¡Mambo Mucho Mambo!

Starred review from August 1, 2021
Grades 1-4 *Starred Review* Young readers will be pulled into 1940s New York, a time of segregation where it was frowned upon for people from different neighborhoods and cultures to mingle. But something exciting was happening in the city: a new music style blending Latin and jazz was being born, with lively, vibrant tunes that sent a thrill through listeners, encouraging them to dance. When Palladium, a local dance hall, opened as a desegregated space, people from different neighborhoods and backgrounds came together to dance. Latin jazz had people dancing and jumping, creating new moves and a new style of dance known as mambo, which drew in people from a variety of communities. The English text is both conversational and informative, using such lively verbs, such as ""jiggled,"" ""rumbled,"" and ""swiveled,"" which will allow readers to feel the electricity of this music and dance move as they read. Realistic illustrations with historical details bring to life the many moves and twirls dance couples enjoyed in close-up views. Additional back matter rounds out this eye-catching account of the cultural impact of Latin jazz and mambo.

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September 6, 2021
When the band Machito and His Afro-Cubans “make a brand-new sound called Latin jazz” in 1940, everyone in New York City dances to it—Italian people such as Millie, and Puerto Rican folks like Pedro, the best dancers in their respective neighborhoods. But because of segregation, people from various backgrounds can’t dance together until 1948, when the Palladium opens its doors to all. The mambo dance accompanies the “bold new music,” and Millie and Pedro, creating “mambo moves for two,” eventually become the best mambo team in the U.S. Robbins’s prose is as musical as his subject: “The melodies were/ bright and brilliant./ They made you want to listen./ The beats were lilting and lively./ They made you want to move.” Velasquez’s characteristic, near-photorealistic illustrations, rendered in oil paint in a palette reflecting the time, add a dynamic fluidity to the historical atmosphere of this enlightening narrative nonfiction title. Back matter includes an author’s note with further historical context. Ages 7–9.

October 1, 2021
Traces the history of the mambo, the Latin jazz dance with such a thrilling beat everyone, regardless of color, danced to it. Dynamic text goes hand in hand with vibrant, motion-filled illustrations to tell the story of the Latin sound that swept through New York and then the country in the 1940s and '50s. Dancers whirl and twirl across double-page spreads as people from different neighborhoods followed the 1940s rules: They danced but did not mix. "Italians danced in Italian places," and so it was with Puerto Ricans, Black people, Jews, and so forth. "Then came a band called Machito and His Afro-Cubans" with "a brand-new sound called Latin Jazz." It "was music for the head, the heart, and the hips," and everyone danced to it--but they still did not dance together. Then, "in 1948, the Palladium Ballroom broke the rules" by opening its doors to everyone. People came from all over the city and listened and danced to this bold new music that transcended ethnic and racial lines: the mambo. In an author's note, readers learn that a number of the characters introduced are real people who went on to become well-known mambo dancers. In keeping with the title of the book and the spirit of the dance, cast members represent different ethnicities and races. The book publishes simultaneously in Spanish, with a translation by Georgina L�zaro. Exuberant, just like the dance. (resources) (Informational picture book. 7-10)

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from October 1, 2021

Gr 2-5-Hips, feet, arms-everything swishes, sways, and shimmies with the mambo. The rhythm is irresistible. Whoever hears it has to move! It doesn't matter who the dancers are or where they're from-everyone loves the new Latin jazz sound of "Machito y sus Afrocubanos." However, this is the 1940s, and each race has to stick with its own kind. All groups have separate neighborhoods and separate dance halls. No one is allowed to mix-until 1948 when the New York Palladium bucks the system and opens its doors to everyone. For the first time, people of every color dance together to the electrifying beat of Machito's band. Soon Millie, an Italian American, and Pedro, a Puerto Rican, find themselves burning up the floor together with Harry and Rose, a Jewish couple, and African Americans Ernie and Dotty. The color barrier is broken! The movement toward civil rights has begun and there is no going back. Robbins's snappy language and smoking turn of phrase brings the mambo and all its followers to life. L�zaro's Spanish translation sizzles. "Las maracas repiqueteaban. Las congas retumbaban." Velasquez's illustrations send sparks flying off each full-bleed spread. There's nothing static in these dynamic, full-movement portrayals of humans expressing the unadulterated joy of popping music and uninhibited dancing. The author's note includes historical and biographical information. VERDICT Fiery and rhythmic storytelling surges to the beat of the conga-a must-have selection for all ages.-Mary Margaret Mercado, Pima County P.L., Tucson, AZ

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2021
In 1948 at New York City's Palladium Ballroom a new dance craze -- the mambo -- was born. Robbins (Margaret and the Moon) and Velasquez (Octopus Stew, rev. 1/20) team up to tell the story of Latin jazz, dance halls, and some of mambo's brightest stars. We open on the streets of New York with an introduction to dancers Millie Donay ("in her Italian neighborhood") and Pedro Aguilar ("in his Puerto Rican neighborhood") in action, their dance moves exploding off the pages in energetic, realistic oils. What follows is an overview of the segregated status quo of 1940s New York ("Black people danced in Black places. Jews danced in Jewish places"), before the focus lands on the Palladium Ballroom and its open-door policy that allowed people of all backgrounds to enjoy the sounds of Latin jazz band Machito and His Afro-Cubans. Meeting there for the first time, Aguilar and Donay would together smash through society's barriers while becoming the best mambo dance team in the country. In Robbins and Velasquez's hands, this early challenge to segregation makes for a lively, compelling piece of history. Back matter includes an author's note with further information about the 1940s, Latin jazz, and mambo -- and some of the musicians and dancers that made them famous. Eric Carpenter

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2021
In 1948 at New York City's Palladium Ballroom a new dance craze -- the mambo -- was born. Robbins (Margaret and the Moon) and Velasquez (Octopus Stew, rev. 1/20) team up to tell the story of Latin jazz, dance halls, and some of mambo's brightest stars. We open on the streets of New York with an introduction to dancers Millie Donay ("in her Italian neighborhood") and Pedro Aguilar ("in his Puerto Rican neighborhood") in action, their dance moves exploding off the pages in energetic, realistic oils. What follows is an overview of the segregated status quo of 1940s New York ("Black people danced in Black places. Jews danced in Jewish places"), before the focus lands on the Palladium Ballroom and its open-door policy that allowed people of all backgrounds to enjoy the sounds of Latin jazz band Machito and His Afro-Cubans. Meeting there for the first time, Aguilar and Donay would together smash through society's barriers while becoming the best mambo dance team in the country. In Robbins and Velasquez's hands, this early challenge to segregation makes for a lively, compelling piece of history. Back matter includes an author's note with further information about the 1940s, Latin jazz, and mambo -- and some of the musicians and dancers that made them famous.

(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)