"Carlon is a natural heir of Robert Louis Stevenson. If you like good fiction, you'll like ." — "Carlon is a unique educational force, bringing young readers into the pleasures and drama of jazz." — "An arresting and wonderful story that communicates—through a deep relationship between a singer and a Holocaust survivor—the joy of music, self-discovery, pain, and racism." — "Avery's story tackles hard topics—racism, women's rights—which transcend time and place. A tale with deep resonance and educational force, that will keep readers turning pages." – Harlem 1938: eighteen-year-old Avery, aspiring singer, is heard by Lester "Pres" Young, Count Basie's tenor saxophonist. Pres recommends her to Basie, and Avery is whisked into the jazz life. Years later, with several hit records to her credit, Avery settles in Greenwich Village. But her life takes a sharp turn when she meets Karl, a Jewish refugee from Hitler's Germany. is a thirty-year veteran English and journalism teacher at the high and middle school levels, and the author of the middle-grade novels and . He is a frequent contributor to .