Detroit and its strong Polish community share in America's rich history of Polish music and customs. This work documents that history and details the development of the Polish-American musicians in Detroit who became known as polka musicians, even though their music was very diversified.

Rick Martin loved music and the music loved him. He could pick up a tune so quickly that it didn’t matter to the Cotton Club boss that he was underage, or to the guys in the band that he was just a white kid. He started out in the slums of LA with nothing, and he ended up on top of the game in the speakeasies and nightclubs of New York. But while talent and drive are all you need to make it in music, they aren’t enough to make it through a life. Dorothy Baker’s Young Man with a Horn is widely regarded as the first jazz novel, and it pulses with the music that defined an era. Baker took her inspiration from the artistry—though not the life—of legendary horn player Bix Beiderbecke, and the novel went on to be adapted into a successful movie starring Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, and Doris Day.

Traces a father and son journey around South America in a tiny boat they built together

A very smart cookie is doing the chasing in this sweet and funny twist on the classic tale. When a class leaves for recess, their just-baked Gingerbread Man is left behind. But he's a smart cookie and heads out to find them. He'll run, slide, skip, and (after a mishap with a soccer ball) limp as fast as he can because: "I can catch them! I'm their Gingerbread Man!" With help from the gym teacher, the nurse, the art teacher and even the principal, the Gingerbread Man does find his class, and he's assured they'll never leave him behind again. Teachers often use the Gingerbread Man story to introduce new students to the geography and staff of schools, and this fresh, funny twist on the original can be used all year long. Look for all of this hilarious Gingerbread Man's adventures: The Gingerbread Man Loose at School, The Gingerbread Man Loose on the Fire Truck, The Gingerbread Man Loose at Christmas, The Gingerbread Man Loose at the Zoo, and The Gingerbread Man and the Leprechaun Loose at School!

Originally published in hardcover in 2015 by Scribner.

The story of the final recordings of one of the greatest jazz musicians of the twentieth century