Books like Rent party jazz by William Miller

In 1936 Flint, Michigan, ten‑year‑old Bud Maclean, an orphan on the run, sets out to find his missing father by following clues from a jazz band flyer.

A powerful story of a Black family's battle for dignity, family, and land in Depression‑era Mississippi, seen through the eyes of eight‑year‑old Cassie Logan.

it is awesome

Jack and Annie return to New Orleans on their second adventure, where they face real ghosts, discover jazz, and meet young Louis Armstrong while inspiring artists to spread joy.

Nine‑year‑old Zeke lives in Harlem and finds solace in the jazz music that spills from a nearby pianist’s piano, offering him a brief escape from the difficulties he faces each day.

An engaging introduction to jazz music for young readers, set to the familiar tune of "This Old Man." The book profiles nine celebrated jazz musicians, offering brief facts about each and highlighting the rhythms of jazz.

The fabled city of Memphis has been essential to American music--home of the blues, the birthplace of rock and roll, a soul music capital. We know the greatest hits, but celebrated author Robert Gordon takes us to the people and places history has yet to record. A Memphis native, he whiles away time in a crumbling duplex with blues legend Furry Lewis, stays up late with barrelhouse piano player Mose Vinson, and sips homemade whiskey at Junior Kimbrough's churning house parties. A passionate listener, he hears modern times deep in the grooves of old records by Lead Belly and Robert Johnson. The interconnected profiles and stories in Memphis Rent Party convey more than a region. Like mint seeping into bourbon, Gordon gets into the wider world. He beholds the beauty of mistakes with producer Jim Dickinson (Replacements, Rolling Stones), charts the stars with Alex Chilton (Box Tops, Big Star), and mulls the tragedy of Jeff Buckley's fatal swim. Gordon's Memphis inspires Cat Power, attracts Townes Van Zandt, and finds James Carr always singing at the dark end of the street. A rent party is when friends come together to hear music, dance, and help a pal through hard times; it's a celebration in the face of looming tragedy, an optimism when the wolf is at the door. Robert Gordon finds mystery in the mundane, inspiration in the bleakness, and revels in the individualism that connects these diverse encounters.