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Ella : a novel  Cover Image Book Book

Ella : a novel / Diane Richards.

Richards, Diane, (author.).

Summary:

When fifteen-year-old Ella Fitzgerald's mother dies at the height of the Depression in 1932, the teenager goes to work for the mob to support herself and her family. When the law finally catches up, the "ungovernable" adolescent is incarcerated in the New York Training School for Girls in upstate New York--a wicked prison infamous for its harsh treatment of inmates, especially Black ones. Determined to be free, Ella escapes and makes her way back to Harlem, where she is forced to dance for pennies on the street. Looking for a break into show business, Ella draws straws to appear at the Apollo Theater's Amateur Night on November 21, 1934. Rather than perform a dance routine directly after "The World Famous Edwards Sisters" number, the homeless Ella, wearing men's galoshes a size too big, risks everything when she decides to sing Judy instead. Four years later, at barely twenty-one, Ella Fitzgerald has become the bestselling female vocalist in America.

Item details

  • ISBN: 9780063338654
  • ISBN: 0063338653
  • Physical Description: 372 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
  • Edition: First editon.
  • Publisher: New York : Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2024]

Contents / Notes

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references.
Subject: Fitzgerald, Ella > Fiction.
African American singers > Fiction.
African American women > Fiction.
Depressions > 1929 > Fiction.
New York (N.Y.) > Fiction.
Harlem (New York, N.Y.) > Fiction.
Genre: Biographical fiction.
Historical fiction.
Novels.

Currently available copies

  • 37 out of 43 copies are currently available at PINES. (Show)
  • 2 out of 2 copies are currently available at Athens Regional Library System.

Holds

  • 0 current holds on 43 total copies.
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      Athens-Clarke County Library
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Athens Regional Library System:
      Danielsville/Madison County Library
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