Clayton Byrd Goes Underground

Clayton Byrd Goes Underground
Rita Williams-Garcia
HarperCollins, 2017 166 pages
Grades 4-7
Realistic Fiction

Clayton Byrd is one cool cat. He hangs out in Washington Square Park with his grandfather, Cool Papa Byrd, playing the blues with Cool Papa's band on his blues harp (harmonica). One night, as Cool Papa reads to Clayton as he falls asleep, he quietly passes away. Clayton is devastated. To make matters worse, his mother sells all of Cool Papa's belongings in a lawn sale and punishes Clayton for falling asleep in class by taking away his blues harp, his last connection to Cool Papa. Clayton retaliates by stealing back the blues harp, destroying something precious to Mama and running away to find Cool Papa's band in the park. On the subway Clayton meet a gang of performing panhandlers who, although their leader is not nice, makes him feel welcome and gives him a place playing in their show. The music is hip hop, but Clayton twists his blues to make the music work. The park reveals that the Cool Papa’s band has gone south for the winter, leaving Clayton bereft and back with the Show-Time boys. When the police finally nab the gang, and Clayton with them, he must finally confront his mother and both make peace with the death of Cool Papa and each other.

Judging from the cover and Williams-Garcia's other books I thought this was historical fiction. It is not. It is very much set in current New York City and involves a practice common to many New York City commuters: a gang of boys hopping on a subway car declaring that it's "Show Time" and performing crazy dance moves with the hopes of filling a hat with cash. This is a practice that I always found uncomfortable, yet after reading this book I found myself on the New York subway hoping for the Show-Time boys to jump on the train. Williams-Garcia pens another heartfelt character-driven novel that is sure to please her fans of the series starting with the Newbery honor One Crazy Summer. The fact that she is moving from historical fiction to realistic and that problem novels have made a popular resurgence thanks to Wonder, this book will have a broad audience if put into the right hands. The chapters are short, well named, and lead in with an interesting little picture, enticing readers. The author introduces many themes, such as overcoming grief, the reality that sometimes well meaning parents make poor choices and are struggling with their own problems, owning a bad decision, and living with narcolepsy. An author's note in the back of the book tells of her music studies and how she came to appreciate the blending and history of the Blues and Hip Hop, as well as sharing her own personal battle with narcolepsy. Life is not always easy, parents aren't perfect, and we sometimes lose those we love, yet Clayton Byrd has a few things going for him that will save him in the end: the gift of music and two loving parents. Unlike the Show-Time boys he falls in with, Clayton has a safety net that catches him when he messes up and together, the reader is assured, this family will work it out and find some healing and happiness.