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Home Author Archive For Librarians Authors: Get Included Roxane Orgill Dear Reader: One of my favorite things to do in researching biographies is to walk in my subjects' shoes (figuratively, of course). For SKIT-SCAT RAGGEDY CAT: ELLA FITZGERALD, I went to Yonkers, New York. I walked up the hill to Ella's school and over to Morgan Street where she danced with her friend Charlie. The trolley's gone, but I took the bus and climbed the stairs to the elevated subway train to ride to 125th Street, Harlem, just as Ella did. Walking gave me a better feel for her story. And what a story! Fatherless, Ella lost her mother at 14, got sent to an orphanage, was homeless in Harlem, and still managed to sing her way to a job with Chick Webb's band. By age 21, this "raggedy cat" had "a closet full of sparkly gowns with shoes to match and a wristwatch" – even a hit song on the radio. Yours truly, Roxane www.RoxaneOrgill.com P.S. Email me with your Favorite Ella Fitzgerald Song to enter to win a signed copy: roxane@roxaneorgill.com. "Crackles with tension and verve." Publishers Weekly (starred review) "The lively writing sings and swings along with Ella." Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "An effective interplay of relatively dense text and, well, jazzy illustration that should appeal to a crowd that might consider itself well past picture books." Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books A Junior Library Guild Selection A CYBIL (Children's and Young Adult Bloggers Literary Awards) Finalist. Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald / Roxane Orgill / Candlewick Price: $17.99 / ISBN: 978-0763617332 / Published: August, 2010 Ages 5+ / Hardcover; 48 Pages / Non-fiction Picture TOP OF PAGE BACK TO MAIN PAGE © 2005 by AuthorBuzz