Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Music & Performing Arts

Did you know that Lucille Ball could pick up radio signals through her teeth? Or that her career was almost destroyed because she was a registered Communist? Bet you didn’t know that, as a studio executive, she green-lit both Star Trek and Mission: Impossible! Siblings Paige and Turner have collected some of the most unusual and surprising facts about the beloved actress, from her impoverished childhood and her first forays into the film industry to her marriage with Desi Arnaz and her rise to become both the most prominent actress in television and one of its most successful executives.

John Lennon’s mom called him “Stinker” because he farted so much! Paul McCartney’s car was wrecked by chickens! George Harrison once had his friend’s parent sign his bad report card! Ringo Starr’s grandma thought he was possessed by witches! Wait! What? Siblings Paige and Turner have collected the most unusual and surprising facts about these rock stars, from their childhoods and early days as musicians to the formation of the Beatles and their skyrocketing journey to become the greatest band in the world.

Shira Gordon is painfully shy. She rarely speaks and blushes at everything. And yet, when she’s alone in her room, she’ll sing and dance, dreaming she were different. So when her best friend forces her to audition for their school’s production of The Music Man, she’s mostly hoping the play will get canceled…but a tiny part of her hopes she’ll get in. And she does. As a member of the barbershop quartet. Playing a dude with a mustache is not exactly her dream role, but Shira is surprised by how much she loves rehearsing with her quirky new friends.

It’s 1915, and Victorine Berryman (now reluctantly in disguise) is struggling to figure out who she most truly is: An orphaned heiress to one of the country’s largest fortunes? An extra in other people’s films? Or does she perhaps want to be a different sort of person entirely? When an ominous advertisement appears, offering a big reward for information leading to the “lost” Miss Berryman, Victorine decides it’s time to leave the old film town of Fort Lee with her best friend, photoplay star Darleen Darling, and look for work in Hollywood, California.

With perfect pitch and fierce persistence, Amy Beach always knew she had to make music. There was just one big problem. Her mother believed it was not proper or suitable for a young lady to draw attention to herself, let alone have a musical career. But give in or give up? Not Amy Beach. She demanded to play the piano. She demanded to have a real teacher. She demanded to perform.

It’s the beginning of eighth grade, and Nat Beacon is nervous. Not only will she be the New Kid, but the New Kid in a Wheelchair. And the school year starts off rocky: No one seems friendly, and she can’t get to the cafeteria without help. But there are a few bright spots. Namely, her best friend, Hudson; her boyfriend (swoon!), Malik; and her very favorite thing: theater. This year, there’s a middleschool theater competition, and any production that wins their regional competition will get the chance to perform—on a real Broadway stage!

Eleanora's journey into legend took her through pain, poverty, and run-ins with the law. By the time she was fifteen, she knew she possessed something that could possibly change her life—a voice. Eleanora could sing. That remarkable voice led her to Harlem nightclubs, the Apollo Theater, and a place in the spotlight with some of the era's hottest big bands. Billie Holiday sang from somewhere inside her that made it seem as if she had lived each lyric, and in many ways she had. This unique talent is what made Billie Holiday more than a singer. She was an artist.

On Halloween eve 1938, people across America gathered around the radio to listen to their favorite Sunday evening program. Expecting to hear the latest drama from Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre, many were alarmed when news bulletins interrupted the show. New Jersey had been rocked by mysterious explosions. The announcements continued, each more frantic than the last. An invading army's strange and powerful weapons had killed thousands. Listeners feared the worst. Was America under attack by the Germans? Could this be the start of another world war?

As the first rumblings of the pandemic sound around Garvey, he hardly notices. Caught up with his friends, school, chorus, and his newfound relationship with his father, he doesn't imagine that the new disease adults are talking about could touch him. But it will. When everything changes, when fear moves in, and when all seems dark, Garvey feels helpless. Yet one voice—Garvey's voice—can be a powerful spark in the dark …

Martin longs to be a musician. But a piano wouldn't fit in his mobile home, even if his father would let him have one. Martin's father wants him to play baseball and forget about all that "sissy" music stuff. If it weren't for the harmonica he plays when he's out of the house, and the music he creates in his head when his father is yelling at him, Martin would have no music at all. Then he sees a violin for sale for $50 in a pawn shop window, and he can think of nothing else. There's just one problem: he only has $12.78.

Inspired by the legendary music of the Motown era, award-winning author Carole Boston Weatherford shares a heartwarming lullaby celebrating the powerful love families have for one another. Slip into this soulful dreamland filled with heart and a little musical history.

Maddie and Chloe have always been best friends—until last year, when Chloe’s popularity and budding fame as an actor left Maddie in the dust one too many times. Their friendship is over, and they’re both ready to move on. But when the girls arrive at theater camp, they discover that the universe isn’t ready to let go of this friendship just yet: They’re cabinmates, and each of them has to spend the summer with her ex-best friend. Is it time to try again, or are they doomed to drift apart for good?

Dolly Parton is a little girl with a great big voice. She loves singing for her corncob doll and friends at church. Music fills her heart so plumb full that young Dolly starts writing her own tunes. Unable to afford a guitar, she strings up a broken mandolin and plays for anyone she can corral—ducks, pigs, and her squallin’ brothers and sisters. But Dolly longs for a real live audience to see and hear her perform. When Dolly gets her first big break, she’s scared to perform in front of hundreds of people. Will she summon up her courage and step out onto the Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville?

There’s no accounting for Miracles, at least that’s what the folks of Glimmer Creek say. Every year, one lucky inhabitant survives danger, and bits of magic cling to them for a lifetime. Rosie Flynn doesn’t know how to get a Miracle but knows for sure they’re real. It’s the same way she’s certain she’ll always have her two best friends, Henry and Cam, that she’ll be a famous film director someday, and that she and her Mama are the perfect team of two.

A careful snip, a delicate fold. Fabric the color of new petals. Skirts that flare like upside-down blossoms. A garden bursts into bloom! There is no "good enough." For Ann, only the best will do. Award-winning author Kate Messner and costume historian Margaret E. Powell tell the powerful story of the ground-breaking Ann Lowe, who grew up in a small Alabama dress shop and became the first nationally known African American fashion designer.