Footwork: The Story of Fred and Adele Astaire (review)
2008; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 61; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2008.0052
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Theater, Performance, and Music History
ResumoReviewed by: Pitching In for Eubie Karen Coats Nolen, Jerdine Pitching In for Eubie; illus. by E. B. Lewis. Amistad/Harper Collins, 200732p Library ed. ISBN 978-0-06-056960-0$17.89 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-688-14917-8$16.99 Ad Gr. 6-9 yrs Fred may have become the household name, while sister Adele now takes her encores as a five-letter word in the crossword puzzles, but one would have been unlikely to predict their destinies from childhood experience. Here Orgill focuses on the youth of the sibling hoofers, through the early years in which Adele was the darling and younger Fred was considered little more than an acceptable partner, to the fork in the road that sent Adele into marriage to a British lord and Fred into a solo career in the movies. Readers familiar with Don Brown's picture-book biographies may note a similarity of approach in this somewhat weightier title, from the chatty narration to the carefully controlled scrawl of Jorisch's line and watercolor scenes. Though this is definitely a partial life story, the rise, stall, and revived ascent of the child vaudeville stars should grab the attention of readers donning their own dancing shoes and top hats, and appended suggestions for further reading, listening, and viewing will guide them to the media that will bring Orgill's pages to life. Children whose interest is focused on terpsichorean matters may find enough fuel here to fire their own dreams of living out of a trunk. Copyright © 2008 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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