Young Clayton Byrd suffers an sudden and unimaginable loss, and no one seems to understand his pain - not his mother, not his teacher, not even Clayton Byrd himself - but Clayton has a plan that takes him on a journey with unexpected consequences.

Sweet, emotional story. Family drama. Short, easy read.

A gem of a middle-grade novel about grief and music and family and why sometimes we make really bad decisions. Highly recommended for ages 10-13.

If I could, I'd give this one 3.5 stars. There's no one Clayton Byrd loves more than Cool Papa, his kind, blues-playing grandfather, who gave him his beloved harmonica, takes him on adventures street busking and reads to him from their special book, The Four Corners of the World. His mother,who works in a hospital, still resents her father for his unavailability when she was a child. She is hard and tough and doesn't understand the relationship between her father and her son. Clayton's father tries to enter their life but she won't let him near. When Cool Papa dies, she sells all his stuff in a yard sale for a fraction of what it's worth--even his beloved guitars. Then Clayton starts acting up. She takes away his harmonica. What's a boy to do?

My biggest problem with this book is that the mother is too much of a villain. My favorite thing about Williams-Garcia's other books was how dimensional all the characters were. This was a bit of a disappointment. But I loved Clayton and Cool Papa and I loved the intergenerational relationship at the heart of the story.

Read my review at Bookish Adventures.

I listened to the audiobook version of this story and was incredibly pleased with the narrator's voice and intonation. In the story, Clayton Byrd loses his grandfather who introduced him to the Blues and he and his mother grieve this loss in different ways. As Clayton is trying to hold on to every last piece of his Cool Papa Byrd, his mother wants him to move on - causing arguments with dire consequences.

I loved the topics represented in this book, because it really shows the aftermath of losing a grandparent and, even more trying, losing your best friend. I was 6 years old when my great-Aunt Catherine died and that, to this day, has been the worst loss to get over. Logically, older people die, but emotions don't abide by logic. Clayton deals with his emotions by trying to stay connected to the Blues music his grandfather and he played. There is a great deal of tension between Clayton's mother and Clayton about the death of Cool Papa, because while Clayton had grown to depend on Cool Papa, his mother rarely saw him in her youth. These complex ideas, along with the lovely rhythmic text are wonderfully showcased in the audiobook format- however with all the mention of the Blues, I would have loved to hear some Blues music accompanying the words.

I wanted to give this more stars but it just ends and there isn't any explanation for the sudden resolve. Four pages from the end nothing has changed and then all of a sudden the whole situation is different. A whole chunk is missing.

Well I really enjoyed listening to this book, I did not love it as much as her previous series. So it was a little disappointing in that way but still look good listen.

Clayton loves spending time with his grandpa, Cool Papa, and his blues band, the Bluesmen. The two "sneak out" to play with the band when Clayton's mom works double shifts. One night, while reading Clayton to sleep, Cool Papa passes away and Clayton's life is turned upside down. Since his mom held anger and resentment toward her father, she quickly gets rid of all of Cool Papa's belongings. Luckily, Clayton still has the "blues harp" (harmonica) that Cool Papa taught him to play as well as his grandfather's porkpie hat. As things at school start to remind him of his grandfather, and after his mom takes away his blues harp, Clayton decides to find the Bluesmen and go on tour with them. This adventure to the city doesn't go as he planned, but does bring some good to him and his family.

Clayton's grief is so visible to the reader, but he doesn't open up to anyone about it. This is really a story of Clayton finding himself while also holding strong to the lessons that Cool Papa instilled in him.

Everybody gets the blues