• Age: 11 to 14
• Grade: 6 to 9
• Reading age: 11 to 14

For more than fifty years, Oscar Peterson was one of the leading players on the international jazz stage, a multi Grammy award-winner who recorded almost two hundred albums. But the man was much more than his music. His life was also a revelation and inspiration. Young people will be inspired by Oscar Peterson's musical gift, his determination to lift himself out of the poverty and the limited opportunities of his youth, and his refusal to be cowed by racial prejudice. In addition to providing a balanced and thorough picture of Peterson's life, the author introduces difficult concepts like improvisation and explains, for example, the difference between the various piano styles.

Reva Marin's journey inside the life of a musician will inspire and intrigue any young person who has taken piano lessons, played in a school band, or dreamed of starting a rock group.

The release of the paperback edition includes an updated introduction in light of Oscar Peterson’s recent death, and describes the outpouring of tributes to him from all over the world.

Reva Marin is the author of Oscar: The Life and Music of Oscar Peterson, a finalist for the 2004 Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction, and “Representations of Identity in Jewish Jazz Autobiography,” published in the Canadian Review of American Studies.

Reva Marin's profile page

• Commended, CCBC Our Choice
• Short-listed, Norma Fleck Non-fiction Award