When Angels Sing; The Story of Rock Legend Carlos Santana by Michael Mahin, art by Jose Ramirez

This picture book is as colorful and beautiful as the music of the subject of this book, Carlos Santana. Jose Ramirez's illustrations in acrylic and enamel markers pop from the page with their color, graphic simplicity and latin flavor. Michael Martin's text brings Santana's story to life in an unconventional way. The story of Carlos Santana is told in the second person to Carlos Santana himself. It's as if "the angels" are telling Carlos the story of his life.

Carlos was born into a supportive family in Mexico. His father was a traveling violinist. He felt his father's music made angels real, made them sing for people. Carlos wanted that too, so he started playing the clarinet, trumpet and violin, but none satisfied him. He heard the blues and the guitar and that was what he wanted. His father sent him an old battered guitar, which he learned to play himself, from his heart. His family was poor, but eventually immigrated to San Francisco. Life was hard but eventually Carlos found that a combination of blues, jazz and rock was unique and drew a following for his Santana Blues Band. It was not until he performed in front of 400,000 people at the Woodstock Music Festival did Carlos discover that he was looking for the angels in the wrong place, the angels were inside himself all the time. Carlos became and is a world famous musician that makes people feel and enjoy music in a way that they never had before.

The book speaks to the struggle success comes with, and that failure is what pushes us forward. A picture book for older readers. A fine read-aloud, but would be best accompanied by Santana's music.

Mark's Book Picks Score: Non-Fiction

Dewey: 921 • Reading Level: 4.0 • Interest Level: K-3 • AR Points: 0.5 • Lexile Level: 610 • Publisher: Atheneum • Pages: 48 • Copyright: 2018 • ISBN: 978-1-534-40413-7 • Available in Perma-Bound Binding