When he was a boy, Edward Kennedy Ellington's first love was baseball. At his parents' insistence, he took piano lessons and, by the time he was 19, music was his passion. He was able to earn his living by playing his own compositions -- a type of music no one had ever heard before. This picture book biography focuses not so much on the events in Duke Ellington's life, but on his music, his orchestra, his skill with improvisation, and his impact in the world of jazz. Andrea Davis Pinkney's text grabs young listeners with its jazzy beat. Her playful use of language echoes the era in which Duke was king. Like the words they accompany, Brian Pinkney's spirited scratchboard illustrations swing with joyful vitality as they show the effect Ellington's music has had on listeners, past and present. Winner, 1998 CCBC Coretta Scott King Award Discussion: Illustrator; Honor Book, 1998 CCBC Coretta Scott King Award Discussion: Author. (Ages 6-10)

The Kinks defied the rigid hierarchy of British society to create a new wave, and then next wave, of rock and roll. The band has stayed front and center of transatlantic rock music for an incredible three decades. Here co-founder Dave Davies reveals all-- about the band, the scene--including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Who--and his brother Ray in a painfully honest, sometimes euphoric autobiography. photo insert.