The Lady Swings

Dottie Dodgion is a jazz drummer who played with the best. A survivor, she lived an entire lifetime before she was seventeen. Undeterred by hardships she defied the odds and earned a seat as a woman in the exclusive men’s club of jazz. Her dues-paying path as a musician took her from early work with Charles Mingus to being hired by Benny Goodman at Basin Street East on her first day in New York. From there she broke new ground as a woman who played a “man’s instrument” in first-string, all-male New York City jazz bands. Her inspiring memoir talks frankly about her music and the challenges she faced, and shines a light into the jazz world of the 1960s and 1970s. Vivid and always entertaining, The Lady Swings tells Dottie Dodgion's story with the same verve and straight-ahead honesty that powered her playing. A Variety Best Music Book of 2021

"LUMINOUS and FULL OF HEART, this book is a STUNNING GEM." —Meg Cabot, #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Princess Diaries and Airhead series From the bestselling author behind Disney’s The Swap comes a profoundly moving novel about one girl’s unforgettable journey to discover that life’s true jackpot might not be what it seems. Full of joy and moxie, Billion Dollar Girl grabs hold and won’t let go. River Ryland is the girl everyone wants to be around. But this brave 13-year-old has a secret that's getting harder and harder to hide: she lives mostly alone in a ramshackle, single-wide trailer with a mom who drops in and out of her life. After a visit from Social Services goes horribly wrong, longing for security, River sets off on the run. Soon, a case of mistaken identity gives River a chance to live a life that she had never even dreamed. But, when her newfound safety is shattered, River discovers, against all odds—one in 307 million, to be exact—that life's true jackpot isn't anything that it seems. A simultaneously heart-wrenching and exhilarating exploration of what we value, suspenseful and wise, Billion Dollar Girl is a deeply-felt reminder that we are inexplicably intertwined; a hopeful story of our times.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.