turning page by page into a star. A puzzle: despite the title, there%E2%80%99s no mention of Fitzgerald%E2%80%99s scat singing. Readers won%E2%80%99t mind, though. An unforgettable portrait of an artist whose faith in herself carried her when little else did. Ages 5%E2%80%93up. (Aug.)

ALA Booklist

Having separately displayed a knack for capturing the spirit of jazz in words and pictures, Orgill (If I Only Had a Horn: Young Louis Armstrong, 1998) and Qualls (illustrator of Carole Boston Weatherford's Before John Was a Jazz Giant, 2008, and Jonah Winters' Dizzy, 2006) team up here for a stylish portrayal of young Ella Fitzgerald: "a rough-tough raggedy cat on the outside, but inside she was milky and silky and soft and shy." Orgill recounts how Fitzgerald earned nickels dancing the Lindy Hop on the streets of Yonkers before moving to Harlem, where she would begin her tremendous career, trusting in her talent and persevering in spite of the bandleaders who thought she wasn't pretty enough. Occasional lyrics pop on the page and suggest that this might make a good read-aloud, but the fairly lengthy text will require dedicated attention. It's always a gamble how kids will respond to the allure of jazz, but there's no question that Orgill and Qualls know what makes it so catchy: it's slinky, rhythmic, and joyful, and on full display in both the lively text and swinging artwork.

Horn Book (Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

In jazzy prose, Orgill tells of young Ella's sad childhood and up-from-her-bootstraps rise to fame. Interspersed in the main text are lyrics from songs Fitzgerald made her own (e.g., "A Tisket, A Tasket"), giving the volume an improvised feel. Qualls's acrylic, pencil, and collage illustrations hum with the energy of a night out in Harlem. This "reformatted edition" includes a list of recommended recordings. Reading list, websites. Ind.

Kirkus Reviews

The author of accomplished biographies about Mahalia Jackson, Fred and Adele Astaire and others contributes a gem about Fitzgerald's early life in Yonkers and Harlem. The lively writing sings and swings along with Ella, who entertained schoolmates and danced for coins with her friend Charlie. Her mother's untimely death engendered many bad turns: Petty crime earned Ella time in a cruelly operated orphanage upstate. Orgill clearly shows that Fitzgerald's career and success were built on the winning combination of superb talent and sheer determination, with the teen, close to homeless, entering and winning amateur contests in Harlem. "She'd had a dancing beat in her feet ever since she was a bitty girl in Yonkers, and all she ever needed was a chance to send that beat traveling up through her body, into her throat, and out her mouth in a song." Qualls's sweet pictures, in signature tints of red and blue, convey the excitement of Harlem nightspots and provide pensive takes on the tough times Ella endured. The excellent annotated bibliography includes books, sound and video recordings and websites. (Picture book/biography. 5-11)

School Library Journal

Gr 3-6 As the title cleverly indicates, this book describes how the poor, &4;raggedy cat&4; scat-sang her way into jazz history. Orgill begins with Fitzgerald as a child dancing to her mother&9;s records and closes with the 21-year-old woman joining the Chick Webb Band in Harlem. The interim includes frank, but not frightening, descriptions of Fitzgerald&9;s tenure in an abusive orphanage and of the impoverished days when she slept where she could and sang on the streets for money. The prose account of Fitzgerald&9;s life often includes sound effects that recall her unique vocal style. For instance, she does not run away from the orphanage, she dashes off in a &4;skit-scat skedaddle.&4; Snatches of her famous songs are woven throughout the narrative. Meanwhile, Qualls firmly establishes himself as a leading illustrator of jazz biographies for children. He uses rich reds and blues to illustrate the history of this quintessentially American art form, just as he did for Jonah Winter&9;s Dizzy (Scholastic, 2006) and Carole Boston Weatherford&9;s Before John Was a Jazz Giant (Holt, 2008). His mixed media of acrylic, collage, and pencil capture the richness of Fitzgerald&9;s life and song. The back matter provides plenty of resources for further reading, listening, and Web exploration. Mary Landrum, Lexington Public Library, KY