Shout, Sister, Shout!: Ten Girl Singers Who Shaped A Century

by Roxane Orgill

Provides an in-depth look at ten celebrated singers from the past ten decades, including Ma Rainey, Judy Garland, Joan Baez, and Madonna, complete with photos, a discography, and index.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Roxane Orgill is an award-winning writer on music and the author of JAZZ DAY: THE MAKING OF A FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPH, illustrated by Francis Vallejo (Candlewick Press). JAZZ DAY earned six starred reviews and won The Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Best Picture Book in 2016. Orgill has written several biographies for young readers, including SKIT-SCAT RAGGEDY CAT: ELLA FITZGERALD and FOOTWORK: THE STORY OF FRED AND ADELE ASTAIRE (Candlewick). She is also the author of DREAM LUCKY, a book for adults about big-band jazz, race, and politics in the 1930s (Smithsonian Books). She lives in Dobbs Ferry, NY.

Reviews

[Angelena Bullocks · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Shout, Sister, Shout: Ten Girl Singers Who Shaped a Century” is a biography about ten remarkable women singers in the twentieth century. This book goes through interviews, photographs, and details of these singers. When you read this book you learn so many interesting things about these amazing women.
In this book it tells stories about how these women had put their life and singing career in their own hands. These women were not concerned about what people said or did. In each story it states how these women made the most of their life and career. It tells how they became a singer and what struggles they had to go through and etc. These women had different genres of music but all have interesting life stories. These women also had beautiful voices and were really talented singers.
Let's talk about a little of Ma Rainey, mother of blues. She was a talented black woman, she didn’t have to use a megaphone like other women. Ma Rainey had a voice that developed enough vocal range to sing the songs beautifully. Something about Ma attracted many people to the shows she was at. Ma Rainey was most known for the tent shows she had all across the south. In order to do tent shows each performer had to buy their own car. Since they couldn’t go on a white only trains etc. and colored trains were always crowded. This is only very little of Ma Rainey's story.
In conclusion if you want to know more amazing singers in the twentieth century read this book. This book overall was 3/5 stars. This book is perfect for music lovers and people who like to learn about people's lives. I like how this book explained these women's lives in detail and had pictures of the women. One thing about this book is I don’t see how they shaped the century but I do know these women were talented.

[jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great line up of vocal talent! From Anita O'Day (my all-time favorite jazz singer) to Judy Garland to Madonna to Lucinda Williams.

I really appreciated the side-bar material about the major changes in the music industry over the years, and how we moved from the invention of the microphone to the internet.

Be prepared for a *lot* of tough topics in here. There is much in this book that is not light reading. Roxane Orgill deals with the singers' struggles with drugs, abuse, and sexuality in a refreshing, straightforward manner. But I have to admit, it depressed me overall. Just the fact that most of these amazing female singer have had such deep troubles and sadness in their lives. Shout, Sister, Shout! is a fascinating celebration of ten phenomenal singers and their work, but it's also achingly sad in parts.

[Raven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read on women in music. While I quibble about her selections and details of singers (only a photo mention of "Wizzard of Oz for Judy Garland - no year, not details), I enjoyed learning about women I knew nothing about, and more about women I knew little about.

[Alethea Rocks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was an interesting read but lacked substance, there was no conclusion to tell you how these women shaped the world which was really disappointing in a book. I found the focus of the book to be the wardrobe and nothing else.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was intersting. I found it as I was looking for a book on Ethel Mermen. I read a few chapters. Worth reading.

[Natalie Moreland · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Teens)