Music does more than simply provide a pleasing sound. It gives us strength, it heals, and it keeps us going. Two talented authors, one telling the stories of Motown and the other sharing an account of a choir of former slaves who raised money for Fisk University, demonstrate music’s power to transcend.

Lowinger, Kathy. Give Me Wings: How a Choir of Former Slaves Took on the World. 148p. chron. ebook available. further reading. index. maps. photos. reprods. Annick. Sept. 2015. Tr $21.95. ISBN 9781554517473.

Gr 7 Up –Readers learn the story of Ella Sheppard and the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University. Born a slave, Sheppard survived the Civil War and eventually enrolled in Fisk Free Colored School (now Fisk University) in Nashville, TN. However, this underfunded school for newly freed blacks floundered within a few years. In order to raise money, George White, Fisk’s treasurer and music teacher, organized a choir with Ella Sheppard as his assistant and took them on tour. Meeting with only minor success at the outset, the choir hit their stride when they began singing the old slave songs we now call spirituals. Eventually, they toured Europe, even singing for Queen Victoria, and raised enough money to build Jubilee Hall, which still stands on the Fisk campus. Interwoven with Ella’s story are details of the dehumanizing institution of slavery and the immediate postwar years as experienced by African Americans and their advocates, as well as pictures and primary-source excerpts. Lowinger does not shy away from the more unpleasant aspects of that history and grounds it in the very human and relatively little-known story of Sheppard and the Jubilee Singers, which makes the struggle all the more touching and real. VERDICT Recommended for all libraries, this excellent title will be especially useful in collaboration with school curricula.–Katherine Koenig, The Ellis School, PA

Pinkney, Andrea Davis. Rhythm Ride: A Road Trip Through the Motown Sound. 176p. Roaring Brook. chron. discog. index. notes. photos. Sept. 2015. Tr $19.99. ISBN 9781596439733.

Gr 5 Up –A tour of the musical powerhouse’s history done with verve and panache. “The Groove” takes readers through the birth and demise of Motown, one of the most influential African American-owned enterprises in the world’s social and musical history. Centering around Gordy Berry, the talented tastemaker and eventual mogul, the ingenious narration highlights the company’s humble beginnings—a pipe dream financed by Berry family’s investment of $800—and embeds the stories of the many legends and stars that were born in its studios into the social upheavals and landmark events of the time. From the civil rights struggles of the 1960s and the Vietnam protests of the 1970s, these important milestones are interspersed throughout, bringing home the important place Motown had not only in the proliferation of rhythm and blues, rock, and disco into American culture but also its integration into the African American identity. The funky and melodic narrative style never wears thin and the familiar conceit helps make the darker parts of history age-appropriate for the audience. The thorough and detailed resources, photos, time line, and discography will encourage readers to want to learn more about the well-known Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, and Marvin Gaye, and the not-so-well-known Funk Brothers—Motown’s official studio band. VERDICT A well-crafted spin that will reverberate in the hearts of music, African American culture, and history buffs.–Shelley Diaz, School Library Journal